How to Make a Dense Bean Salad with Your Favorite Seasonal Veggies
According to content creator and bean queen Violet Witchel.
Becky Duffett
“Dense bean salads” have been trending for a minute on TikTok, and if you love beans and seasonal veggies, you get the hype. Because, whatever you want to call it, who doesn’t love a sturdy salad you can prep at the beginning of the week and enjoy for a few days, only getting better as it marinates? “It’s just kind of blown up from there, and it’s very surprising,” says content creator Violet Witchel. Then again, beans are big in the Bay. “I joke that this is the California-Mediterranean diet.”
You might know Witchel as “the Dense Bean Salad Girl,” with 2.8 million followers on TikTok and 125,000 readers on Substack. But scrolling across her videos, did you realize that she’s local to SF? She went to elementary school in the Mission, and would swing by Bi-Rite Creamery after practice, for a scoop of salted caramel with hot fudge. She started making salads at Vassar College in Upstate New York, as a competitive swimmer who can’t tolerate gluten, when she was simply craving more calories and nutrition. Bouncing back to Northern California, she later went to culinary school at the Culinary Institute of America at Copia in Napa.
When her video of a grinder bean salad took off, suddenly dense bean salads flooded the internet. These days, Witchel is selling salads at the farmers market in SF, and is super excited to announce her first cookbook coming out in spring 2027. At this point, she’s developed dozens of recipes, so you can find inspiration in viral hits like Sundried Tomato and Spicy Chipotle Chicken, the longtail favorite Steak Chimichurri, and farmers market bestseller Miso Edamame.
In the meantime, while waiting for this definitive cookbook, she’s offering a few fresh tips for how to chop and drop a dense bean salad. Here’s a loose guide to what to grab in the Markets, with options to swap in seasonal obsessions, and toss it all together at home.
Becky Duffett
Grab a Couple Cans of Beans
Witchel recommends two different types of beans. “I like to mix up the texture and shape, so you get some variety.” There’s nothing wrong with canned for convenience, and she often reaches for chickpeas and butter beans. Chickpeas hold their shape beautifully and have a nutty bite, while butter beans are more soft and creamy. If you have time to soak and simmer dried beans, larger sizes like gigante or corona beans are both big fun, offering a meaty texture and soaking up marinade.
Becky Duffett
Pile On the Crunchy Veggies
Load up on about a pound of crunchy vegetables, such as carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, cabbage, and bok choy. In the spring, Witchel loves the crush of sugar snap peas, and tons of fresh herbs like dill, mint, or parsley. Plus about ½ cup of alliums, like shallot, red onion, or green onion.
Pack in Satisfying Protein
Fold in about 1½ pounds of your favorite protein. Marinated meats are super flavorful and easy to sear or grill, with options like harissa chicken thighs, honey-mustard pork, and cilantro-lime steak. You can also grab a prepared option, including pulled chicken. Don’t forget deli favorites like prosciutto or salami, which add antipasti and charcuterie style.
Punch Up the Pickles
Toss in a handful of pickles and olives to impart salty, spicy, and fermented flavor. Go classic with Castelvetrano olives, cute cornichons, or a burst of tiny capers. Or jumpstart marination with jarred veggies, like sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, or piquillo peppers. Old-school pepperoncini made it into the original grinder salad, and Witchel’s latest obsession is fiery kimchi.
Becky Duffett
Crumble Cheese Over the Top
Whenever she’s building a board, Witchel loves browsing the cheese case at Bi-Rite for local makers like Cowgirl Creamery and Marin French. Specifically for sprinkling over a dense bean salad, try bouncy fresh mozzarella balls, salty and crumbly feta, and creamy goat cheese marinated in garlic and herbs.
Give Dressing a Whirl
“Any dressing! Whatever you like,” Witchel promises. It could be as simple as white balsamic vinegar and olive oil, or you could zhuzh it up with mustard, garlic, and dried herbs. Her signature move is whisking it all together in a deli container with a handheld frother, which is so much easier than pulling out a blender, and comes together in a quick buzz.
Then Let It Marinate
Then just chill! Literally. Meal prep a dense bean salad on a Sunday, and let it rest overnight, for a minimum of 24 hours. Then it’s ready to munch for lunch on Monday, and the rest of the week, for up to 3 to 5 days. They’ll last the longest packed into individual airtight containers.
There are just so many ways to toss together a dense bean salad. “It’s kind of like however much [effort] you want it to be,” Witchel confirms. “There are dense bean salads where you’re marinating meats, grilling vegetables, whatever. But then there are ones where you literally throw it in a bag and call it a day.”
Becky Duffett is a food writer living and eating in San Francisco. Follow her on Instagram at @beckyduffett.
