5 from 4 reviews

Humble brag alert: here at Healthy Seasonal Recipes, we’re kinda famous when it comes to our Green Bean Recipes. Okay that wasn’t so humble, but trust us, this Green Bean Salad is one for the books! It’s a simple chilled salad made with cooked and cooled green beans and sweet corn with a salad dressing made of cider vinegar, shallot and fresh chopped basil.

I’m not fibbing when I say I am a veggie fanatic. Call me strange, but I get much more excited about this vibrant corn and green beans salad with shallot vinaigrette dressing than a scoop of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. Bold statement, I know, but this green bean and corn salad is that good! This green bean salad is just perfect in every way!

green beans with shallot salad dressing and corn on a white round platter on a gray and white place mat

Table of contents

More chilled green beans recipes for summertime include our new Italian Potato Salad with green beans, Green Bean Tomato Salad and green beans with basil vinaigrette.

Key Ingredients For This Green Bean Salad Recipe

  • Green Beans: This salad is all about the green beans, so if you do not have them fresh from your garden, pick them up at the farmers’ market or farm stand. At the grocery store, make sure to pick through the pile of fresh green beans and only choose those that are bright green in color and have no brown spots or any signs of rot
  • Corn Kernels: You can add any chopped seasonal veggies to a green bean salad, but today we chose sweet corn because it was available at the market today. You can sub in frozen corn but you do not need to cook it with the green beans, simply thaw it and add to the salad with the dressing.
  • Optional Additions: Instead of (or in addition to) the corn a cup of diced fresh tomatoes, cherry tomatoes or diced bell peppers are also great options in a green bean salad.

Green Bean Salad Dressing Ingredients

  • 1 small shallot, minced
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon chopped basil
  • Freshly ground pepper to taste

See more tips about how to cook green beans and see my round-up of Healthy Green Beans Recipes too for even more info and ideas.

How To Make This Chilled Green Bean Salad

Step 1: Make The Salad Dressing

Combine the chopped fresh shallot, olive oil, cider vinegar and salt in a small ball jar. Cover and shake well and set aside at room temp until ready to serve. To make in advance refrigerate up to 4 days and bring the dressing to room temperature before serving.

Step 2: Cook green beans

Bring several inches of water to a boil in a large saucepan fitted with a steamer basket. Add green beans. Top with the corn (if using frozen corn do not add it to the steamer.) Cover and steam them until the green beans are bright green and crisp-tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Carefully remove the steamer from the saucepan and spread the green beans and corn out on a large platter to cool.

Step 3: Add Salad Dressing

Shake the dressing to blend and drizzle it over the cooled green beans and corn. Top with basil and fresh ground black pepper. Serve room temperature or chill until cold.

the green beans with the corn on a white round platter with a jar of the salad dressing on the side

FAQs and Chef Katie’s Expert Tips

How do you steam if you don’t have a steamer?

If you don’t have a steamer basket you can place a small colander in the saucepan with water instead and continue as instructed.

Make Ahead Instructions, Storage and Leftovers

The dressing can be made up to four days in advance. Keep refrigerated. Bring to room temperature and shake well before dressing the salad. The green beans can be cooked up to 1 day ahead. For best results do not dress more than 1 hour in advance or the vibrant green color of the beans will fade. 

Store any leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 days. The color of the green beans will not be as vibrant after a few hours but the flavor will be delicious.

Serving Suggestions for Green Bean Salad

This green bean salad is a great make-ahead dish to bring to a summer cookout or barbecue party.

This salad is also great for any old weeknight dinner. In that case, you could serve this Simple Maple Chipotle Grilled Chicken alongside. I also love making this Red White and Bleu Potato Salad with this corn salad.

Variations To Try

  • Use a blend of green beans and yellow wax beans for the base of this salad
  • Add smoky cooked bacon, crumbled crispy baked prosciutto chips or fried chunks of pancetta to the top of the salad.
  • We love goat cheese on a green bean salad too or add crumbled feta cheese on top.
  • Give this recipe more Mediterranean flair with chopped black olives or capers and shaved Parmesan cheese. Cherry tomatoes would be good with this combo.
  • Use our Mustard Dressing instead of the cider vinaigrette or this Red Wine Vinaigrette.

Additional Green Bean Recipes to Try

At Healthy Seasonal Recipes, we specialize in cooking with fresh veggies and creating weeknight meals. Sign up HERE to get more produce-forward dinner ideas for FREE! If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought! Happy Cooking! ~Katie

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Corn and Green Beans Salad Recipe

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5 from 4 reviews

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Description

A Green Beans Salad recipe with fresh sweet corn and shallot cider vinegar dressing is endlessly adaptable and the perfect make-ahead side salad for summer. 

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 small shallot, minced
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 pound green beans, stem ends trimmed
  • 1 cup corn kernels
  • 1 tablespoon chopped basil
  • Freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Combine shallot, oil, vinegar and salt in a jar and set aside.
  2. Bring several inches of water to a boil in a large saucepan fitted with a steamer basket. Add green beans. Top with the corn. Cover and steam until the green beans are bright green and crisp-tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Carefully remove the steamer from the saucepan and spread the vegetables out on a large platter to cool.
  3. Before serving, shake the dressing to blend. Drizzle the shallot dressing over the green beans. Top with basil and black pepper. Serve room temperature or chill until cold.

Notes

To Make Ahead

The dressing can be made up to four days in advance. Keep refrigerated. Bring to room temperature and shake well before dressing the salad. The green beans can be cooked up to 1 day ahead. For best results do not dress more than 1 hour in advance or the vibrant green color of the beans will fade. 

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 4 minutes
  • Category: Side dish
  • Method: Stove to
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 cup each
  • Calories: 160
  • Sugar: 7 g
  • Sodium: 281 mg
  • Fat: 6 g
  • Saturated Fat: 1 g
  • Carbohydrates: 26 g
  • Fiber: 9 g
  • Protein: 4 g

Did you make this recipe?

Make sure you come back to the recipe post to leave a star rating and review.

I originally shared this recipe on May 27, 2014

Additional Corn Recipes to Try