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This Dilly White Bean Cucumber Salad is a picnic-perfect side dish that tosses crisp cucumbers, creamy white beans, and lots of fresh dill with a refreshingly zingy vinaigrette. Vegan and Gluten-Free, Oil-Free Option.
This Cucumber and White Bean Salad will quickly become one of your favorite salad recipes! This simple and crowd-pleasing side dish combines crunchy cucumbers, creamy white beans, and a ton of fresh dill with a simple 6-ingredient lemon and garlic dressing. It’s the perfect make-ahead lunch or protein-packed side, plus a guaranteed hit for the family picnic or barbecue.
Table of Contents
A White Bean Salad with a Mediterranean Twist
I love a good pasta salad (one bowl of this Creamy Dill Pickle Pasta Salad just isn’t enough), but something about garden-fresh veggie & bean combo is equally irresistible once the weather warms up. Lucky for me, this Dilly White Bean & Cucumber Salad is what my summer side dish dreams are made of.
So much more than a Mediterranean white bean salad, this dish has no shortage of fresh herbs, crisp seasonal vegetables, protein-packed white beans, and zesty citrus in every bite. And the simple 6-ingredient lemon and garlic dressing? I recommend you make a double batch for future use 😉
Toss this zesty, refreshing, and hearty salad together in just 10 minutes and enjoy it for a sunny picnic in the park or for a ready-to-go lunch that’ll last you throughout the week.
Ingredients for Cucumber Salad with Dill
This savory and hearty bean salad calls for a few seasonal ingredients and pantry staples.
- White beans: I made this salad with soft and creamy Great Northern beans, but cannellini beans, navy beans, or lima beans (butter beans) will all work just as well. You can also use chickpeas, but they won’t be as soft.
- Persian cucumbers: These cucumbers are smaller than English cucumbers and much more crisp and crunchy. No need to peel them ahead of time; their thin dark green skin is easy to eat and adds a nice color contrast. If you can’t find Persian cucumbers, use half of an English cucumber or a peeled field cucumber instead.
- Dill: The secret weapon in this perfect picnic dish is lots of fresh dill. It adds loads of garden-fresh flavor that dried dill just can’t mimic (it’s missing that crucial punch). Make sure you buy extras to use in this Crunchy Cucumber Dill Salad!
- Radishes: Another satisfying crunch in this salad comes from radishes cut into matchsticks. Stick with classic red radishes, or use watermelon radishes for a gorgeous pop of pink.
- Lemon juice: Freshly squeezed lemon juice adds a tart flavor to the dressing. Room temperature lemons are easier to juice, so remember to take them out of the fridge about 10 minutes before preparing the dressing.
- EVOO: Rich and flavorful extra virgin olive oil completes the vinaigrette. If you’d prefer to keep the dressing oil-free, replace the oil with an equal amount of runny tahini. The dressing will have a creamier consistency but will still have wonderful Mediterranean flavors.
How to Make This White Bean Salad Recipe
- Whisk the garlic, lemon juice, oil, mustard, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl. Set aside for 5 minutes.
- Add the beans, cucumber, radishes, dill, and green onions to a large bowl. Pour the dressing over top and toss to coat. Taste the salad and adjust the flavors as needed.
- Serve the salad right away or store it in the refrigerator for later.
Caitlin’s Cooking Tips
- Marinate the raw garlic: There’s nothing like biting into a piece of raw garlic to shock your system. The key to avoiding this is to let the vinaigrette sit at room temperature for at least 5 minutes before pouring it over the salad. This gives the lemon juice time to mellow out the strong flavors of the raw garlic, giving the dressing a perfectly balanced flavor.
- Keep your dill fresh with the right storage techniques: Whether you buy the dill in advance or you end up with extras, the best way to help it last for up to 2 weeks is by wrapping it in a damp paper towel, placing it in a sealed ziplock bag, and storing in your fridge’s vegetable crisper. Check out this article from Urban Farmie for more tips on storing and freezing dill.
- Canned beans are best! You technically can cook dried beans for this salad, but I find that canned beans are much softer and creamier. Dried beans are better off in soups and stews, like this White Bean Stew. If you do want to cook the beans yourself, find the simple instructions in the FAQs below.
Serving Suggestions
This vegan bean salad will fit right in at your next vegan cookout. Start the meal with this Grilled Romaine and Charred Corn Salad, followed by this cucumber salad alongside this Roasted Broccoli Quinoa Salad. Enjoy these Grilled Pesto Tofu Sliders for the main dish, then finish the meal with this Grilled Peach Cobbler for dessert.
The salad is also a fantastic side dish for lunches or light dinners. Pair it with these Rainbow Veggie Sandwiches with Hummus or this Vegan Eggplant Reuben for a hearty and filling meal.
If you’re looking for more veggie bean salad recipes, you’ll also love this Easy Tex Mex Black Bean Salad and this Mediterranean Chickpea Salad!
How to Store White Bean and Cucumber Salad
Store the leftover dill cucumber salad in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It will stay fresh and flavorful when kept in an airtight container or in individual glass jars. Freezing is not recommended.
Serve the chilled salad straight from the fridge or set it on the kitchen counter for 5 to 10 minutes so it can come down to room temperature first. Either way, the leftovers are delicious!
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can make this salad 1 or 2 days in advance and keep it in the fridge until it’s time to eat. The flavors will develop as the salad sits, giving you even tastier results!
I prefer the softness and convenience of canned white beans, but cooking dried white beans from scratch also works. Soak the dried beans overnight in water, then boil them in fresh water the next day until they’re tender (keep in mind that they’ll be slightly more firm than canned beans).
Enjoy! If you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I would also love it if you could leave a comment below with a recipe rating! Thank you for the support 😊
Dilly White Bean Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 1 garlic clove minced
- Juice of 1 small lemon; about 2 tablespoons
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Black pepper to taste
- 2 15-ounce can of white beans* rinsed and drained
- 2 Persian cucumbers thinly sliced (or 1/2 a large cucumber)
- 5-7 radishes cut into matchsticks
- .75 Oz fresh dill stems removed and finely chopped
- 2 green onions green and white parts thinly sliced
Instructions
- Make the Vinaigrette: Add the garlic, lemon juice, oil, mustard, salt, and pepper to a small bowl. Whisk well and set aside for 5 minutes while you prep the remaining ingredients; the lemon juice will mellow out the flavor of the raw garlic.
- Make the Salad: Add the beans, cucumber, radishes, dill, and green onions to a large bowl. Add the dressing to the bowl and then mix well until evenly incorporated. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste, if necessary.
- Serve: Serve immediately, or store in the fridge for 15 to 30 minutes before serving, to allow the flavors to combine. more. Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Recipe Notes
- White Beans: I made this salad with Great Northern Beans, which have a soft and creamy texture. Cannelini or Navy Beans will also give you a similar result. This salad can also be made with chickpeas, but will not be as creamy.
- Oil-Free: Replace the oil with 2 tablespoons of a runny tahini for a different (but still delicious!) flavor. You may need to add 1-2 tablespoons of water to your dressing in order to thin it out, depending on the consistency of your tahini
Hey Caitlin, looks amazing. Question and I may have just missed it, but do you cook the beans?
Thanks
Hi Kent! I used canned beans in this recipe, which are pre-cooked, so you only need to rinse them. If you wanted to use dried beans you’d need to cook them on the stove or in the instant pot (according to package instructions) before making this recipe.
Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe! We have used it on many busy evenings as our meal and it makes a great side dish too.
Happy to know you enjoy it, Patrice. ♥
This recipe is delicious!! My (non-vegan) family absolutely loved it, which is always a win and the mark of a delicious recipe.
Is the Olive oil necessary?
Personally I think it is; the oil helps the garlic and lemon juice cling to the vegetables. You can omit it if you’d like, but the salad will be very astringent and soupy. I’d recommend replacing the oil with tahini for a slightly different flavor.
Hi!
7 weeks wfpb here. Always so excited to find tasty eats on this new journey. Had to comment on how awesome this Dilly bean salad is! Made it today for Memorial Day & traded out the oil for tahini. Absolutely fantastic salad & it will definitely be something we have in rotation. No coincidence that it’s also my pet name for my son, Dylan😂
Tysm for sharing & Happy Memorial Day to you & yours!
so good! I used tahini and it came out perfectly delicious! will probably eat this all summer…thanks!!
You’re so welcome, Joanne!
I brought this to a pot luck and it was a hit. Requests were made for the recipe. Great recipe!
Yay! Thank you, Joan!
This is so delicious! I might need to eat this for lunch for the rest of my life. 🤣
Oh wow! Thank you for the review, Lindsay! So happy you loved it.
Yoooo this was SO good!!! I did one tablespoon olive oil and one tablespoon tahini and it was very very delicious. Thank you for sharing!!
You’re so welcome!