Here's a salad to enjoy all summer long! Tuscan Cherry Tomato and White Bean Salad is perfect as a light lunch or on the side with almost any grilled protein for a light and healthy dinner. Best of all, it's super versatile!
Why This Recipe is a Keeper!
If you grow cherry tomatoes, then you know how prolific they can be. Tuscan Cherry Tomato and White Bean Salad is an easy salad to enjoy all summer long--especially when the cherry tomatoes hit the fan!
This salad comes together easily with fresh seasonal and pantry ingredients and best of all, it's versatile!
- Enjoy it as a light, healthy no-cook warm-weather lunch.
- Add canned tuna or grilled chicken for additional protein or serve it over grilled fish or chicken.
- Add bread cubes for a rustic Tuscan-inspired bread salad.
- Serve over grilled bread for an amazing bruschetta-style appetizer!
- Serve over lettuce such as butter lettuce, arugula or spinach.
Let's make it!
How to Make Tuscan Cherry Tomato and White Bean Salad:
Recipe Ingredients:
Here’s everything you’ll need to make this tomato and white bean salad recipe along with how to prep. See the recipe card below for the exact quantities.
Ingredient Notes:
- Cherry Tomatoes: Use cherry or grape tomatoes but you can also cut up large tomatoes if you have those to use.
- Red Wine Vinegar: Red wine vinegar is a staple ingredient in Mediterranean cooking. It has a distinctive tangy flavor and is a good choice for vinaigrettes, marinades and pickling solutions. It's made by fermenting red wine, strained, often aged then bottled.
- Olive Oil: Use a good extra-virgin olive oil. I like California Olive Ranch for most recipes.
- Cannellini Beans: Cannellini beans are white kidney beans. You can also use Great Northern beans. Be sure to drain and rinse canned beans as the liquid they're canned in can be quite salty.
- Parmesan Cheese: I used Parmesan, but Romano or Asiago cheese will also work.
Step-By-Step Instructions:
- Gather and prep all the ingredients.
- Place the tomatoes and red onion in a bowl then add the sugar and salt.
- Toss and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Strain the tomatoes and red onion in a sieve, reserving the liquid.
- Add the red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic and crushed red pepper flakes to the juices.
- Stir in the drained and rinsed beans...
- Then add fresh basil and Parmesan cheese and you have a great, easy summer salad!
- Adjust salt and vinegar to taste.
- Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with fresh basil leaves and enjoy!!
Frequently Asked Questions:
All tomatoes contain an enzyme that reacts to cold temperatures which means the cold zaps flavor and texture. Cold temperatures cause the cell membrane to break down which results in a piece of fruit that's mushy and mealy. To get the best tomato flavor and texture, always store tomatoes at room temperature.
Tuscan Cherry Tomato and White Bean Salad is best when made right before enjoying so you don't have to refrigerate the tomatoes and onions. You can drain the beans and shave the cheese ahead of time. Refrigerate until needed. DO refrigerate any leftovers.
Because tomatoes can become watery when combined with an acid, I drain them first for this salad. However, those lovely, flavorful juices become part of the dressing for a no-waste solution.
Serve with:
- Grilled Marinated Skirt Steak with Peperonata
- Chicken Zucchini Feta Burgers with Jalapeño Tzatziki
- Baked Tilapia with Spinach Pecan Pesto
- Mediterranean Fish en Papillote
- Zucchini Ricotta Fritters
For more lovely summer salads, be sure to check out my:
Get all my delicious salad recipes at: Side Dish Salad Recipes - From A Chef's Kitchen
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Tuscan Cherry Tomato and White Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 2 pints cherry (or grape) tomatoes - (4 cups) halved
- ½ cup diced red onion
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt - plus more as needed
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 can (15-ounce) cannellini beans - drained and rinsed
- 1 large sprig of fresh basil - thinly sliced, plus more for garnish
- ½ cup shaved Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Combine tomatoes, red onion, sugar and salt in a bowl. Let stand for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Transfer the tomatoes and onion to a sieve set over a bowl and strain, reserving the liquid.
- Add the vinegar, olive oil, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes and salt to taste to the tomato liquid.
- Add the tomatoes, beans, basil and Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
These are estimated values generated from a nutritional database using unbranded products. Please do your own research with the products you're using if you have a serious health issue or are following a specific diet.
Cherylynn says
Carol,
I LOVE your recipes. Haven't made one that wasn't exceptional, BUT that being said, I am SO DISAPPOINTED that with your newer recipes you have changed the photo format. I can no longer copy the photo to post where I save the recipes I either have made and want to make again or ones to be made in the near future. I have always skimmed through the photos of the recipes I keep and pick what I want to make by the photos (perhaps lazy, but it works for me), so hopefully in the future you will at least post 1 photo with each new recipe that you can copy and paste along with the recipe.
Thank you for your wonderful recipes that we have enjoyed so much!
Carol says
Hi, Cherylynn, Thanks so much and I sincerely appreciate your support! Food bloggers are under a lot of pressure to constantly make their sites faster and faster and for that reason, I'm not able to change my format back. Photos have to be served to the web so they show up quickly, otherwise, people are waiting and waiting to see what they want to see. That causes frazzled nerves, too and I'm sure you know how impatient people are these days. What I was using before degraded the quality of the photos--which I didn't like. What you could do is adjust the size of what you're viewing DOWN so the entire photo shows up on the screen, then screenshot it. If you let me know exactly HOW your system works or what you're using, I may have other suggestions. Thanks again so very much!!
Kathy says
This salad is delicious and easy to make. I happened to have leftover (Rancho Gordo) white beans, along with all of the other ingredients. I've come to rely on beans and lentils for good sources of protein in recent years and appreciate all of your amazing recipes.
Thanks so much!
Carol says
Hi, Kathy, Thanks so very much and appreciate the kind words!! So glad you enjoyed!
Anonymous says
Karen says
This looks so delicious Carol!
I've been through a flood in my house, too. That's bad enough, but adding a theft on top of it would send me over the edge! Upside is the new toy to play with 😉
Carol says
Hi, Karen, Thank you and great to hear from you! It rocked my world when I discovered the theft. You trust people and they mess with you. But, I'm a little wiser now for it. Please stay in touch!