White Bean, Feta and Quick-Pickled Celery Salad 

By Hetty Lui McKinnon

Published June 2, 2025

  • Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Brett Regot.
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
30 minutes
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Rating
5(2,184)
Comments
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Pickling celery for just fifteen minutes is a game changer: The acid tames its grassy notes, brings out savoriness and transforms its texture from simply crunchy to crisp-tender. Here, celery is quickly pickled with red onion to create a sweet-and-sour foundation for this hearty cannellini bean salad. The cumin seeds are optional, but they add a deeply earthy and aromatic edge to the pickles; feel free to substitute or experiment with other whole spices such as caraway, coriander, fennel or star anise. Creamy and salty feta balances the sharpness of the pickles. This is a great no-cook dish for easy weeknight eating, but it also improves with age, so can be made ahead for potlucks, picnics or other gatherings.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

  • 4 celery stalks, trimmed and thinly sliced

  • ½ small red onion, thinly sliced

  • ¼ cup white or red wine vinegar

  • 1 tablespoon sugar

  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (optional) 

  • Salt and pepper

  • 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, rinsed

  • 7 to 8 ounces crumbled feta

  • 1 cup chopped tender herbs, such as mint, parsley, cilantro, dill or a mix 

  • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 to 6 servings)

36 grams carbs; 32 milligrams cholesterol; 355 calories; 8 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 17 grams fat; 8 grams fiber; 910 milligrams sodium; 16 grams protein; 3 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place the celery and red onion in a large bowl. Add the vinegar, sugar, cumin seeds (if using) and about ½ teaspoon of salt. Toss well to combine, then set aside to pickle for 15 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Add the cannellini beans, feta and herbs to the celery and red onion. Drizzle with the olive oil, season well with salt and pepper and toss well to combine. Serve at room temperature. (The salad can be prepared and refrigerated up to 1 day in advance.)

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Ratings

5 out of 5
2,184 user ratings
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Comments

Dianne

Delicious! I followed reader comments, and cut back the sugar to 2 teaspoons. Added just a little bit of fennel to the pickling process. Added lots of mint. Note to the editors: on all your recipes that indicate the number of servings, kindly indicate how many cups in a serving according to your recipe. Serving size is so subjective.

Jennie

@Stephen in AP It's still hard IMO when you don't know, for example, the size of the celery stalks or onion. A small onion to me may be a medium onion to everyone else cuz I love onion! I would really prefer to see a volume or weight measurement for items that are not uniform in size. So how many cups are the 4 stalks of celery supposed to yield? Thank you!

Meg

I break, not cut, the stalk in half. Any strings tough enough not to break, get pulled off. Anything tender enough to break along with the stalk is tender enough to eat.

LL ATL.

Loved this. Used only one can of beans, about half the fat free feta and made a mix of balsamic and red wine vinegar with half the sugar for the pickling. Castelvefrano and arugula added little flavor but dill and parsley mix made it. Rolled it up with 7 ounces of left over smoked chicken breast, added Aleppo pepper and this was delicious! Resist the urge to add more cumin seeds - I did a teaspoon and a half of seeds and it was a bit much.

Torrie

I have made this multiple times in the last few months and it’s a great recipe! - I prefer to use more celery and only one can of beans as I prefer that ratio and having a little more crunch. - I love the tartness so I only use a tad sugar - While listed as optional, I feel like the cumin seeds are essential as they add a great flavor - my favorite combo of herbs is dill and parsley.

Dana

Love this simple recipe for a weeknight summer dinner! Fast, easy to make and does not require heat, and most of all is tasty!

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