A fresh and tasty Mediterranean inspired salad with salty fried halloumi, juicy cherry tomatoes, creamy white beans and toasted pine nuts. Easy to make and full of flavour, this halloumi tomato salad is great for a light lunch or easy appetiser.
As soon as the sun comes out, all I want to eat is salad. You may think salads are boring, but there is so much variety. From classics like Homemade Chicken Caesar to sandwich inspired BLT Pasta Salad and endlessly customisable Chopped Salad, there is a salad for everyone.
Why You’ll Love Halloumi Salad
- Full of Flavour – Sweet and juicy tomatoes go so well with rich, salty halloumi and the white beans add a creamy, filling base to this fresh and tasty warm salad.
- Healthy Balanced Meal – This salad has a great balance of carbs, protein, fibre and fats, plus plenty of vitamins and antioxidants from the fresh ingredients.
- Easy to Make – This is a quick and easy salad to pull together. It’s perfect during summer when fresh tomatoes are abundant. Staple ingredients and just a little chopping with only 10 minutes cook time. No dressing or complicated sauce required.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutes
- Halloumi Cheese – a semi-hard Cypriot cheese with a delectable salty flavour. Halloumi is best eaten warm – either grilled or pan fried like in this salad.
- Tomato – I love sweet and juicy cherry tomatoes in this salad, but most tomatoes will work well. Cut larger tomato into bite-sized wedges.
- Romano Pepper – similar to bell peppers but long and tapered. Romano or sweet pointed peppers look a little like giant red chillies but without spice. I prefer romano peppers to bell peppers in salads, as they have a thinner skin (so less cook time) and a lovely sweet flavour. You can easily use red bell pepper in this salad, just make sure to slice it nice and thin.
- White Beans – haricot beans are my favourite but you can use any white bean like cannellini, navy or butter beans. Borlotti beans or chickpeas are also a tasty substitute.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil – In salads, I always try to use the best quality olive oil I can reasonably afford, as I do think you can taste the difference. I typically have a high quality oil for things like salad dressings, dips and drizzling, and use a more affordable oil for cooking.
- Red Onion – Shallot or Spring onions make good alternatives.
- Pine Nuts – The nutty taste and crunchy texture of toasted pine nuts adds a bit of extra interest to this tomato salad. I love adding pine nuts to salads as they are a good source of healthy fats, protein, and fiber. They are also rich in vitamins and minerals, including vitamin E, magnesium, and zinc. Toasted pumpkin seeds or nuts are a good alternative – try walnuts or toasted almonds.
- Garlic
- Fresh Herbs – parsley is my preference for this tomato salad. You can also use basil, dill or mint or even a combination of fresh herbs.
Serving and Storing
I love Halloumi and Tomato Salad as a quick and tasty lunch. Sometimes I serve it with toasted sourdough or pitta.
Add some greens – Toss in some rocket, spinach or kale.
Add a grain – cooked pasta, rice, bulgur or quinoa can bulk out the salad.
This halloumi and tomato salad also works really well as a side dish to serve with grilled or roast chicken or steak.
Try swapping the halloumi for marinated paneer cheese.
The salad can be made in advance and served cold. It will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. But halloumi is best eaten warm and ideally immediately after cooking. I like to make a big batch of salad for lunches through the week and just cook my halloumi to serve or replace it with mozzarella.
If you want to make this salad ahead of time and transport it, for example as a work lunch or to take to a pot luck, I’d recommend swapping the cheese. Prepare the salad as the recipe, then allow to cool down before stirring in some crumbled feta or mini mozzarella balls instead of the halloumi.
I hope you like this recipe as much as I do! Please leave a comment or tag me on Instagram @carrieskitchen_ if you make it!
More Easy Salad Recipes:
- Mediterranean White Bean Salad
- Prawn Pasta Salad
- Halloumi Bulgur Salad
- Roast Sweet Potato Pomegranate Salad
Halloumi and Tomato Salad
Ingredients
- 225 grams halloumi cheese sliced
- 400 grams tin white beans drained and rinsed
- 200 grams cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 red romano pepper thinly sliced
- 1 red onion thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil plus more to drizzle
- 1 tbsp pine nuts
- handful fresh parsley chopped
- ½ tsp flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Heat a pan over medium heat and add the pine nuts. Toast for 1-2 minutes until golden. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the warm pan before adding the sliced onion, pepper and tomatoes. Sprinkle over the salt and cook for about 5 minutes until the onion and pepper begin to soften and the tomatoes release their juices.
- Stir in the garlic and white beans and cook for another 2-3 minutes until the garlic is fragrant. Stir in the beans and parsley then transfer to a serving bowl.
- Wipe out the pan, warm the remaining tablespoon of oil and fry the halloumi slices until golden on each side.
- Top the salad with the halloumi slices. Sprinkle over the pine nuts and drizzle with a little extra olive oil if desired. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
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