Old Fashioned Kidney Bean Salad

Easy to make Kidney Bean Salad recipe with complete step-by-step, photo illustrated instructions and a printable recipe.

This dish is really easy. Mix it all up in one bowl.

Quick and Easy Kidney Bean Salad Recipe. 

About a week ago, I received an email from one of the subscribers to the Taste of Southern Newsletter asking if I’d ever heard of a Kidney Bean Salad.

I had not.

The person asking told me it included kidney beans, onion, eggs, mayonnaise, and maybe pickle relish. She said she knew it sounded strange but she remembered it being very good.

In my reply back, I told her that it did indeed sound strange – interesting – but strange. Smile

Mitzi C. says she remembers this from her youth growing up in Western Kentucky. Again, I’d never heard of it. It did sound strange, but my curiosity was piqued.

I told Mitzi that I had already placed Kidney Beans on my shopping list. I wanted to try this.

The recipe below is adapted from one you’ll find on the Bush’s Best Beans website. Their recipe called for dill pickles. I’m just not a fan of dill pickles. Makes my mouth pucker.

When I asked Mitzi about the dill pickle relish, she said the only thing they knew as relish was a sweet pickle relish. It seems we were in agreement with that. So, sweet pickle it is.

You can whip this up in just a few minutes, and all in one bowl. It’s that easy. But, it really tastes best if you can refrigerate it overnight to let the flavors fully develop. At least try to give it an hour or two in the fridge to get it cold. You’ll like it that much more.

I knew when the recipe called for mayonnaise that we could make it Southern just by using our favorite Duke’s Mayonnaise. They don’t pay me to say that. Duke’s folks don’t even know me. Smile.

The salad reminded me a bit of a Waldorf Salad minus the crunch of the apples. And, I do love a good Waldorf Salad. Most of all, this was a new taste experience that I will be making again. I think you will also.

So, if you’re ready to give this Kidney Bean Salad a try, let’s head on out to the kitchen and… Let’s Get Cooking – I mean refrigerating. No cooking involved with this one. Told you it was easy. Smile.

You’ll need these ingredients to make our Kidney Bean Salad recipe.

Empty the canned beans into a colander to drain off the liquid.

Rinse the beans under cool running water, swishing them around to rinse them well.

Let the beans drain really well. The drier the better.

Any water left on the beans will make your finished salad “soupy,” so let the beans drain well while you prepare the other ingredients.

I think next time, I might even spread some paper towels out on a sheet pan and spread the beans out to let them dry out even more so. I ended up with a bit more liquid in the bottom of the bowl after letting the salad sit for awhile than I wanted. Just an idea. Smile.

Use the back of a fork to break up the boiled eggs.

Slice the celery.

Dice the onions. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup so I didn’t use the entire onion that I had.

I’m going to chop up some of my own homemade sweet pickles made by Mama’s recipe.

If you’re using a ready made relish, you’ll just need to measure out the required amount.

Grab a medium sized mixing bowl and add the Duke’s Mayonnaise to it.

Add your pickle relish.

Sprinkle on the black pepper.

Then add the salt. Go ahead and stir this up a bit.

Now, add in the chopped eggs.

Add the celery.

Add the onions.

Finally, add in the drained kidney beans.

If you’ll notice, mine were still a bit wet even after sitting in the colander and draining while I prepared the other few items.

Fold everything together until it’s fully combined.

Cover the bowl with clear wrap and place it in the refrigerator.

It needs at least a couple of hours for all the flavors to blend together, but it’s even better if you can refrigerate it overnight.

Enjoy!

This would have looked better if I’d placed it on some lettuce leaves, but I just didn’t have any on hand when I made the salad. I did try to spruce it up a bit with some slices of boiled eggs and a few extra pickles on the side.

It may not be the most eye appealing dish, but I enjoyed the new taste. Kind of reminded me of a Waldorf Salad without the crunch of the apples.