Tuna White Bean Salad and Basil and Lemon

This Cannellini White Bean Salad is incredibly good, made with tuna, fresh basil, and zingy lemon. It's light, fresh and ready in under 10 minutes, suited to lunch or as a healthy side dish.

Salads don't get much easier than this and even although it's made with simple ingredients (and few of them) it's FULL of flavour and we love it for 3 main reasons:

• We t's fast – the only bit of effort you need to make is finely chopping an onion so this salad is ready in under 10 minutes, yup now you definitely can't beat that!
• It's fresh and healthy – the lemon juice, zest, fresh basil, and onion all give this salad the most good freshness, flavour and it's packed with protein and is extremely good for you.
• It can be prepped ahead of time – you can whip it up in advance and enjoy it for lunch on the go or serve it up at barbecues or picnics plus the flavours get a chance to develop!

The Best Beans To Use

Cannellini beans are our bean of choice, we love the texture, creaminess and flavour especially if you buy high-quality ones. Whilst living in Italy we came across these white beans sold in jars and not canned.

Once we tried them we could not believe the difference in flavour and texture (so much more creamy and so much more good). If you can't find jarred ones, use higher quality canned ones and don't go for the cheapest ones.

Tip: If you want to switch things up you could also use butter beans but the texture will be slightly different.

How to Make White Bean Salad – Step By Step

Drain and rinse the cannellini bean and add to a large mixing bowl (photo 1).

Drain the tuna and add that to the bowl alongside finely chopped onion, lemon zest, and juice (photos 2-4).

Drizzle over some olive oil and season with salt and pepper, finally add some chopped basil and toss to combine (photos 5 & 6).

Easy, right? There's no dressing to make, it all mixes together and tastes good. You can also prep this salad in advance and keep it in the fridge until you need it.

Top Tips for Making White Bean Salad

• Use good quality tuna and make sure it's from a sustainable source.
• Quality also goes for the cannellini beans, don't go for the cheapest as they tend to be harder and not as tasty.
• Rinse the cannellini beans before adding to the salad.
• You can use tuna canned in water or oil.

More Healthy and Fresh Salads You Might Like:

• Classic Caprese Salad
• Warm White Bean Salad – Tomato, Prosciutto & Baby Mozzarella
• Green bean Salad with Mustard and Garlic Dressing
• Fennel Courgette Salad with Smoked Scamorza & Chilli
• Summer Easy Bean Salad

Ingredients

Makes 4 people

• 5.6 oz (160g) tuna (, in oil)
• 1.5 lbs (720g) cannellini beans ((2 cans))
• 1 red onion
• a large handful of basil
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 lemon juice (, freshly squeezed)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper (to season)

Method

1. Drain and rinse the cannellini beans and place in a large bowl then drain the tuna and add to the bowl.

2. Finely chop the red onion and add to the bowl with the cannellini beans and tuna. Grate the zest of 1 lemon over the tuna and beans then squeeze over the juice of half the lemon. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Finely chop the basil and add to the bowl along with 2-3 tbsp olive oil (add more if desired). Stir everything until combined. Enjoy.

Kitchen notes

Top Tips for Making White Bean Salad

• Use good quality tuna and make sure it's from a sustainable source.
• Quality also goes for the cannellini beans, don't go for the cheapest as they tend to be harder and not as tasty.
• Rinse the cannellini beans before adding to the salad.
• You can use tuna canned in water or oil.
• Serves 4 as a main or 6 as a side.