Old Fashioned Kidney Bean Salad
Colorful, crunchy and fresh, this deliciously easy Old Fashioned Kidney Bean Salad makes a perfect cold side dish and takes just a few minutes to make. 
This easy bean salad has such a fond place in my memories. When I was a little girl you could be certain you’d find a bowl of this tangy, crunchy cold salad at the little country church potlucks I attended with my grandma.
Check out my other church potluck favorites:
Kidney bean salad takes just a handful of ingredients and transforms them into such a colorful and filling side dish. And it’s a great way to use up those hardboiled eggs you might have leftover from Easter. (Note my pretty shiny Easter eggs!)
To make Old Fashioned Kidney Bean Salad you’ll need:
2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup sweet pickles, chopped
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1/2 cup of Miracle Whip or mayo
Now let’s talk about some of these ingredients, substitutions and additions.
1) It doesn’t matter what color kidney beans you use. Dark red, light red, whatever your preference is fine! Shoot, you could even substitute in black beans or whatever canned bean you’ve got and it would probably still be tasty.
2) I like chopping up sweet pickles for my kidney bean salad because I like getting an actual bite of pickle in my salad. Feel free to substitute sweet pickle relish instead and make things even easier.
3) The dressing. You can use your preference of Miracle Whip or mayo. I know a lot of people feel very strongly about this one. Use what your taste buds like. Whatever you use, it’s going to mix in with the egg yolks and will give the salad a dressing that has a taste similar to a deviled egg. So I suggest using whatever you use to make your deviled eggs. I like both, but I think Miracle Whip tastes the best in this salad.
4) Sometimes I also add about 1/2 cup cubed cheddar cheese to this salad. It makes a great addition.
This cold salad goes great with sandwiches, burgers, like my Juicy Burger loose meat sandwiches, and leftover Easter ham! Hope you’ll enjoy this old fashioned blast from the past as much as I do.
Old Fashioned Kidney Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 2 15 ounce cans of kidney beans
- 2 stalks celery (chopped)
- 1/2 cup chopped sweet onion
- 1/4 cup chopped sweet pickle
- 3 hard boiled eggs (chopped)
- 1/2 cup Miracle Whip or Mayo
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- First drain and rinse off your kidney beans.
- Add the kidney beans to a medium sized bowl along with the chopped celery, onion, sweet pickles, hard boiled eggs, and Miracle Whip.
- Stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Will stay fresh in the fridge for several days. Just cover tightly with plastic wrap.
Notes
- Use whatever color kidney beans you have on hand, light red or dark red.
- Sweet pickle relish may be substituted for the chopped sweet pickles.
- Either Miracle Whip or mayo can be used for the dressing, use your preference.
I made it! The pickles really made it mouth watering special. Thank you for sharing 😊
thank you for this recipe. i tried looking up bean salad and they were all a no go. i put in old fashioned and found it. my mom made this for every thxgiving. this is her exact recipe thank you. love this stuff.
I literally lived on kidney bean salad in 1961 that I got for $.23 a scoop at Rennebohm,s Drug Store
I was a freshman at UNM and desperately needed contacts that my parents who were living in Chicago, refused to buy
They cost $150 for a set of hard contacts that I really never got used to. Today I’m 83 and I still love good old kidney bean salad.
Just fantastic. I use Duke’s Mayo and pickle relish.
Followed as directed and it was fantastic! Just like mom’s. Definitely making this more often.
Thank you for this recipe.
When I was a kid, the mother of my friend used to make this especially for me. I loved it. She added some regular mustard to the mix, wow, game changer. Try it.
Yes! Mustard, that’s the missing ingredient when I was looking at this recipe which was almost exact to what my Dad used to make. He added a little yellow mustard. I agree, next level deliciousness! Making this soon. he and I were the only ones to eat it, rest of family didn’t like mayo.
Made for our church senior dinner, DELICIOUS!!
Just like my mom used to make! I added chopped red peppers and chopped scallions instead of sweet onions! Your recipe was delicious!
Amy, my mother used to make this when I was growing up. I always loved it. Since she has passed, I haven ‘t been able to find a recipe even close until I found yours. Sometimes my mother would add chopped up bologna to make it a one dish meal. Whenever she made kidney bean salad, I thought I was getting a real treat. Thank you so much for posting this.
Such fond memories of mom making this, yummy! Thanks so much.
My mom made it that way also! She also used sliced hot dogs or wieners. Usually whatever was on hand!
My recollection is that we always had beans on the table of one kind or another. And occasionally the leftovers became bean salad! I don’t remember celery in it, or the boiled eggs, simply because they weren’t always available!
But they would be a welcome addition!
Great memories! Thanks for sharing!
can you use yellow onion instead of sweet onions?
this brings back memories. Growing up in the 60s, my mom made this a lot. We never made it with corn, but I’d be willing to give it a try.
My mom always made this salad but never with pickles ,love it ,reminds me of my childhood
My mom started making this in the 1950s. I loved it and begged her to make it even when there was no special occasion. I used your recipe and it was just as I remembered it. Delicious! Used pickle relish and everything else the same. Thanks for sharing!
I grew up eating this. I don’t recall if it was a seasonal salad but sometimes I just crave it so I’ll make it. I don’t ever remember my mom making it with eggs though and I’ve never added eggs either but this is just delicious without them! I also was from Michigan and had lots of family in indiana.
I omitted the egg. I used sweet pickle relish. Easy & delicious!
This dish (no onions) was always on our table at Thanksgiving and Christmas. One of my favorites and we still have it during the holidays. I signed up for a vegetable dish for a Christmas lunch this week and I plan to make this.