Perfect for a quick lunch, dinner side dish, or meal prep addition. This pinto bean salad recipe is high in fiber, low in sodium, negative PRAL (potential renal acid load), and low-moderate in potassium and phosphorus. It will be a great addition to your kidney friendly diet!

Read on to learn about how to make this simple and easy salad. Or if you prefer to watch and learn, click the video below.

Beans and Kidney Disease

PSA: beans ARE kidney friendly and kidney protective! There is a lot of misinformation around beans and whether people with kidney disease can eat them.

For more information on why beans are great to eat on a renal diet, see this blog post!

Ingredients

You can use pinto beans that you have cooked from dry, or low sodium canned pinto beans. Canned pinto beans that are labeled, “low sodium” or “no salt added” ensure that this recipe is low in sodium. Additionally, if you drain and rinse the canned beans, you will remove about 50% more of the sodium!

Adding veggies (purple onion, jalapeno, and bell pepper) to this salad make it bright and vibrant, and add more important micronutrients (like vitamin C). The vitamin C from the bell peppers helps increase the absorption of iron coming from the beans 🙂 Watch this video for more info on getting more iron on a plant based diet.

The dressing for this recipe is simple and easy to make. It is just olive oil, lime juice, apple cider vinegar (or other vinegar) and a few spices!

Switch up the veggies and beans used in this recipe if you would like! You can use garbanzo beans or black eyed peas to make it lower in potassium. You could use cucumber or jicama in place of the bell pepper. Or tomatoes if you want it to be higher in potassium!

Storage Tips

It’s best to refrigerate this pinto bean salad for at least 1 hour prior to consuming. That way the beans get cold along with the veggies and it has time for the dressing to set in.

You can save and use leftovers for 3-5 days as long as it is stored in the fridge in an airtight container 🙂

Nutrition Info

As I mentioned above, this recipe is low sodium, high fiber, negative PRAL, and low-moderate in potassium!

Per serving, this salad is 709 mg potassium and 210 mg phosphorus. The phosphorus is minimally absorbed since it is coming from plant sources (30-50%). Everyone with CKD does not need to restrict potassium. Even if you are on a low potassium diet, this recipe fits within those guidelines!

A low potassium diet is not a no potassium diet. A low potassium diet is typically 2,000-3,000 mg/day. Assuming you eat 2-3 meals/day and 1-3 snacks/day, 709 mg fits right in this range!

Pinto Bean Salad For Kidney Health

Give this recipe a try for your next barbecue, get together, or simply for yourself and your family 🙂

A low sodium, plant predominant diet that is rich in fiber, vitamins, and minerals is protective for your kidney health! I hope you enjoy!