Lemon Feta White Bean and Green Bean Salad is the perfect use for those summer fresh green beans! Our garden is overflowing with them, and this zesty, protein-rich salad is our go-to side dish for backyard grill outs! With lots of feta cheese, sharp red onions, white beans and a lemony honey vinaigrette, it's easy to make and ready in less than 20 minutes!
- Summer Green Beans! - Fresh from the garden or the farmer's market, green beans are one of the most prolific veggies we grow! We can hardly keep up with picking and eating them! We love this Simple Green Beans and Carrots with Butter!
- Backyard Cookouts to Summer Holidays! - Whether you're cooking Grilled Steak Kabobs or Honey Mustard Dry Rub Ribs, the summer barbecues need all the side dish salads! This green bean white bean salad is easy to make ahead and is just fine sitting on the side dish table with its no-mayo lemon dressing!
- Love Summer Green Beans and Fresh Salads? Check out my 24 Summer Salad Recipes and How to Blanch and Freeze Garden Green Beans!
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Ingredients & Substitutions
Full of fresh-from-the-garden green beans and basil, this summer salad is just a few simple ingredients, but big on flavor with an easy mason jar lemon dressing!
- Green Beans - This is one vegetable that is truly seasonal, the grocery store winter green beans just don't compare! Pick green beans when they are young, thin and tender. Overgrown larger beans will be tougher, stringy, and mushy if overcooked.
- White Beans - A pantry staple I always keep well stocked, I like Great Northern Beans, but navy, cannellini or even chickpeas will work for this recipe. These are the same white beans I use in my Avocado White Bean Dip and this White Bean Bruschetta.
- Feta Cheese - My favorite salad cheese! Try to buy a block of feta that comes in a tub of brine and crumble it yourself. This is the best flavor, I use it in my Strawberry Blueberry Salad and on my Blackened Salmon Rice Bowls too!
- Red Onion - The sharp zing from a few red onion slices really gives this bean salad the right balance. If you're not an onion fan, milder shallots, scallions or chives would also work.
- Fresh Basil - Always fresh in the garden this time of year, basil ends up in pretty much all my salads in the summer! Sprinkle a few basil seeds in a pot, it's an easy herb to grow and one of our favorites to eat! Fresh parsley, oregano, or chives could also be added.
- Lemon Honey Vinaigrette - A simple vinaigrette salad dressing can be made up in a jar and shaken to emulsify! This one highlights fresh lemon juice, with more wedges to garnish the salad. Don't skip the fresh clove of garlic, along with the dijon mustard and honey, it gives so much flavor! The fresh lemon juice could be substituted with white wine vinegar.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
This salad is as easy as quickly blanching the green beans and tossing everything together!
Step 1 - Wash your green beans and trim off the ends (not the pointy tips!).
You can then decide to leave them whole or cut them in half (easier to eat!).
Step 2 - Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and add a good pinch of salt.
Drop the green beans in for 3 minutes. Very thin tender green beans may only need 2 minutes and overgrown beans (avoid this!) might need 4 minutes.
Drain in a strainer and rinse well under cold water to stop the cooking.
Step 3 - Add the green beans and white beans to a large bowl, with most of the onion, feta and basil, saving a bit to add over the top.
Add all ingredients for the dressing to a jar with a lid and shake well to emulsify (or whisk together in a bowl).
Toss the salad well with the dressing and pour into a serving bowl. Add a few more onions, feta crumbles, basil leaves and lemon wedges to garnish.
Recipe Notes & Tips
- Don't Overcook the Green Beans - Summer green beans should be picked when thin and tender, this is why grocery store winter green beans are so terrible! Summer green beans don't need to be cooked very long, 3 minutes is plenty! Set a timer and don't overcook, they should be al dente, with a crisp bite and never mushy! Running under cold water in a strainer will stop the cooking process and get them cold and ready for the salad.
- Adjusting the Portion Size - This salad is an easy one to eye-ball the amounts. If you have lots of green beans, go ahead and use a bit more. The ratio of green beans to white beans can be changed in either direction! This salad serves about 6 people. If making a small amount for a weeknight dinner, you could use half a can of white beans and freeze the other half.
- What to Serve it With - Green Bean Salad is perfect for simple weeknights in the summer when you just want everything to be fresh! It's also great for the summer holidays, cabin weekends, grill outs, or anytime you need to bring a dish to share.
- Storage - Leftover bean salad can be kept in the fridge an eaten within the next couple days. Makes a great lunch!
Recipe FAQs
Yes, this is a great salad to make ahead! Just blanch the green beans and run them under cold water. Add all the salad ingredients to a large bowl but don't mix. Shake up the dressing in the jar and keep it separate. Then just refrigerate and toss everything together with the dressing when you're ready to serve! You'll want to let the dressing come to room temperature before using. You could also make the salad completely, tossed with the dressing, about an hour or so before serving and keep it in the fridge.
When you're busting with fresh garden ingredients in the summer, there's always something to add! This salad would be great with a handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced red bell peppers, kalamata olives, fresh arugula, or sun-dried tomatoes.
Blanching and shocking vegetables is the process of dropping them into boiling salted water to cook briefly, and then plunging them into a bowl of ice water to immediately stop the cooking process. You can do this with the green beans, but just running them under cold water in a strainer is much faster and works just as well.
More Garden Fresh Salad Recipes!
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Lemon Feta White Bean and Green Bean Salad
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Print Pin RateIngredients
- 2 cups green beans ends trimmed (not tips)
- 1 can white beans drained and rinsed
- ⅛ cup red onions thinly sliced
- ½ cup feta cheese crumbled
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves
For the Dressing
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 grinds fresh black pepper
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice fresh, from 1 lemon
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Wash and trim the ends off the green beans (not the pointy tips) and cut them in half. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil, add a big pinch of salt, and drop the green beans in to cook for 3 minutes. Garden fresh beans will cook quickly in 2 or 3 minutes until just al dente. Drain in a strainer and run under cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Add the cold green beans, white beans, and most of the red onion, feta and basil to a large bowl.
- Shake the dressing in a jar and pour over the salad.
- Toss well and add to a serving dish topping with the remaining onions, feta, and basil leaves. Garnish with lemon wedges and serve!
Notes
- Green Beans - Pick green beans when they are young, smaller and tender. Avoid overgrown larger beans that can be stringy and mushy when cooked. Fresh garden green beans only need 2 or 3 minutes to blanch in boiling water and should be al dente, still firm with a bite to them, never mushy.
- White Beans - I used Great Northern Beans but navy, cannellini or chickpeas will also work.
- Lemon Juice could be substituted with white wine vinegar.
- Make Ahead - Up to a day ahead, blanch the green beans and run them under cold water. Add all the salad ingredients to a large bowl but don't mix. Shake up the dressing in the jar and keep it separate. Refrigerate the salad and toss together when ready to serve. Let the dressing come to room temperature before using. You could also make the salad completely, tossed with the dressing, about an hour or so before serving and refrigerate.
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