This 4 Bean Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing takes the classic 4 bean salad recipe and gives it a Mexican flavor infusion. This is a great side dish recipe for your Cinco de Mayo celebration, barbecues, picnic, or family reunion.
Making this salad my way
This recipe has a touch of heat that can be adjusted to anyway you like it from zero to spicy! This is my own personal version of the classic 4 bean salad.
I love to take a classic salad recipe and make it my own, like I did with this potato salad recipe! And, the same recipe made with cauliflower for a Keto potato salad!
I love cilantro and lime and I knew I had to add them to the dressing in this 4 bean salad. And, because the cilantro lime dressing is on the sweet side, I had to added some heat by including a jalapeño.
The 4 beans you need to make this salad recipe
Green Beans: are low in calories, and are a good source of vitamin C and fiber.
Garbanzo Beans: also known as chickpeas, are a great source of protein and fiber. They are also commonly used to make hummus and the nutrition profile helps to support heart health.
Red Kidney Beans: are a great source of plant based protein and fiber. There are 43 grams of protein and 46 grams of fiber in 1 cup of red kidney beans!
Black Beans: these are one of my favorite beans. I love my Spicy Black Bean Burger and I always have these on hand. Black Beans are a good source of iron and magnesium, play a part in bone health (due to the magnesium), and can help lower you blood pressure!
A fiber packed salad recipe full of flavor
This 4 Bean Salad recipe is not only full of fiber, but it packs a punch of flavor. Cilantro and lime are a great flavor combination.
The red bell pepper, jalapeño pepper, and red onion add fresh vegetables to the recipe as well as more flavor.
The sweetener added is optional, but if you are a sweet heat fan like I am, you will want to add it!
About the sugar in this recipe
When I made this recipe originally, I used a sucralose sweetener which is an artificial sweetener. We have moved away from Sucralose and now use a Monkfruit or erythritol based natural sweetener.
While we use a natural, if you use regular sugar in this recipe, you will still replace it at a 1:1 ratio.
You can also use honey or maple syrup to sweeten this recipe. If doing so, I would reduce the amount of sweetener to ¼ cup instead of ½ cup.
Make this 4 bean salad your way
- Use canned cut green beans or wax beans (yellow) in place of the steamed green beans.
- Change the variety of beans and use canned white beans, dark kidney beans, or black eyed peas
- Substitute green bell pepper for the jalapeño pepper for a less spicy 4 bean salad.
- Substitute seasoned rice wine vinegar for the cider vinegar.
- Use fresh parsley in place of cilantro.
*If you made this 4 Bean Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing, please give it a star rating*
📖 Recipe
4 Bean Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing
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Ingredients
For the Salad
- 1 16 ounce steamed green beans, drained
- 1 15.5 ounce can garbanzo beans, drained
- 1 14.5 ounce can kidney beans, drained
- 1 14.5 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 1 large jalapeño pepper diced
- ¼ cup finely chopped red onion
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
For the Dressing
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup cider vinegar
- ½ cup Classic Monkfruit Sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Place green beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, black beans, peppers, onion, and cilantro in large mixing bowl and toss.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, sugar, lime juice, salt and pepper until blended.
- Pour the dressing over the bean mixture and toss to coat.
- Refrigerate 8 hours before serving.
Renee P says
I've actually made and love this salad from Allrecipes before (and love it!), but with the jalapeno, cilantro and lime twist, it's time to make it again, this time using your changes! super yum!
Chaya says
I used to make a three bean salad and like the addition of the black beans.
Jeff @ Cheeseburger says
This is definitely going to be a great side dish for the Cinco de Mayo.
Trisha says
Love the dressing, sounds very refreshing.