
My favourite recipe for an easy green bean salad that needs just 5 ingredients and under 10 minutes. It is vegan and gluten free too!
Are you looking for a quick and simple way to prepare green beans?
If you pick small and tender enough beans, you don’t even have any chopping to do.
And a grand total of just 5 ingredients.
SOLD?
Because I certainly was, when I tried this recipe for the first time. I also regularly add to my party menus as you get another dish on the table in just 10 minutes. And my guests have always loved it. Bonus –Â It satisfies the vegan, gluten free, low-carbing and keto friends too (to a certain extent).
Just 3 important things to remember while preparing this minimalistic easy green bean salad
- Choose the most tender and fresh beans, that don’t have any seeds in them.
- Make sure you plunge the cooked beans in iced water to keep them crisp and super green. This is the highlight of the salad.
- Use a good brand of wholegrain mustard for that solid flavour punch.
I mostly use green beans / French beans or haricot beans in my favourite Tamil dish called Usili in which beans are tossed along with crumbled lentils.
If I’m too lazy to prepare the elaborate usili, then a simple beans curry it is.
If I buy half a kilo of beans, I usually reserve a handful to use in Khichdi or pulao.
We get the best green beans in India in the winters. The beans vine in my garden is giving out 2-3 handfuls of beans every few days and this lot went into the making of this super delicious green bean salad.
So what can you pair this easy green bean salad with?
- Make it as one of the salads on a party menu
- Pair it with a grilled cheese sandwich
- Serve it with a simple pasta aglio olio- this salad will make up for the lack of veggies in the pasta
More Easy Green Bean recipes
Green beans with yellow lentils
Beans Paruppu Usili (with crumbled lentils)

Easy green bean salad
Ingredients
- 200 grams green beans
- 1/2 tsp salt
- pinch sugar
For dressing
- 2 garlic pods peeled and greated
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- To prepare the green bean salad, start by bringing a medium sized saucepan of water to boil with 1/2 tsp salt and a pinch of sugar. Keep a bowl of iced water on the side.
- Meanwhile, wash beans well. Top and tail them. Cut diagonally in half to make spears. If the beans are small, then leave them whole.
- Once the water in the saucepan is boiling, add the beans to it and boil for 4-5 minutes.
- Pass through a colander and plunge into the ice water bowl. This stops the beans from cooking further and retains the bright green colour. After 5 minutes, remove the blanched beans and mop dry with a kitchen towel.
- To prepare the dressing for this easy green bean salad, combine all the dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk vigorously with a fork until thick and creamy. Just before serving, toss beans well in the dressing. Serve immediately.
Originally published on Dec 11, 2009. Updated with new photos and text.
For more such healthy vegetarian recipes, get my book The Everyday Healthy Vegetarian! Get all the info about my book and order it here.Â
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