This Pizza Bean Salad is packed with all of your favorite deluxe pizza flavors - plus plenty of protein and fiber! It's the perfect veggie-packed side dish or lunch meal prep.
Best of all? It lasts for DAYS in the fridge and tastes even better the next day.
Imagine if you will, a flavorful supreme pizza bean salad, packed with all of your favorite pizza flavors, and brimming with a bright olive oil vinaigrette. What if I told you this brief fantasy could become your reality?
Delicious, textured, balanced, savory, and absolutely delightful - words cannot adequately describe this salad. Everyone I've fed it to has given rave reviews and asked for the recipe, so I knew that I had to share it with you.
Why You'll Love It:
- No cooking needed. The base is canned beans, meaning you don't have to pull out a single pot!
- High fiber and high protein. Beans, veggies, pepperoni, and mozzarella make for a satisfying side dish or light main dish.
- Perfect for meal prep. It tastes even better with time and lasts for 4-5 days in the fridge! We love to take it for a quick lunch on-the-go.
You Will Need:
- White beans: We love to use cannellini beans for their neutral flavor, but any type of white bean you can find will do just fine. Other options include great northern beans, white kidney beans, and navy beans.
- Mini mozzarella balls: Also known as bocconcini, mozzarella pearls, or cocktail mozzarella. These are easy to find at grocery stores and Costco, but if you don't have any on hand, you can try using mozzarella shredded from the block.
- Pepperoni: Mini pepperoni makes for the perfect little wedge shapes when cut into fourths, but if you prefer, you can use regular-sized pepperoni slices - just cut them into 6-8 wedges instead of 4.
- Sun-dried tomatoes: This is one ingredient I wanted to take some time to talk about because it adds the perfect concentrated "cooked" tomato flavor that you get with pizza sauce. We really felt that this was the tipping point to making this a true pizza salad.
Plus, our favorite pizza toppings:
- Red onion
- Green bell pepper (or red pepper)
- Cherry tomatoes
- Black olives
- Fresh basil
...and for the dressing:
- Olive oil
- White wine vinegar
- Honey
- Dijon mustard
- Oregano, salt, and pepper
How to Make Pizza Bean Salad
- Drain and rinse 2 cans of white beans, shaking off any excess liquid. Place them in a large bowl (I use my largest salad bowl).
- Prep and chop all of your toppings and add them to the bowl (I highly recommend a veggie chopper for the green pepper and red onion).
- Toss the salad well, then add freshly shredded parmesan cheese and toss again.
- Prepare the dressing by adding olive oil, white wine vinegar, honey, dijon, oregano, salt, and pepper to a small jar or cruet. Blend well with a hand frother or mini blender.
- Drizzle the dressing over the bean salad. Toss well until everything is evenly coated.
- Taste and adjust the salt, pepper, or other ingredients to your taste. Chill for at least 30-60 minutes, although 4-6 hours is our top recommendation.
Top Tip:
Remember, it will taste much better after marinating for several hours, but the amount of salt you need should be obvious. It's important to add some, toss, and taste until everything is bright and pronounced. The proper amount of salt makes all the difference!
Substitutions
Pizza pasta salad: I've had great success making this exact recipe with 8 ounces (227 grams) of rotini pasta in place of the white beans. We love to use Banza pasta, which is made from chickpeas, gluten-free, and high in protein. No one knows the difference, not even my unsuspecting neighbor who asked for the recipe!
Without Bocconcini: If you can't find mini mozzarella balls, you can use shredded mozzarella cheese from the block, or chopped fresh mozzarella packed in brine.
Gluten-free: This recipe is naturally gluten-free, but just be sure to check the packaging for the pepperoni you choose. Most pepperoni is gluten-free, but occasionally I will see one that is not.
Expert Tips
- Salt to taste. The secret to good home cooking is almost always salt. It's really important to taste your food and continue to add salt until everything tastes brighter. This is best done a little at a time.
- Let it marinate. Because of all the veggies and flavors in this recipe, it tends to taste so much better if allowed to marinate and chill for 4-6 hours. Even if you can't go that long, 30-60 minutes is perfectly adequate.
- Use a veggie chopper. I'm a practical cook and prefer a knife to nearly any tool, but when I'm chopping a large quantity of veggies (especially if they need to be finely chopped like bruschetta or pico de gallo), my veggie chopper saves the day.
Make Ahead and Meal Prep
This recipe is perfect for making ahead for days' worth of healthy side dishes, or for a satisfying lunch meal prep high in protein AND fiber. We found that the taste only improved after the first day!
- Lasts for 4-5 days in the refrigerator
- Shake or stir well before serving
- Each serving has about 20 grams of protein and 8g of fiber
- The recipe makes 6 hearty servings, or 8-10 side dish servings
More Dense Bean Salad Recipes:
If you loved this recipe for Pepperoni Pizza Bean Salad, let me know by leaving a 5-star review in the recipe card or comment below! You can also tag me on Instagram @dashfordinner.
Pizza Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 2 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans (or white beans of choice), drained and rinsed (about 3-3 ½ cups)
- 3.5 ounces (100g) mini pepperoni quartered (about ¾ cup)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes quartered (about ¾ of a pint)
- 1 small green bell pepper seeded and diced
- ½ red onion diced
- 8 ounces (227g) boccocini cheese* drained and quartered (also known as fresh mozzarella pearls or mini mozzarella balls)
- ⅓ cup sliced black olives or kalamata olives
- ⅓ cup sliced sun-dried tomatoes oil drained off
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
- ⅓ cup shredded parmesan cheese Parmigiano-Reggiano
Vinaigrette Dressing:
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar
- 2-3 teaspoons honey
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Drain the beans. Drain your beans in a colander and run cold water over them until they are completely clear of the canning liquid. Shake off any excess water and add them to a large salad bowl.
- Assemble the rest. To the beans, add the pepperoni, cherry tomatoes, green bell pepper, mini mozzarella balls, black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil, and parmesan cheese. Toss well to combine.
- Make the dressing. Add the olive oil, white wine vinegar, honey, dijon mustard, oregano, salt, and black pepper to a small glass jar or mini blender. Use a mini frother (or small blender/food processor) to mix the dressing until emulsified.
- Dress the salad. Pour the dressing over the bean salad, and toss until everything is evenly coated in the vinaigrette. Taste and adjust the salt, pepper, and other ingredients to your liking. Remember that it should taste bright and pronounced; if it's a bit flat, add a bit of salt, toss, and taste again. The salad will taste best after chilling.
- (Optional) Chill for 30-60 minutes. To allow the flavors to marinate and meld together, we recommend chilling the salad for about 30-60 minutes. Taste, and adjust as needed before serving. Adding salt to taste is important because canned beans vary wildly in salt content and may need a little more (or a little less).
Notes
Nutrition
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Dorothy Bigelow says
This recipe is SO EASY, satisfying, and flavorful. It has all of the best pizza flavors, but all of the fiber and protein of beans. Winner winner!