Make this easy, dense bean salad for a protein-packed meal or side.
Reviewed by Dietitian Emily Lachtrupp, M.S., RD
Key Points
- Amy Poehler loves a Mediterranean-inspired bean salad she found on TikTok
- Her go-to salad includes chickpeas, cannellini beans, feta, olives, tomatoes, herbs and shallots.
- This protein- and fiber-rich salad is meal-prep friendly and perfect for the Mediterranean diet.
Amy Poehler, comedy legend, award-winning podcaster and Joy incarnate—see Inside Out—also happens to be a fan of TikTok-worthy meal prep. The actor, who was recently named the Wall Street Journal’s 2026 Comedy Innovator, recently chatted with the paper about her love for a dense bean salad.
Walking the carpet for the Journal’s Innovator Awards, the Parks and Recreation star shared that she loves watching recipe videos on TikTok and has gotten into “making different kinds of salads from cooking videos.”
Specifically, Poehler mentions that her favorite salad includes chickpeas, cannellini beans, feta, cilantro, parsley, tomatoes, olives and shallots. “Mix it up, put it in your fridge,” she advises in the clip. “It can be there for three days and you feel like a genius,” she said. Unfortunately, she didn’t grace us with the precise recipe, but we have several similar recipes that incorporate beans to create a protein and fiber-rich salad that is perfect as a side or an entree all its own.
To make Poehler’s salad, you can use a can of chickpeas and a can of cannellini beans or Northern beans. Poehler prefers cannellini for her recipe, but many people prefer Northern for eating cold, as they have a lighter texture. Rinse the beans and put them in a bowl.
Chop up some fresh cilantro and parsley—a mixture of both would be delicious, but you can opt for just one, if that suits your preference—and set it aside. Halve a pint of cherry tomatoes and add them to the beans. Add in some halved Castelvetrano olives if you prefer buttery green olives, or go for sliced kalamata olives if you prefer a salty black olive. Mince one small shallot and add it to your salad, too.
Toss the mixture with a big drizzle of olive oil, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Gently mix in the cilantro and parsley, then fold in some crumbled feta and get ready to dish up your salad. Garnish each serving with additional parsley if you like—you should end up with about three or four servings.
Poehler’s bean salad is great for people following the Mediterranean diet, as it offers a nice balance of protein, fiber and healthy fats—after all, olive oil is a key element of the Mediterranean diet. The fiber and protein will mostly come from the beans in the recipe, with the mixture of cannellini and garbanzo adding up to about 16 grams of fiber and 18 grams of protein per serving.
This recipe is also vegetarian, and you could omit feta to make it vegan. Plus, this salad lends itself to being incorporated into a pasta salad—just cook up some whole-wheat penne or orzo and mix it in with the beans. Since this salad is meant to be eaten cold, it’s a good potluck side or packed lunch. It’s also a great option for meal prepping since it makes about three servings and will keep for a few days in the fridge, as Poehler says.
Need a few more easy bites to stock the fridge or freezer with this week? Here are some of our go-to recipes: