Green Bean Salad

Healthy and fresh green bean salad with toasted almonds, thinly sliced red onion, and the most delicious vegan honey mustard dressing!

This cold green bean salad is neither boring nor classic! It comes with the most delicious flavors, is fresh, healthy, vegan, and easy to make! Tossing it with red onion and toasted almonds adds some beautiful aromas and a crunchy finish. The best green bean salad dressing: Vegan Honey Mustard Dressing!

It’s no secret that green beans love mustard. Thus, the sweet, zesty mustard salad dressing is the perfect fit.

Green bean salad is healthy, rich in vitamins, and provides your body with essential nutrients. It can be served as a side dish or appetizer with practically anything. It’s also especially popular to serve as a bbq salad in summer.

By the way, I would always use fresh beans to make green bean salad. Fresh green beans are cooked quickly and have a wonderful crisp-tender bite. I recommend staying away from canned or frozen beans for salad, as they tend to be too soft and simply not as fresh.

How To Cook Green Beans – Tips & Tricks

Wash & Trim Beans: You must wash and trim green beans first. Trimming beans means cutting off the brown, hard ends with a knife. You only need to trim one side! By the way, frozen green beans are always trimmed. But I highly suggest using fresh ones for this recipe.

Blanch Green Beans (means to cook them in boiling salt water): In order for the beans to keep their beautiful bright green color, you should salt the water generously. I suggest ½ tablespoons of salt for each pound of beans.

Rinse With Cold Water: After blanching, drain the beans over a sieve and rinse under running cold water. → This stops the cooking process and ensures that the beans retain their green color. Some recipes call for an ice bath, but it’s much easier and sufficient to do it with cold water for this particular recipe.

How To Make This Green Bean Salad Recipe

Read through this visual step-by-step guide with lots of extra tips. 

• Trim the brown ends of the beans, cut in half, and wash them thoroughly under cold water.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add ½ tbsp salt, and blanch beans for approx. 8 minutes or until tender.

• Drain them and rinse under running COLD water. → This stops the cooking process and ensures that the beans retain their green color.
• Meanwhile, toast chopped almonds for a few minutes in a skillet over medium heat.

• Mix all ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl or shake with the lid on in a mason jar.

• Combine everything in a large serving bowl and toss until well combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper!

Recipe FAQ & Tips

Can I prepare this salad in advance? Sure! Prepare the recipe up to one day ahead of time and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Then, take it out of the fridge 30 minutes before serving. I suggest keeping the toasted almonds at room temperature and toss them just before serving!

How long does it stay fresh? Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days in the refrigerator. 

Love Garlic? Add one minced clove garlic to the salad.

More Recipes You’ll Love:

• Green Beans Almondine
• Black Pepper Tofu and Green Beans
• Celery Root Salad with Apple & Walnut
• Vegan Potato Salad
• Chopped Greek Salad

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