You’ll love this easy and flavorful lupini bean salad recipe! Packed with colorful veggies and nutritious lupin beans, this high-protein salad is incredibly satisfying.
Great for lunch or a light dinner on busy weekdays, this lupini bean salad with zesty lemon dressing is ideal for meal prep and stays fresh and crisp for days!
If you’re looking for more recipes that use lupini beans, go take a peek at my Italian Lupini Bean Antipasto Salad – our favorite “fancy salad”!
Ingredients
These are the simple ingredients you’ll need to make this healthy one-bowl lupini bean salad:
- Brined lupini beans, drained and rinsed 2 1/2 cups
- Diced cherry tomatoes ,1 cup
- One small sweet bell pepper, chopped (I used red, but any color)
- One small red onion, finely chopped
- Chopped fresh parsley (1/3 cup) and mint leaves (1/4 cup)
Have you noticed the similarity to Balela salad? This recipe is a low-carb version of that famous Middle Eastern chickpea salad. The difference: I substituted garbanzo beans for keto-friendly lupini beans!
Dressing ingredients
Any basic olive oil and lemon juice based vinaigrette is going to enhance this lupini bean salad, but this light and tangy sumac lemon dressing really makes it shine! Here are the ingredients:
- Extra-virgin olive oil, 3 tablespoons
- Fresh squeezed lemon juice, 2 tablespoons
- Red wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar), 1 tablespoon
- Ground sumac (or lemon pepper), 1/2 teaspoon
- One garlic clove, finely minced
- Salt and pepper, to taste
How to make
- In a large bowl, add the lupini beans, diced tomatoes, sweet bell peppers, chopped onion, parsley, and mint leaves. Fold everything to combine.
- Add all dressing ingredients to a large jar with a tight-fitting lid, and shake to combine. Or whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Pour the dressing over the lupini bean salad and toss to combine. Serve it straight away or refrigerate overnight – it gets even tastier with time!
Recipe variations
Customize ingredients
This low-carb bean salad is inspired by the mix of flavors of Middle Eastern Balela Salad, which contains ingredients that vary from country to country. As such, you can add in or swap out ingredients to suit your tastes.
Here are some ideas that go well with our lupini recipe:
- Add-ons: Pitted black or Kalamata olives, crumbled feta cheese, chopped Persian cucumbers, spring onions, fresh basil.
- Lower carbs: Swap the red onion for green onions.
- Extra crunch: Add toasted walnuts, roasted pine nuts, pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or pistachios.
- Make it spicy: Add ground cumin, Aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes, sweet or smoky paprika, or finely chopped jalapeños to taste.
Substitute sumac with lemon pepper
Sumac is a spice made from dried berries with a tangy, lemony flavor that adds a beautiful touch of burgundy color to dishes.
If you don’t have sumac, substitute for lemon pepper. Use lemon pepper made for dressing, which contains just lemon (or lemon and lime), pepper and salt.
The regular lemon pepper used for sprinkling on meat or finished dishes contains onion, garlic and other herbs and might taste a bit like ranch seasoning, which is delicious but not a good match for this recipe.
Hot tips and FAQ
Are lupini beans keto
Although lupini beans are a legume, they are low-carb and keto-friendly. A 1/4 cup portion of jarred lupini beans contains ZERO net carbs, making them the beans with the lowest carbs!
Substitute chickpeas with lupini
Are there any chickpea recipes you don’t make anymore since starting keto? I have a secret for you:
I use lupini beans as a low-carb alternative to chickpeas in all recipes – including hummus – to make them keto-friendly!
The texture is different, as lupin beans aren’t soft, but the taste is similar enough. The buttery, nutty taste of lupini beans makes them even better than garbanzo beans in my opinion!
Dry vs brined lupin beans
I always choose pickled or brined lupini beans over dried ones because I don’t have the time or patience for cooking them.
Dry lupini beans require a very time-consuming soaking and cooking preparation process to remove their toxic alkaloids and become edible. But canned lupini beans don’t need to be cooked!
Getting ready-to-eat canned or jarred lupini beans guarantees that they are safe to consume and taste good every time, with no extra work for yourself!
Making ahead and storage
If you have leftovers after mixing the dressing, don’t worry: This lupini salad NEVER gets soggy!
In fact, leaving it refrigerated soaks the onions and marinates the lupini beans and other ingredients in the lemony dressing, developing the flavors and making it even more delicious!
You can prepare ahead and keep it in the fridge in a closed container for up to 3 to 4 days – it’s the best salad for meal prep!
Lupini Bean Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (400 g) ready-to-eat lupini beans drained and rinsed
- 1 (80 g) small red onion finely chopped
- 1 cup (150 g) cherry tomatoes quartered
- 1 (119 g) medium red bell pepper (or any color), chopped
- ⅓ cup (20 g) fresh parsley chopped
- ¼ cup (11 g) fresh mint leaves chopped
Dressing ingredients
- 3 tablespoons (42 g) extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon ground sumac or lemon pepper
- 1 garlic clove minced
- ½ teaspoon fine salt adjust to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper adjust to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add 2 1/2 cups ready-to-eat lupini beans, 1 small red onion, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, 1 medium red bell pepper, 1/3 cup fresh parsley 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves. Fold everything to combine.
- Add all dressing ingredients (3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon ground sumac, 1 garlic clove, 1/2 teaspoon fine salt and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper) to a large jar with a tight-fitting lid, and shake to combine. Or whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Pour the dressing over the lupini bean salad and toss to combine. Serve it straight away or refrigerate overnight – it gets even tastier over time!
Notes
- Add-ons: Pitted black or Kalamata olives, crumbled feta cheese, chopped Persian cucumbers, spring onions, fresh basil.
- Lower carbs: Swap the red onion for green onions.
- Extra crunch: Add toasted walnuts, roasted pine nuts, pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or pistachios.
- Make it spicy: Add ground cumin, Aleppo peppersweet or smoky paprika, or finely chopped jalapeños to taste.
Nutrition
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