Marinated Mini Pepper Salad uses mini sweet pepper rings that are marinated for 24 hours and then combined with Chickpeas, olives, and Feta! See tips below if you’d like to make a lower-carb version of this tasty mini pepper salad.

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Marinated Bell Pepper Salad shown on serving plate, cropped image.

I made this Marinated Mini Pepper Salad years ago, after I met Utah blogger who’d posted a recipe for marinated peppers. And even though this tasty salad also has chickpeas, olives, and Feta, trust me when I say this salad is all about the mini peppers that are marinated in tasty balsamic vinegar before they get turned into a salad that uses some of the marinating liquid in the dressing.

The salad I came up with tasted like the best antipasto salad you’ve ever eaten. The marinated peppers would also be great just to keep in the fridge to add to any type of green salad.

And for me, the creamy Feta cheese is the perfect flavor note to go with the slightly vinegary marinated peppers. I hope you try this if these ingredients appeal to you!

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.)

  • sliced mini sweet peppers (or use strips of bell pepper)
  • Balsamic Vinegar (affiliate link)
  • Olive Oil (affiliate link)
  • cloves garlic, sliced
  • Vege-Sal (affiliate link), or use a smaller amount of salt
  • coarse ground black pepper
  • canned garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
  • canned black olives
  • marinade from peppers (to taste)
  • crumbled Feta cheese

What if you don’t have mini sweet peppers for this salad?

If you have regular red, yellow, or orange bell peppers you can cut out the seeds, cut them in strips, and marinate them to use in this salad. Either pepper option will be delicious!

How can you make a low-carb version of this Mini Pepper Salad?

If you love the idea a salad with marinated sweet peppers but don’t want the carbs from the garbanzo beans, you can make a delicious salad using the bell peppers, two cans of olives, and the Feta cheese. And if you’re watching carbs, don’t fret over the amount of balsamic vinegar that’s used to marinate the peppers, because you only use a small bit of that in the actual salad.

Marinated Pepper Salad with Garbanzos process shots collage

How to make Marinated Mini Pepper 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 make the marinated peppers. I used Sweet Mini-Peppers but use bell peppers cut in strips if you prefer. Cut peppers into rings or strips and discard seeds and stem ends.
  2. Combine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt or Vege-Sal (affiliate link), and pepper and pour over peppers.
  3. Put the peppers in a small Ziploc bag and marinate them overnight in the fridge.
  4. The next day when you’re going to make the salad, drain the pepper, catching the marinade in a bowl or large measuring cup.
  5. Whisk together some olive oil and a little bit of the marinating liquid to make the dressing for the salad.
  6. Rinse one can of garbanzo beans, and let them drain well.
  7. While the beans drain, cut olives in half; then mix them with the drained beans.
  8. Then stir in the drained peppers and desired amount of dressing.
  9. Stir in crumbled Feta cheese and serve the Mini Pepper Salad right away!

Make it a Meal:

This salad with marinated mini sweet peppers would be a good side dish for any of these dinner ideas:

Bell Pepper Salad shown on serving plate.

More Salads with Bell Peppers:

Bell Pepper Salad shown on serving plate.
Yield: 4 servings

Marinated Mini Pepper Salad

Prep Time 1 day
Cook Time 20 minutes
Additional Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 day 40 minutes

This tasty Marinated Mini Pepper Salad has mini sweet pepper rings that are marinated for 24 hours and then combined with Chickpeas, olives, and Feta!ย 

Ingredients

  • Ingredients for Marinated Peppers:
  • 3 cups sliced sweet mini-peppers (or used diced bell peppers)
  • 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 3 large cloves garlic, sliced
  • 1 tsp. Vege-Sal (or use 1/2 tsp. salt)
  • 1/2 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
  • Ingredients for Salad:
  • one 15 oz. can garbanzo beans (chickpeas) rinsed and drained well
  • one 6 oz. can black olives, drained well and cut in half lengthwise
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 2 T marinade from peppers (to taste)
  • 1/4 cup crumbled Feta cheese

Instructions

  1. Cut peppers into rings, cutting towards stem end and discarding stems and seeds. (I used a combination of red, yellow, and orange peppers.)
  2. Put peppers into Ziploc bag.
  3. Combine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt or Vege-Sal (affiliate link), and pepper and pour over peppers.
  4. Allow to marinate in refrigerator 24 hours, turning occasionally.
  5. The next day, drain peppers and save 2 T of marinade.
  6. Combine olive oil and reserved marinade, starting with smaller amount of marinade and tasting until it seems strong enough for you.
  7. Rinse garbanzos well (until no more foam appears) and let drain at least 10 minutes.
  8. Drain olives and cut in half lengthwise, then combine drained garbanzos and olives.
  9. Add the marinated peppers and desired amount of dressing.  (Some marinade will stick to the peppers, so you may not need all the dressing.)
  10. Gently stir in crumbled Feta and serve.
  11. This will keep in the refrigerator for a day or two, although I would add the cheese right before you serve it.

Notes

Nutritional information is for the finished salad and doesn't include all the marinating liquid, since only a small amount of that is used.ย 

Recipe inspired byย Marinated Peppersย from Erin Eats.

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 333Total Fat 18gSaturated Fat 3.4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 12.4gCholesterol 8.3mgSodium 957mgCarbohydrates 35gFiber 11gSugar 10gProtein 10g

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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Square image for Marinated Bell Pepper Salad shown on serving plate with orange tray and napkin.

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
With chickpeas, this Mini Pepper Salad would be too high in carbs for a traditional low-carb diet. You can make a lower-carb salad by using the peppers, two cans of olives, and Feta Cheese. The salad with chickpeas is a great dish for any phase of the original South Beach Diet. 

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 Kalynโ€™s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes Iโ€™m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This Marinated Mini Pepper Salad recipe was first posted in 2006! It was updated in 2012 with better photos and was last updated with more information in 2025.

Pinterest image of Marinated Mini Pepper Salad

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