Green Bean Salad
This easy green bean salad recipe stars tender blanched beans, salty feta, and a tangy Dijon vinaigrette. Ready in 20-ish minutes, it’s the perfect summer side dish for cookouts, potlucks, and weeknight dinners!
What’s more quintessential summer than the crunch of biting into a green bean? Here’s a salad that captures that essence: my green bean salad with feta! The tender blanched green beans are covered in a zingy dressing, paired with tomatoes, baby arugula, and the salty pop of feta cheese.
I am pretty obsessed with this salad, and it’s great for pairing with a grilled meal, a trio of salads or dish for a summer potluck or pitch-in. I’ve made this one many times already and I hope you’ll love it much as I do!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s ready in 20 minutes. The only hands-on step is blanching the beans for 4 to 5 minutes: everything else is slice, whisk, and toss.
- It stores well. It tastes even better after sitting, which makes it ideal for potlucks, picnics, and make-ahead meals.
- It’s perfect for pairing with meals all season long. It goes with anything from grilled chicken thighs to lemon ricotta pasta.
Ingredients You’ll Need
This green bean salad recipe is basic, but combines just the right flavors to make the beans irresistibly tasty. The tender vegetables are mixed with a red wine vinegar and Dijon vinaigrette, which adds a hefty dose of tangy flavor to the entire dish. The basic idea? Blanch the beans, cut veggies, make the dressing, and mix it all together! Here’s what you’ll need:
- Green beans: standard or haricot verts (French green beans) both work; the thinner haricot verts blanch about a minute faster
- Red wine vinegar and Dijon mustard: The tangy backbone of the dressing
- Honey: Just enough to round out the flavors (swap maple syrup to keep it vegan)
- Garlic powder: Gives a mellow garlic note without the bite of raw garlic
- Extra-virgin olive oil: My go-to heart healthy oil for everything
- Cherry tomatoes: Sliced in half; I like a mix of red and yellow if you can find it
- Shallot: Raw and sliced very thin
- Baby arugula: It adds a peppery layer; do not substitute mature arugula (more on that below)
- Feta cheese: Adds a nice salty pop; omit for vegan or use vegan feta.
How to Blanch Green Beans
The only part of this green bean salad that takes a bit of skill? Blanching the beans. Blanching is a cooking method that involves boiling vegetables until they’re crisp tender, then plunging them into ice water to stop the cooking process. The ice water helps to keep the veggies colorful by locking in a beautifully bright green color. Blanching is quick and easy; here’s what to do:
- Prepare the water: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Prepare a large bowl of ice water.
- Boil the beans: Add the beans to the boiling water and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until just tender but still bright green (taste a bean to assess doneness).
- Place in the ice bath. Right when the beans are tender, remove them from the boiling water with tongs and transfer them to the bowl of ice water. After 2 minutes, remove the beans to a colander to drain.
- Blot the beans dry. This is very important: otherwise you’ll end up with a watery salad! (Trust us, we forgot this once and we won’t again.)
Tips for Serving
Once you make this green bean salad, you can eat it immediately. Or, you can refrigerate it until serving, allowing the flavors to permeate the beans even more. To us, it’s just as delicious both ways! Here are a few things to note:
- Toss the salad well before serving. The tomatoes and feta can sometimes fall to the bottom, especially if it’s in a large bowl. Also, make sure the dressing is evenly tossed through the veggies.
- A shallow platter can be better for serving than a large bowl. This way you can make sure all the goodies are evenly dispersed.
What To Pair With This Green Bean Salad
This green bean salad is endlessly flexible. A few of my favorite pairings:
- Alongside grilled salmon, grilled tuna, or grilled tilapia for an easy summer dinner
- On a summer salad spread with classic three bean salad and bow tie pasta salad
- As part of a Mediterranean-leaning plate with Greek chicken and couscous
- For a picnic or potluck: it travels well
- With grilled zucchini and squash and crusty bread for an easy vegetarian dinner
Storage Notes
This salad is best the day it’s made, but it holds up better than most. Stored in an airtight container in the fridge, it keeps for 3 to 4 days.
Dietary Notes
This green bean salad recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free. For vegan, omit the feta cheese.
Green Bean Salad
Pin RecipeThis easy green bean salad recipe stars tender blanched beans, salty feta, and a tangy Dijon vinaigrette. Ready in 20-ish minutes, it’s the perfect summer side dish for cookouts, potlucks, and weeknight dinners!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Blanched
- Cuisine: Salad
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds green beans
- 1 ½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ½ tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ½ tablespoon honey
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 2 cups baby arugula*
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 ounces feta cheese (or ¾ cup crumbles; omit for vegan)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Prepare a large bowl of ice water. Trim the green beans by snapping or chopping off the stem ends.
- Blanch the beans: Add the beans to the boiling water and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until just tender but still bright green (taste to assess doneness; for haricot verts or French green beans, cook them 3 to 4 minutes). Right when the beans are tender, remove them from the boiling water with tongs and transfer them to the bowl of ice water. After 2 minutes, remove the beans to a colander to drain.
- Prep the dressing: Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk together the red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, garlic powder, and olive oil.
- Prep the fresh ingredients: Slice the cherry tomatoes and shallot.
- Serve: Pat the blanched green beans dry. In a large bowl or serving dish, add the beans, dressing, cherry tomatoes, shallot, arugula, salt, and feta cheese crumbles. Taste and adjust the salt as desired. Serve immediately or refrigerate until serving. Stores refrigerated up to 3 to 4 days.
Notes
*Make sure it is baby arugula, sold in boxes or bags. Don’t substitute the standard arugula sold in a bunch: the flavor is too strong for this salad (if you can’t find baby arugula, omit it).
More Green Bean Recipes To Try
from A Couple Cooks
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Sonja Overhiser
May 21, 2026 at 09:00AM
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