Balela Salad or Dip Recipe
This Balela Salad or Dip recipe is a tasty middle Eastern salad that is gluten-free and vegetarian, made with a variety of beans and fresh herbs. It’s great served as salad or dip, and feta cheese is optional. We love it with crunchy pita chips. Perfect for any potluck or party!
I love a good bean salad! This middle eastern Mediterranean style black bean salad is called a Balela Salad, and we’ve been making it for years. It’s also great for dipping with sturdy chips (like pita crackers), and I call this recipe our favorite “anytime” salad.
Balela Salad or Dip Recipe
Recently we served this at a bridal shower, and it’s truly great for any party! This Balela Salad with chickpeas seems to be the first dish devoured quickly at any gathering.
This salad is a scrumptious combination of garbanzo beans and black beans, mixed with diced tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, cucumber, onion, garlic, parsley and basil!
Why I love this recipe
- It’s popular at every party.
- Not just for game days.
- It’s light, healthy, and can meet many dietary needs: gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian.
- Optional to leave out the feta cheese!
What is Balela Salad?
Balela is a Middle-Eastern bean salad made with garbanzo bean (or chickpeas) and black beans, drizzled with an oily, spiced vinaigrette.
Of course there are other delicious ingredients, like fresh herbs.
Gather these ingredients:
- Garbanzo beans (or chickpeas)
- Black beans
- Onion and jalapeno
- Sun dried tomatoes
- Grape tomatoes
- Fresh dill, basil, Italian parsley
- Lemon juice
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Garlic
- Apple cider vinegar
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Feta cheese, optional – leave out if you want to make this salad Vegan
How do you make a Balela Salad or Dip Recipe?
- In a medium bowl, mix together the garbanzo beans, black beans, onion, jalepeno pepper, sun dried tomatoes, tomatoes, and herbs.
- Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, vinegar, and salt and pepper.
- Drizzle the dressing over the salad mixture; lightly stir.
- Refrigerate salad several hours or overnight to meld flavors.
- Optional to add feta cheese.
Tips and substitutions:
It’s nice to serve salad as a side dish (delicious paired with recipes like Honey Lime Boneless Chicken Thighs or Mexican Pasta Shells Recipe or Mexican Rice Salad), or as an appetizer (serve in small shot glasses, with mini forks), eat in a wrap, or add to a salad.
Looking for a Mexican-themed dessert? I’ve got it for you: Mexican Flan Cake (watch the video).
How to serve balela salad
- As a side dish
- As an appetizer (small shot glasses)
- In a wrap
- Mashed, on a sandwich
- As a dip, with crackers and chips
- Super easy to serve in these shot glasses! How cute is this? Little bites for a party!
I really love the versatility of this salad. Oh, and you can even serve it as a dip, perfect for crackers or chips! Dig in and enjoy!
More bean salads to try:
Get the Recipe:
Balela Salad (or Dip) Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 15 oz cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 15 oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained
- ½ cup chopped onion, about half a small one
- 1 jalapeno, finely chopped (optional)
- ½ cup sun dried tomatoes, best if use the ones in oil in a jar
- 1 pint grape tomatoes, cut in half
- ⅓ cup fresh dill, chopped
- ⅓ cup fresh basil, chopped (or mint)
- ⅓ cup fresh Italian parsley, flat leaf, chopped
Make the dressing:
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed
- 3 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Feta cheese, optional
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix together the garbanzo beans, black beans, onion, jalepeno pepper, sun dried tomatoes, tomatoes, and herbs.
- Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, vinegar, and salt and pepper.
- Drizzle the dressing over the salad mixture; lightly stir.
- Refrigerate salad several hours or overnight to meld flavors.
- Optional to add feta cheese.
Notes
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
You will have to leave out the feta to make it vegan
Exactly, feta is listed as “optional” in the recipe!
i love salads like this! looks so good!!
How do you pronounce this salad?
Hi, Debbie … you say … “bay-lel-la” … does that help?
This looks so good! All my favorites! Do you know the nutritional values/calories or serving size? How many servings in this recipe? Thank you so much for sharing!
Carol, you’re welcome! Serving sizes are different if you want to serve it as a dip or a salad :)
What is the recipe for the Balela Salad?? Watched the whole video. But no recipe afterwards.
The recipe is at the bottom of the post, Susan.
Are they Kalamata olives in the salad?
Judy, no!
Do the sun-dried tomatoes get drained?
If they are in a jar, yes! You can also use just dried ones :)
This was absolutely delicious as is, and also very good when I mixed what was left the next day with leftover quinoa and a bit of canned tuna. After a very hard run on a hot day, it gave me all the nutrition I needed for a solid recovery without making me feel weighed down. And did I mention it was delicious?
It sure looks like there are olives (calamata?) in the photos but I don’t see it listed in the ingredients.
No olives, Donna. Black beans! :)
I really do see olives too!
Hi!
I want to try your recipe but I can’t use lemon juice because I’m intolerant… Do you have an alternative ?
Thank you!
Sure, any citrus would work. You could even try pineapple juice!
Just made this and it’s already delicious! I added chopped artichoke hearts as well. I love the ideas above of adding feta, kalmata olives, chicken, and cucumbers! It would be great paired with tatziki sauce on pita too! What a wonderfully healthy and versatile dish!
What a great base recipe. I had all the ingredients except for the parsley and black beans. I substituted a can of white beans and also used chopped celery, leafy tops and all, instead of parsley. It tastes amazing. I also added some chopped kalamata olives. Their tanginess pairs well with the sweet sun dried tomatoes. The salad tasted even better the next day. I threw in some chopped cucumbers before serving. Delicious!
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed. YES … easy to substitute for sure!
This salad was amazing as a wrap. I “accidentally” chopped 1/2 cup amounts of all the herbs and it was absolutely delicious. Thank you for sharing; I’m going to make it for a potluck at work this Friday to see how many more people I can expose it to! I love that it’s a salad that doesn’t have dairy too!
Do you use sun dried tomatoes that come packed in oil, or the dried kind for this recipe?
Alison, either would work! :)
I also love the idea of modifying to remove the beans, but use chicken for those not eating beans/grains, etc. Looks delicious!!
Great idea, Rebekah!
Oh gosh, so embarrassed. Just noted the sun dried tomato listed in the ingredients. Very sorry. :)
I can’t wait to make this as it is posted, but what do you think about roasting the tomatoes and onions? Or even using small pieces of sun dried tomatoes? Thanks so much for posting – looks incredible!
Love the presentation in shot glasses. Unique healthy snack alternative loaded with great flavors!
THis looks PERFECT, thank you!
Sorry about the Ducks’ luck…..yes, I am in O-H-I-O!
There isn’t a mention of Feta Cheese in the list of ingredients, but it’s listed under Directions in 1. Is that an error? Or option?
Feta is optional :)
It says you can add if you like the Feta!
LOVE the flavors in this salad – can’t wait to enjoy it myself!
Just made this for lunch with stuff I had on hand and it’s fabulous! I can tell it’s going to get better with age too. Thanks for the recipe!
I am all about healthy options at parties, especially this time of year!! This salad looks amazing Sandy, I would devour it! Go Ducks! :)
AHH this looks amazing!! Saving this recipe for sure. What a great thing to serve at a party. LOVE IT! Thank you for sharing!
I remember seeing this on Instagram and thinking how marvelous that looked! So many of my favorite ingredients… and it’s so refreshing to eat healthy and hearty salads this time of year.