This cold green bean salad recipe is one of my favorite ways to enjoy fresh green beans! My easy recipe combines green beans, a delicious shallot dressing, and crispy fried shallots!
When fresh green beans are in season, I jump to make this simple green bean salad! I serve it cold, which means the beans are nice and crisp. You’ll love the shallot vinaigrette, and those crispy shallots are so delicious.
This salad is a nod to green bean casserole. You can use store-bought fried shallots, fried onions, or make your own like me. Here’s my 15-minute fried shallots recipe.
Key Ingredients
- Green Beans: Fresh green beans are in season from summer through early fall. I look for crispy, firm beans without any bruised spots. To prepare my green beans for this salad, I trim the ends. I leave them whole, but if you prefer them cut into smaller pieces, feel free!
- Shallot Vinaigrette: Everyone needs a good shallot dressing recipe in their back pocket, and this is mine. I whisk finely minced shallots with mustard, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. It’s easy and so delicious!
- Fried Shallots: I love salads with different textures, and this chilled green bean salad totally hits that mark. You can find fried onions or shallots in the store, but they are simple to make yourself. They last a while, and you can use them in other dishes throughout the week. Here’s my tutorial for how to make fried shallots.
How to Make My Fresh Green Bean Salad
For the best green bean salad, blanch your green beans. To do this, add them to a large pot with boiling salted water and cook for a few minutes. You want them to turn bright green. I always try one before draining and look for it to be tender, with a little crunch left.
When ready, plunge them into icy water to stop the cooking. Then toss them with the simple shallot dressing and top with crispy fried shallots. The combo of green beans and crispy fried shallots is a classic one.
To fry shallots, add them to oil in a skillet and cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until light brown and crispy, about 10 minutes. Let them drain on paper towels, then toss them onto your salad. If you have some leftover, add them to other dishes like mashed potatoes, sautéed green beans, and soups.
Green Bean Salad Variations
I love how versatile this salad is and love making it during peak green bean season and during the holidays! As with many of our salad recipes, you can make plenty of variations to this simple green bean salad. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Add cheese like crumbled feta, shaved parmesan, or creamy goat cheese.
- Toss in some cooked and sliced potatoes, like this potato and green bean salad.
- Toss in a few handfuls of greens like arugula, spinach, or baby kale.
- Serve the salad alongside seared tuna or your favorite tuna salad, hard-boiled egg, and some olives for a French Nicoise-inspired salad.
- Add extra protein with juicy chicken breast, poached salmon, crumbled cooked bacon, or poached shrimp.
Our Favorite Green Bean Salad
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This incredible cold green bean salad recipe has been a family favorite for years. It’s one of the best ways to enjoy fresh green beans. We toss the beans with a simple shallot vinaigrette and finish with crispy fried shallots (optional). You can buy fried shallots or make them. Here’s our crispy fried shallots recipe.
You Will Need
1 pound (450g) green beans or small haricots verts
1 tablespoon minced shallots
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar, white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar
1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Crispy fried shallots, optional, our recipe for fried shallots
Directions
1Trim ends from green beans and leave them whole. Prepare a bowl filled with cold water and ice.
2Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, then add the green beans. Cook until bright green but still crisp. I check for doneness after 2 minutes, then add additional time as needed. Depending on how thin the beans are, they will need 2 to 4 minutes.
3Drain the beans and toss them into the ice water.
4Whisk the minced shallots, mustard, vinegar, olive oil, a pinch of salt, and pepper in the bottom of a salad bowl. Taste, then adjust with more salt and pepper if needed.
5Toss in the green beans, then serve with crispy shallots sprinkled on top (optional).
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Frozen green beans: Fresh beans are crisper, but you can substitute them for frozen ones. Add the frozen beans to the salted boiling water and cook until heated through and tender. Transfer to the ice bath and then use in the salad as directed above.
- Storing: The salad will last up to a day in the fridge, after that, it will still taste delicious, but the beans will lose some of their bright green color.
- Instead of crispy shallots, try frying up some minced or sliced garlic for a green bean salad with crispy garlic.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
We love this salad! It’s easy and I like that fresh green beans are the star ingredient. Most green bean salads I’ve made have a number of ingredients and the green beans kind of get lost in the mix. I will definitely make this again!
Sounds wonderful. I’ve added green beans and shallots to my grocery list. Thank you.
Wonderful! Let us know how it works out!
Handy tip for when anyone making this is short on time is that in Asian supermarkets you can buy fried shallots or garlic in little jars and they keep for ages. They are lovely and crunchy. Wouldn’t be as great as freshly made of course.
Great tip, Sue!
Yummy green bean recipe
So happy you enjoyed it, Janie!