This green bean salad is one of my favorite ways to enjoy green beans! With sweet-and-tangy balsamic vinegar, black olives, scallions, and hard-boiled eggs, it’s a great make-ahead dish for potlucks and summer cookouts.
Green Bean Salad Recipe
This easy green bean salad is so flavorful, and it tastes even better the next day! If you’ve ever had a Niçoise salad, the flavor is a little like that, except instead of being made with a big assortment of veggies, this one’s all green beans. I love this as a light summer lunch, but because it can be served warm, cold, or at room temperature, it’s also a good choice for picnics and backyard barbecues.
Why This Green Bean Salad Works
This recipe dates all the way back to my earliest days as a blogger. After so many years of blogging, sometimes I like to revisit those older recipes. There are a lot that I really love and want to re-share in case you haven’t seen them yet!
Green beans are one of my favorite summer vegetables. They might not get as much attention as tomatoes and sweet corn, but it’s hard to beat crisp, fresh green beans. This salad puts them front and center.
- Perfect for making ahead: The flavors develop as the salad sits and the beans marinate in the balsamic dressing.
- Short ingredient list: You only need 6 ingredients, plus salt and pepper.
- Packed with texture and flavor: Tender green beans, creamy eggs, bright balsamic dressing, and briny olives make this one of those salads that’s greater than the sum of its parts.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Below are the ingredients for this green bean salad. See the recipe card for exact measurements.
- Fresh green beans: To save time, you can buy pre-cut, pre-washed green beans.
- Black olives add a salty, briny flavor.
- Balsamic vinegar gives the dressing tang, but also some sweetness.
- Extra-virgin olive oil forms the base of the vinaigrette.
- Scallions for mild onion flavor and a crisp texture.
- Kosher salt and black pepper: I like to use freshly ground black pepper because it has a little more warmth.
- Hard-boiled eggs: Not sure how to cook them? Here’s how to make stovetop hard boiled eggs, air fryer hard-boiled eggs, and Instant Pot hard-boiled eggs.
How to Make Green Bean Salad
This green bean salad comes together with just a few simple steps.
- Cook the green beans: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the green beans and cook until tender-crisp, about 6 minutes.
- Cool the beans: Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain well.
- Make the salad: In a large bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Add the green beans, scallions, and olives and toss to coat.
- Finish and serve: Top with the sliced hard-boiled eggs. Refrigerate until ready to serve or enjoy at room temperature.
Green Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 24 oz 6 cups string beans beans, ends trimmed
- 2.25 ounce can sliced black olives, drained (check labels for Whole30)
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 medium scallions, chopped
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- fresh black pepper, to taste
- 5 hard boiled eggs, peeled and sliced
Instructions
- Place green beans in a large pot and cover with water, about 6 cups. Bring to a boil, then cover and cook until tender crisp, about 6 minutes (don’t overcook or they will get mushy).
- Drain and rinse under cold water when done to prevent them from overcooking, drain.
- In a large bowl, combine balsamic, oil, salt and pepper. Toss in the green beans, scallions and olives.
- Mix well and top with sliced eggs. Refrigerate and serve chilled or room temperature.
Last Step:
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Tips from Gina’s Test Kitchen
- Trimming the beans yourself is less expensive than buying pre-cut bagged beans. To do this quickly, gather the beans in a small pile, lining up the tips on one side, then cut the tips off with a single slice using a large chef’s knife. Flip the pile over and do the same on the other side.
- Since the ingredients are simple, using a great tasting extra virgin olive oil and a good quality balsamic vinegar makes the salad.
- After rinsing the beans, be sure to dry them well. Excess water can dilute the dressing.
Variations
- Add crumbled blue cheese or shaved Parmesan.
- Swap the black olives for Kalamata olives, or add even more brininess by adding capers too.
- Use yellow beans or an heirloom variety instead of green beans.
- Add cherry tomatoes for extra color and freshness.
Storage
Store this green bean salad in an airtight container for up to 4 days. If I’m making it for a party, I usually add the hard-boiled eggs just before serving.
Really delicious and simple to make!
Super easy, healthy, and delicious!
Surprisingly delicious. My husband and I both found it satisfying and filling. I was going to a group picnic the next week, and decided to make it for the picnic. It was a big hit.
I love this recipe and it is always a hit when I bring it to potlucks. Bonus – I don’t have to worry about how to keep it warm!
Great easy salad for meatless main dish!
Can you make this for meal prep? Will it keep I. The fridge for 2 or 3 days?
Yes I think that will be fine.
Hi, this looks great! Can I replace the olives and scallions with something else, for instance capers? (I saw someone suggested sauteed mushrooms – that sounds great)
Thanks,
Karen.
I just made this and haven’t eaten it yet, but the dressing seemed to sit in the bottom of the bowl, so am thinking about putting into a resealable bag so it will cover the beans better.
The blue points are incorrect. When entered into the recipe builder, it comes out to 3 points per serving, if there are 6 servings as the recipe states. Excited to try this tonight!
This salad was a major hit at dinner last night. I complimented it with the Persian Kofta Kebab recipe. My family loved it all. The only thing different I did was add some feta cheese and some red pepper flakes to the salad. Even before I did that it was delicious.
I wonder if I could use frozen green beans? Just defrosted to room temp?
This salad was so good. Such a wonderful combination of flavors with the balsamic and olives, the eggs compliment those elements as well. I will be putting this in our dinner rotation.
Hi, can freeze them?
Would thi be good warm?
Very fresh and delicious salad. I had it with the fish with marinara, wine and capers that was in last weeks meal plan. I put all the ingredients into my WW app and it only came out to 3 points. 1 each for the EVOO, balsamic, and olives. Win win. I will,definitely make this agin.
How do you calculate points? This seems to be only about 3 smart points, but you have 5. How do you get your points? I just started so I am pretty new and probably calculating wrong. Thanks for your help, can’t wait to try this. Its on my list!!!
This recipe looks right up my alley and I can’t wait to try it, but I’m just curious as to how you came up with the WW point value of 5 points per serving. When I put the recipe into the WW app, it calculated at 3 points per serving. Any clarification would be greatly appreciated. I want to make sure I don’t make any calculation errors going forward. Thanks and bringing us great recipes. Looking forward to the next book.
You have to use recipe builder for accurate points.
Question about freestyle, how is this a 5 point recipe? pretty much everything in it is 0 points other than the oil, vinegar and olives? I got 3 points. I’m probably doing something wrong. Thank you!
Are you using recipe builder? Oil, balsamic and olives have points.
I used the ww recipe builder and I’m only coming up with 3 points.
Olives = 4
EVOO = 12
Balsamic = 2
*All other items are 0 points
Total Points = 18/6 servings = 3 points per serving.
Either the number of servings or the points are incorrectly listed.
I absolutely cannot eat black olives. I know that they add so much flavour. But, is there anything I could use as a substitute in this recipe
Hi I see down below a lady added sauteed mushrooms! That sounds good. I wonder about capers?
Gina?
Maybe mushrooms?
Whhen you post a recipe, could you say if or which cookbook its in or not in. I print them out and then find in cookbook. Thanks Donna
Not all recipes here are in my books.
Making this for easter and adding bacon!
Making this and adding bacon for dinner tonight 🙂
This may be a silly question, but I'm a newbie at cooking (college student) and am wondering; if i don't have a steamer is there another way to steam the green beans? (or do they go directly in the water)
You can steam them with a little water in the bottom of a pot and cover it.
I'm not an olive fan, so I subbed in some lightly sauteed mushrooms. Oh my goodness, it was wonderful! I will make it again for summer picnics! Thanks, Gina!
If you made this with regular green beans, would you have to change anything?
I made this salad twice since Tuesday. It is WONDERFUL! I was a bit shocked at how much oil is in it, I am not a fan of oil in salads but I added a bit more vinegar. I also added some grape tomatoes that I cut in half to add some color and some more veggies to it. It is fabulous and I highly recommend. I love it even more when it sits over night but have a hard time keeping my hands out of it. Same as my 3 year old daughter,s he loves olives and eggs and sometimes accidentally gets a green bean 🙂
Made this tonight…..hubby loved it. I let it sit in the balsamic and oil too and drained it to serve it. Delicious!!!!
I made this a few weeks ago and am just getting back to comment. This was delicious. I made it for a trip to Minnesota and after letting it soak overnight, I drained the dressing off and was able to bring it on the plane. This was a much better lunch than I could have found at the airport.
this is my first time on your site. i tried weight watchers a while ago and thought i'd try again, decided to look for recipes. WOW. fabulous site with delicious looking recipes. thankyou…
I used to make something similar often! I’ll have to give this version a try, the hardboiled eggs seem like they’d give it a really satisfying protein-i-ness. =)
Its been a long time since I had this. I got to get my mom to make it.