Healthy Bean Side Dish Recipes

Find healthy, delicious bean side dish recipes including black bean, chickpea, lentil and edamame side dishes. Healthier recipes, from the food and nutrition experts at EatingWell.

Staff Picks

Moroccan Kidney Bean & Chickpea Salad

5
The bold flavors of the lemon-cumin dressing in this healthy bean salad recipe make it a wonderful side dish to grilled beef and lamb, yet it's also a stellar meatless main when served with whole-wheat couscous.
By Katie Webster

Black Bean, Corn & Avocado Pasta Salad

1
Serve this colorful, veggie-packed pasta salad at your next outdoor gathering. From creamy avocado to crunchy bell peppers, this pasta salad is full of texture and flavor. A homemade herb-lime vinaigrette ties everything together.
By Sophie Johnson

Stuffed Potatoes with Salsa & Beans

3
Taco night meets baked potato night with this simple recipe for loaded baked potatoes with salsa, beans and avocado. This easy, healthy family dinner comes together with just 10 minutes of active time, so you can make it on even the busiest of weeknights. This recipe is just as delicious with sweet potatoes in place of russets.
By Devon O'Brien

Chickpea & Potato Hash

8
The eggs cook right on top of this chickpea and potato hash--cook them a few extra minutes if you prefer hard-set eggs. Serve with warm pita bread and a cucumber salad with mint and yogurt.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Chilaquiles Casserole

74
Our version of this enchilada-style chilaquiles casserole is packed with nutritious beans and vegetables. Canned prepared enchilada sauce has great flavor and keeps the prep time quick. It can vary in heat level so find one that suits your taste. If you want to eliminate the heat altogether, try a green enchilada sauce (which is often milder than red) or substitute two 8-ounce cans of plain tomato sauce.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Loaded Sweet Potato Nacho Fries

4
Bump up the vitamin A and fiber when you swap tortilla chips for sweet potatoes in this healthy recipe. Serve as an appetizer at your next party or turn it into dinner by adding chicken, tofu, shrimp or more beans for protein.
By Hilary Meyer

Broccoli, Chickpea & Pomegranate Salad

3
Simple steps give this broccoli salad recipe a more nuanced flavor: soaking the onion tempers its bite and toasting the cumin enhances its aroma. Serve alongside grilled chicken, pork or fish.
By Christine Burns Rudalevige

Chickpea Salad

4
This satisfying chickpea salad is a delicious combination of textures, from crunchy cucumbers to crumbly feta. The dill ranch dressing adds creaminess, but a tangy vinaigrette would be just as good.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Chickpea Snack Salad

Take 5 minutes to toss together a fiber-rich chickpea and tomato salad for a satisfying snack.
By Andrea Mathis, M.A., RDN, LD

8-Layer Taco Salad

5
This gorgeous and colorful 8-layer taco salad recipe is made healthier by using ground turkey in place of beef, adding Greek yogurt and bumping up the amount of vegetables. Serve this salad in a clear glass bowl and you'll have an eye-catching party-worthy dinner or potluck side in just 30 minutes.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Southwest Chopped Salad with Tomatillo Dressing

2
Jicama is the crunchy, sweet tuberous root of a legume native to Central America. If you love it in this salad, try including sticks of it with your next crudités spread.

Seven-Layer Salad

9
This makeover of a Midwestern classic tops layers of lettuce, peas, bell pepper and tomatoes with a creamy, tangy dressing. The salad stays fresh underneath until it's served and gets even better when held overnight.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen
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Inspiration and Ideas

Bean & Tomato Salad
This beautiful salad combines fresh tomatoes, green beans, red onions and dried heirloom beans.
Lemon-Dill Green Beans
"This is an A+ recipe especially with fresh green beans freshly picked from the garden." – C2
Spinach with Chickpeas
Indian Mango Dal
17
Roasted Corn, Black Bean & Mango Salad
16

This simple, fresh-tasting salad adds delicious variety to grilled foods, such as salmon, halibut, chicken or pork. Browning the corn in a skillet gives it a nutty, caramelized flavor that contrasts with the sweetness of the mango.

All Healthy Bean Side Dish Recipes

Curried Baked Beans

If you're a fan of classic baked beans, give this healthy recipe with curry powder, lime juice and molasses a whirl. These stovetop baked beans also have half the sugar and three-quarters of the sodium compared to a traditional recipe--and take a few hours' less cooking time. Serve with pistachio-crusted pork tenderloin or grilled fish.
By Carolyn Malcoun

Summer Succotash Salad

3
This summer salad is based on the Southern favorite, succotash, and is a fresh-tasting combination of butter beans, corn, summer squash and tomatoes. Butter beans, the same species as lima beans, are the bean of choice in the South. When they're in season you may be able to find them fresh--shell them yourself. Or use frozen butter beans, baby lima beans or even edamame.
By Virginia Willis

Cucumber & Black-Eyed Pea Salad

7
An easy salad to serve with grilled chicken or steak for supper or on a bed of greens for a satisfying lunch. Substitute white beans or chickpeas for the black-eyed peas if you prefer.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Seasoned Black-Eyed Peas

To infuse peas with flavor, simmer them with dried spices, which pack a more intense punch than fresh. Smoked paprika delivers the essence of ham hocks or bacon while keeping this classic side dish vegan.
By Genevieve Ko

Moroccan Lentil Salad

3
This healthy date, carrot and lentil salad recipe is flavored with a spiced preserved-lemon dressing. While most salads taste best when freshly assembled, lentil salads appreciate time for the flavors to marry so try to make it at least a few hours ahead if you can. Bring the salad to room temperature before serving and adjust salt if needed.
By Joyce Goldstein

Herbed Corn & Edamame Succotash

5
Fresh green soybeans, called edamame or sweet beans, are a great addition to this classic American dish, where they stand in for the traditional lima beans. The succotash is wonderful as it is or topped with grilled shrimp, salmon or chicken.
By Kathy Farrell-Kingsley

Black-Eyed Peas & Okra

1
This bean and okra recipe is a classic Southern side dish perfect for potlucks. Adding the okra toward the end of cooking guarantees a tender--not mushy--texture.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Parmesan White Beans

Stash mirepoix blend—a basic building-block combo of chopped carrots, celery and onion—in your freezer and save some serious prep time on this simple bean side dish.
By Karen Ansel, MS, RDN

Super-Green Edamame Salad

3
Avocado, fresh chives and spinach are blended right into the creamy, bright-green dressing in this healthy edamame salad recipe. Pink beans are popular in the Caribbean, but you can substitute pinto beans or light red kidney beans if you can't find them.
By Katie Webster

Indian-Spiced Kale & Chickpeas

9
Chickpeas make this exotic dish a terrific player in any vegetarian menu.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Roasted Tomato and Vegetable Soup

6
This veggie-packed side-dish vegetable soup can be made in the slow cooker. Just make a few tweaks (see Variation).
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Slow-Cooker Cuban-Style Black Beans

These slow-cooker beans are super flavorful and tender. To save time, process the garlic cloves in a small food processor instead of mincing them by hand. You can also make this a day ahead and refrigerate overnight to give the flavors more time to mingle. Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves, if desired.
By Cooking Light

Skillet Tuna Noodle Casserole

19
Known as Tuna-Pea Wiggle to some, this family-friendly tuna noodle casserole tends to be made with canned soup and whole milk, which means high fat and sodium. We remedy this by making our own creamy mushroom sauce with nonfat milk thickened with a bit of flour. Look for whole-wheat egg noodles--they have more fiber than regular egg noodles (but this dish will work well and taste great with either).
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Better Three-Bean Salad

7
Traditional three-bean salad gets a healthy, fresh spin with the addition of black soybeans, snap peas and a tarragon-infused dressing. Find black soybeans near other canned beans; they're a sweeter, creamier relative of the green ones you're probably familiar with.
By Katie Webster

Bulgur & Butter Bean Salad

The pleasantly sweet-and-sour pomegranate molasses in the tangy vinaigrette here is made by reducing pomegranate juice into a syrup. Look for it at well-stocked grocery stores and Middle Eastern markets.
By Alanna Lipson

Spinach and Garbanzo Beans

This is no ordinary wilted spinach recipe--it's dressed up with shallot, pine nuts, and garbanzo beans for a tasty side dish for meat or chicken.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Slow-Cooked Beans

6
By cooking your own dried beans, you save money, reduce sodium and get better flavor along with, surprisingly, more vitamins and minerals. If you can't use the whole batch, freeze surplus cooked beans for later use in soups, salads and dips. The range of time for cooking beans is wide and varies with the age and the type of beans selected.
By Jerry Anne Di Vecchio

Yogurt Rice

Savory, cool yogurt rice, or "curd rice," as it's referred to on the Indian subcontinent, is the ultimate comfort food.
By Padma Lakshmi

Tabbouleh with Chickpeas

2
This tabbouleh recipe with chickpeas has lots of parsley, mint, tomatoes and cucumbers. Toasting brings out the flavor in the cumin, and cinnamon adds a subtle depth to the flavors. Bring this tabbouleh recipe as a side to a party or serve as a one-dish supper for 6 instead of 8.
By Anna Thomas

Cuban-Style Black Beans and Rice

This classic black beans and rice recipe is loaded with flavor!
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Sweet Potato Fritters with Smoky Pinto Beans

15
These easy sweet potato fritters have a crispy crust and a tender middle. The beans are flavored with smoked paprika, but sweet or hot would work well too. To give it a Mexican-inspired twist, use chili powder as the spice instead of the paprika.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Vegetarian Quinoa & Squash Casserole

6
An aromatic mixture of garlic, paprika, cumin, coriander, allspice and cayenne flavors this vegetarian quinoa and squash casserole recipe. Frozen squash is a super-easy topping.
By Carolyn Malcoun

Red Lentil, Quinoa, and Flaxseed Pilaf

Look for red lentils and quinoa at a large supermarket or a store that carries a wide selection of legumes and grains. Pairing them with flaxseeds boosts the nutrition of this pilaf.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Chickpeas with Garlicky Yogurt & Toasted Pita (Fatteh Hommos)

Fatteh means "broken" and signifies a dish of toasted bread pieces mixed with other ingredients. In this easy recipe, the yogurt is also "broken" with tahini, garlic and oil. Enjoy it immediately, before the crispy bread gets soggy from the yogurt.
By Kamal Mouzawak
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