Dolly Parton's 3-Bean Salad Couldn't Be Simpler, And It's Just In Time For Potluck Season

There are endless types of salads to make when the mood for a mishmash of ingredients hits. From the classic Caesar salad to an herby potato salad, the options are seemingly limitless. If you've been looking new recipe, you might consider trying Dolly Parton's hearty 3-bean salad, as it's pretty simple to throw together.

The recipe is vintage, coming from Parton's 1989 cookbook, "Dollywood Presents: Tennessee Mountain Home Cooking." The salad mixture includes canned kidney beans, green beans, and wax beans, as well as green onion, minced garlic, and fresh parsley. Parton's recipe calls for Italian dressing — whether homemade or store-bought — but you could swap for similar zesty, vinegar-based dressing. The country music legend's high-fiber salad also uses sugar mixed in with the dressing, which you can choose to leave out if you prefer. Note: Adding crispy beans to your bean salad might just take it to another level, because who doesn't love a satisfying crunch? Savory tuna makes a great addition to bean salads, too.

It's easy to make substitutions to this dense bean salad if you want to. You can incorporate pinto beans, cannellini beans, garbanzo beans, or really any kind of beans you like. Similarly, you can use other types of onion than just green onion. To make the salad even more nutritious, feel free to include vegetables like celery, cucumber, and grape or cherry tomatoes. Some bean salad recipes also contain other fresh herbs like grassy dill, mint, basil, or cilantro. Adding a burst of bright citrus flavor with a couple squeezes of lemon juice is another good way to upgrade Parton's retro recipe. 

You can eat this bean salad on its own for lunch or serve as a side dish with a delicious marinated steak or chicken. If you're having a gathering or attending a potluck, doubling or tripling the recipe for more people is a cinch — just grab a few more cans of beans.