Marinated Bell Pepper Salad
This Bell Pepper Salad features sweet mini-pepper rings that are marinated for 24 hours and then combined with garbanzos, olives, and Feta! See tips in the recipe if you’d like to make a low-carb version of this tasty salad.
PIN Marinated Bell Pepper Salad to try it later!
I posted this Marinated Bell Pepper Salad after I met Utah blogger who’d posted a recipe for marinated peppers. And even though this tasty salad also has garbanzos, olives, and Feta Cheese, trust me when I say this salad is all about the bell 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.
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
- sliced sweet mini-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 sweet mini-peppers?
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 salad?
If you love the idea of marinated bell peppers but don’t want the carbs from the garbanzo beans, you can make a delicious pepper 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, and you’re only eating the amount of marinade that clings to the peppers if you eat them plain.
How to make Marinated Bell Pepper Salad:
(Scroll down for complete recipe with nutritional information.)
- 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.
- Combine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt or Vege-Sal (affiliate link), and pepper and pour over peppers.
- Put the peppers in a small Ziploc bag and marinate them overnight in the fridge.
- The next day when you’re going to make the salad, drain the pepper, catching the marinade in a bowl or large measuring cup.
- Whisk together some olive oil and a little bit of the marinating liquid to make the dressing for the salad.
- Rinse one can of garbanzo beans, and let them drain well.
- While the beans drain, cut olives in half; then mix them with the drained beans.
- Then stir in the drained peppers and desired amount of dressing.
- Stir in crumbled Feta cheese and serve!
Make it a Meal:
This would be a good side dish for something like Grilled Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar, Greek Meatballs, Grilled Boneless Pork Chops, Greek Air-Fryer Chicken Wings, or Almond and Parmesan Baked Fish.
More Salads with Peppers, Olives, or Garbanzo Beans:
- Antipasto Chopped Salad
- Tapas Salad with Peppers, Olives, and Capers
- Chopped Greek Salad with Peppers
- Chickpea Salad with Tomatoes, Olives, and Herbs
- Roasted Vegetable Salad with Chickpeas
Marinated Bell Pepper Salad
This Marinated Bell Pepper Salad has garbanzos, olives, and Feta, and this a tasty salad for lunch or dinner!
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
Directions for Marinated Peppers:
- Cut peppers into rings, cutting towards stem end and discarding stems and seeds. (I used a combination of red, yellow, and orange peppers.)
- Put peppers into Ziploc bag.
- Combine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt or Vege-Sal (affiliate link), and pepper and pour over peppers.
- Allow to marinate in refrigerator 24 hours, turning occasionally.
Directions for Salad:
- Drain peppers and save 2 T of marinade.
- Combine olive oil and reserved marinade, starting with smaller amount of marinade and tasting until it seems strong enough for you.
- Rinse garbanzos well (until no more foam appears) and let drain at least 10 minutes.
- Drain olives and cut in half lengthwise, then combine drained garbanzos and olives.
- Add the marinated peppers and desired amount of dressing. (Some marinade will stick to the peppers, so you may not need all the dressing.)
- Gently stir in crumbled Feta and serve.
- 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. Recipe inspired by Marinated Peppers from Erin Eats.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount 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.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
With the garbanzo beans this Marinated Pepper Salad with Garbanzos, Olives, and Feta would be too high in carbs for a traditional low-carb diet, but it’s a great dish for any phase of the original South Beach Diet. Check the suggestions above to make a low-carb version.
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 can also Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe was first posted in 2006. It was updated in 2012 with better photos and was updated and improved in 2021.
25 Comments on “Marinated Bell Pepper Salad”
This looks absolutely delicious! The peppers are marinating right now 🤗 I’m wondering if I could swap out the black olives with kalamatas? We shall see!
Thanks for the recipe!
Absolutely use any olives you prefer!
My husband snuck an early taste of the peppers and said the are phenomenal 😁I will let you know how the salad is with the kalamatas 👍
Jan, so glad you enjoyed it. I like the idea of marinating zucchini in the leftover marinade too!
We had this for dinner tonight. Oh my this is being moved to my Tried and Approved board on Pinterest. It is delish and my grand kids loved it too. I could not let the Marinate go to waste so I put 3 sliced Zucchini in for about 10 min after making the salad then of to the B.B.Q. Thanks for a new favorite.
Sandra, great additions!
This one is a keeper. I added 1 tsp. Allepo pepper to the final marinade and fresh oregano to enhance the Mediterranean flavor. Thanks!
Sandra
Thanks Sarah. Good to know that longer marinating time will work.
Kalyn –
I made this and marinated it for 2 days (after an unplanned dinner out last night). And put it into a pita pocket! Delicious!
Sarah
the marinated peppers just made my mouth water!! Sounds delicious. And I'm glad you had a great trip.
I was just thinking that I needed a new salad recipe and here you go and provide a great one! I have this ready in the refrig for dinner tonight, but I keep sneaking a bite….it's delicious.
I also thought that to give a little different twist, it might be good to grill the peppers and then add to the salad.
Teresa in Texas
I love each ingredient in this dish so together this would probably make a meal for me!
I'm absolutely making this as soon as possible! YUM!
I love the idea of marinading peppers! People always think to marinade meat, but never veg. This looks like a lovely combination of flavors and textures.
I am definitely sold on feta with this combination of ingredients, too. The colors are so pretty and I'm sure the flavors are even better.
So glad people are liking this. Love the idea of using banana peppers from the garden!
This looks like a perfect recipe for the havana, banana and carmen peppers we will harvest from our garden this summer, thank you!!
Looks delicious Kalyn. I love the idea of combining peppers with chick peas.
I love peppers, this is a wonderful recipe. I’m going to try this tomorrow. And the picture is awesome !
Erica, Sher, and Vanessa, it was really good, if I do say so myself. CC, I had a lot of fun.
Jennifer, love the idea of adding proscuitto. How about little bits of good salami? Marinated mushrooms? Pieces of asparagus? The possibilities are endless.
Antipasto in a bowl is the perfect spring supper in my opinion. You know what also might be good in this? Little slivers of prosciutto! I’m already thinking of variations…
Just… So happy to hear you had a great trip!!
tasty! i remember those sweet little things you put into the salad. the texture with the garbanzos must be delicious.
btw, welcome back 🙂
That looks so delicious–and it’s so beautiful to look at.
Yum! Looks and sounds great! Thanks so much for sharing, I’m looking forward to giving it a try