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This interesting Butter Bean Salad is loaded with flavor from sun-dried tomatoes, Kalamata olives, Feta, and Basil Vinaigrette! And this salad is perfect for parties, for a side dish, or to take to work for a meatless lunch.

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Square image for Butter Bean Salad shown in serving bowl with fork on colorful mat.

This flavorful Butter Bean Salad is another tasty salad that uses the Basil Vinaigrette you’ll always in my fridge when it’s fresh basil season! This combination of chopped basil and vinaigrette dressing is my favorite thing for drizzling over sliced tomatoes, and I love it as a dressing on many kinds of salads. And you can make the flavorful vinaigrette with frozen chopped basil if it’s not fresh basil season any more.

I thought a touch of Basil Vinaigrette was the perfect dressing to add some pizazz to this interesting bean salad! Whether you use it as a side salad with something cooked on the grill or pack it in a plastic container to take for lunch, this unique butter bean salad has all the flavors of summer. This recipe does have a few carbs of course, but it’s high in protein and if you’re someone who enjoys beans occasionally I bet you’ll love the salad.

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)

What is Basil Vinaigrette?

Basil Vinaigrette, is something I make every summer for drizzling on tomatoes, veggies, chicken, or fish. And of course it’s also amazing as a dressing on salads of all kinds. The Basil Vinaigrette I make most is simply a combination of chopped fresh basil and a low-sugar vinaigrette dressing, and this dressing will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks, although it never lasts that long at my house.

What are Butter Beans?

Butter Beans are large white beans with a creamy consistency. According to Food52: “In the Southern U.S. and in the U.K., these cream-colored beans are named after the dairy product with a similarly rich consistency: butter.” But in many parts of the world they’re called lima beans.

What other kinds of beans can you use for this salad?

If you don’t have butter beans, you can use any large white beans for this recipe, and I would especially like it with Cannellini beans.

Will Butter Bean Salad keep in the fridge?

This is a great salad to make ahead and it will definitely keep in the fridge for several days.

How high in carbs is the Butter Bean Salad?

This salad has 22 net carbs and 16 grams of protein per serving. You could reduce the carbs by replacing the sun-dried tomatoes with chopped cherry tomatoes or by using more olives and Feta in proportion to the amount of beans.

Butter Bean Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives, Feta, and Basil Vinaigrette found on KalynsKitchen.com.

How to make Butter Bean Salad:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

  1. First up is the Basil Vinaigrette. I usually make this with bottled vinaigrette, and one of my favorites is Le Parisien Vinaigrette which you probably can’t get outside of Utah, but any type of homemade or bottled vinaigrette that has a good flavor will work.
  2. Drain the canned butter beans into a colander and rinse with cold water, let them drain, then blot dry with paper towel.
  3. When the beans are dried, mix in about half the basil vinaigrette and let the beans marinate in it while you prep the other ingredients.
  4. I used sun-dried tomatoes from a jar, drained them to get rid of the oil, then chopped them just a little.
  5. I measured out 1/2 cup of Kalamata olives and cut them in half.
  6. I cut the Feta cheese into little cubes, which I thought would hold together in the salad.
  7. Mix together the marinated beans, sun-dried tomatoes, and olives, and then blend in the rest of the dressing, or as much as you need to moisten all the ingredients.
  8. Then gently mix in the feta cubes.
  9. I added several tablespoons more chopped basil, because you can never have too much basil, can you? This is purely optional.
  10. Serve Butter Bean Salad right away or let it sit for a few hours before serving.

Make it part of a meal:

You could serve the Butter Bean Salad as a side dish with one of these extra low-carb main dishes for meal that wouldn’t be that high in total carbs:

Butter Bean Salad shown in serving bowl with spoon

More Salads with Basil

Butter Bean Salad
Yield: 6 servings

Butter Bean Salad

Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

This Butter Bean Salad has sun-dried tomatoes, Kalamata olives, Feta, and basil vinaigrette, and this salad  is perfect for a summer party!

Ingredients

  • two 15 oz. cans butter beans (see notes)
  • 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
  • 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, cut in half
  • 1/2 cup Feta cheese cubes (see notes)
  • 1/3 cup Basil Vinaigrette
  • 2  T additional chopped fresh basil (optional)

Instructions

  1. Drain beans into a colander placed in the sink, rinse well with cold water (until no more foam appears) and then let drain a minute or two.
  2. Then blot dry with paper towels and put the beans in a medium-sized salad bowl.
  3. Add about half the Basil Vinaigrette and mix into beans, then let them marinate while you prep other ingredients.
  4. Drain sun-dried tomatoes to remove the oil, then coarsely chop them. (The ones I had were julienne-sliced so I only chopped the ones that were quite large.)
  5. Cut Kalamata olives in half.
  6. Cut feta in cubes 1/2 inch square.
  7. Mix together the marinated beans, sun-dried tomatoes, and Kalamata olives.
  8. Add the rest of the dressing, or as much as you need to moisten the ingredients.
  9. Then gently mix in the feta cubes and the additional chopped basil if using.
  10. The salad can be served right away or marinated in the fridge for a few hours.
  11. The salad will keep in the fridge for several days, but you might want to mix in a little extra dressing to refresh the flavors.

Notes

Use any type of canned white beans you prefer for this salad.

I cut the Feta cheese into cubes about 1/2 inch square, but crumbled Feta will also work just fine.

This recipe created by Kalyn.

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 295Total Fat 12gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 19mgSodium 267mgCarbohydrates 33gFiber 11gSugar 5gProtein 16g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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© Kalyn Denny
Category: Salads
Butter Bean Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives, Feta, and Basil Vinaigrette found on KalynsKitchen.com.

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Every ingredient in this Butter Bean Salad would be approved for the original South Beach Diet although I might go a little easier on the sun-dried tomatoes if you’re actively dieting. However, remember that dried beans are limited to 1/3 to 1/2 cup serving for Phase One. For a strict low-carb diet this salad is definitely a splurge on carbs, although it is quite high in protein.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Salad Recipes to find more recipes like this one.Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe for Butter Bean Salad was first posted in 2011. It was last updated with more information in 2025.

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