Why Is TikTok Obsessed With Dense Bean Salads?

Often, the recipes that go viral on TikTok are the ultra-indulgent, OTT ones (million dollar spaghetti, we’re looking at you). But the latest food trend is one nutritionists could get behind: the dense bean salad, or DBS for short. The dish has soared in popularity over the past few weeks, spearheaded by creator Violet Witchel (@violet.cooks), who has amassed millions of views for her dense bean salad recipes. Packed with protein, and ideal for meal prepping, the DBS is a great staple to add to your roster – and as it’s more of a formula than a dedicated recipe, the opportunities are endless.

What Is A Dense Bean Salad?

Rather than piling layers of lettuce into a bowl, these hearty salads contain two different types of beans, alongside classic ingredients like tomatoes, corn and edamame, plus either a meat protein like chicken, or cheese such as feta or mozzarella. Favourite combinations of Witchel’s include the sun-dried tomato DBS; a grilled corn, steak and peach salad; and chipotle chicken, butter bean and avocado. Witchel has inspired many other creators to get involved with their own versions too, such as Hrna Eatz’s green goddess-dressed kidney bean, Persian cucumber and feta salad. You can tailor the dish to include your favourite beans and cheeses – the key is to ensure legumes are the central part.

What Are The Health Benefits?

Beans are packed with nutrition benefits. They’re high in protein and fibre, which means bean-heavy salads will keep you fuller for longer than classic green salads, plus they offer plenty of gut health and digestion benefits. Beans are also rich in antioxidants, which help prevent cell damage, and may help reduce your risk of heart disease as  they work to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol, blood pressure and inflammation. 

Recipe: Sun-Dried Tomato DBS

Witchel’s most popular recipe is her sun-dried tomato DBS, which has been viewed over 8.8 million times. We’ve shared the video and recipe below.

@violet.cooks Sundried tomato DBS! #dbs #beans #densebeansalad #mealprep ♬ Wes Anderson-esque Cute Acoustic – Kenji Ueda

Ingredients:

• 1 shallot
• Handful of flat-leaf parsley
• 4 leaves fresh basil
• 2 bell peppers
• 1 packet of cherry tomatoes
• 1 packet of pepperoni
• Approx 200g cooked, smoked chipotle chicken
• Sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 x can of chickpeas
• 1 x can of cannellini beans
• Handful of mini mozzarella balls

For the dressing: 

• Sun-dried tomato oil
• Garlic olive oil
• White wine vinegar
• Salt
• Mustard

Method:

1. Chop the shallot, parsley, basil, peppers and tomatoes. 
2. Chop the pepperoni and chicken into small pieces.
3. Chop the sun-dried tomatoes into pieces, setting aside the oil to use later.
4. Drain the chickpeas and beans.
5. Add all the ingredients to a mixing bowl. 
6. Mix all the dressing ingredients together, and pour the dressing over the salad.

Recipe by @violet.cooks

More Dense Bean Salad Ideas

@nourished.by.mads Mediterranean Dense Bean Salad 🤩 This is so healthy and delicious! FULL RECIPE AT MY LINK IN BIO ON MY WEBSITE 💛 #mediterraneandiet #healthyrecipes #saladrecipe ♬ Adore – Instrumental – GC

@violet.cooks This week’s is gluten-free, dairy-free, and my personal favorite #densebeansalad #mealprep #dbs #glutenfree #dairyfree ♬ Wes Anderson-esque Cute Acoustic – Kenji Ueda

@food52 Goodbye brat summer, hello DBS fall! Try @neaacooks’s take on the internet’s current lunch obsession: @Violet Witchel ♬ Make It Better (Instrumental) – Anderson .Paak

@noshwithrach DBS Summer Recipe: – 2 cans Garbanzo Beans – 1 can Cannellini Beans – 1 can Black Olives (if you don’t eat them all prior) – 1 pint Cherry Tomatoes – 1 bunch Parsley – Handful of Pickled Banana Peppers – 1 cucumber – Handful of Red Peppers – Handful of Salami cut into strips – Feta – Parm Dressing – dredge of Olive Oil – 1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar – Squirt of Dijon Mustard – Smidge of Herbs De Provence – Juice of 1 Lemon – 2 garlic cloves – Salt & Pep to taste Drizzle honey to make sweeter! Use handheld mixer to combine dressing ingredients to make it extra creamy! Rough chop veggies, add all ingredients to a bowl, drizzle on dressing, mix & enjoy! The longer it sits, the better it’ll taste😋 Recipe tiktoks are making a reappearance👀 #densebeansalad #dbs #summersalad #summermeals #mealprep #summer ♬ original sound – Zach Bryan Archive