Green Bean Salad with Sausage and Olives

I love the unique combination of flavors in this Green Bean Salad with Sausage and Olives and Basil Vinaigrette makes this such a winner for a summer meal!

Pin Green Bean Salad with Sausage and Olives to try it later!

Sometimes I think outside the box a little when I’m staring into the fridge wondering what to make, and that’s what happened a few years ago with this Green Bean Salad with Sausage and Olives. I don’t really know what made me combine these flavors, except I had fresh green beans and turkey Italian sausage that needed to be used and Basil Vinaigrette in the fridge, and I love all those ingredients.

I loved the salad, and for me, it absolutely worked for a delicious summer salad that could easily be a main dish. And through the years I made it quite a few times and always wondered why it hadn’t become more popular on the blog, so today I am featuring it for Friday Favorites and encouraging you to try it if you also like these ingredients!

I wouldn’t make this salad unless I had fresh green beans, but if you like all these flavors, be open minded and give this a try!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

• fresh green beans
• Italian Sausage
• Olive Oil (affiliate link)
• canned black olives
• salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
• chopped fresh basil
• purchased (Newman’s Own Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing (affiliate link) or homemade low-sugar vinaigrette dressing 

What Italian Sausage did I use?

I’m a fan of turkey Italian Sausage, and I’d use the spicy hot sausage for this recipe. But use any pork or turkey Italian sausage you prefer.

What else could you add for a variation of the green bean salad?

If you want to vary the recipe you could add other ingredients to this salad such as cooked mushrooms, crumbled Feta cheese, or roasted red pepper.

Make it a Low-Carb Meal:

Green Bean Salad with Sausage could easily be a one dish meal. Or serve with Spring Mix Salad with Mary’s Perfect Easy Dressing, Avocado Tomato Salad, Cucumbers Caesar, or Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs, for a delicious and colorful low-carb meal.

More Recipes with Green Beans:

Green Bean Tomato Feta Salad

Green Beans with Lemon, Parmesan, and Pine Nuts

Green Bean and Tomato Salad

Green Bean Salad with Greek Olives and Feta Cheese

Green Beans with Tomatoes

How to make Green Bean Salad with Sausage and Olives:

(Scroll down for complete printable recipe with nutritional information.)

1. Trim the green beans on both ends. (I line up the beans for trimming the ends by grabbing a handful and standing them up loosely in my hand, then letting the ends fall down onto the cutting board.) Then cut the beans in half so you have pieces that are about 2-3 inches long.
2. I have this wonderful old-fashioned vegetable steamer, so I used it to steam the beans, but you can use a metal colander stuck into a pan with a lid if you need to. (Or if steaming doesn’t work, cook with just a small amount of water in the pan.)
3. Let the water come to a boil, then add beans and cook about 8 minutes, or until beans are still tender crisp.
4. Meanwhile, prepare an ice water bath to put the beans in as soon as they’re done to stop the cooking. I used my salad spinner (affiliate link) so it would be easy to drain the beans.
5. As soon as beans are done, plunge them into the ice cold water and leave for one minute.
6. Then take out the ice cubes with your hand or a spoon and let the beans drain in the salad spinner.
7. While the beans steam, slice up the sausage so you can brown it. (If you’re not using precooked sausage, you’ll have to cook it before you do this.)
8. Saute the sausage pieces in a little olive oil, turning often until it’s well browned on all sides. (If you have a giant pan like this, it makes it easier!) I browned the sausage about 10 minutes; don’t rush it.
9. Put the olives into a colander and let the liquid all drain off.
10. Stir together the green beans, browned sausage, and olives in a mixing bowl.
11. I used some of my frozen basil to make the basil vinaigrette, but you can also use chopped fresh basil. Mix the basil with your favorite purchased vinaigrette to make the dressing.
12. Then stir desired amount of vinaigrette into the salad and serve. Season with a little salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste.

Make it a Meal:

If you want a side dish with this salad, I think Grilled Zucchini or Grilled Mushrooms would be perfect for a low-carb summer meal.

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep  to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

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Yield: 6 servings

Green Bean Salad with Sausage and Olives

Prep Time 30 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

I love the unique combination of flavors in this Green Bean Salad with Sausage and Olives and Basil Vinaigrette is the perfect dressing for a pop of basil flavor!

Ingredients

Ingredients

• 1 lb. fresh green beans (preferably thin French style beans)
• one 19.5 oz. package turkey Italian Sausage
• 2 tsp. olive oil (more or less, depending on your pan)
• one 6 oz. can black olives
• salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste

Dressing Ingredients

• 3 T chopped fresh basil or frozen basil
• 1/2 cup purchased or homemade vinaigrette dressing

Instructions

1. Start the water to cook the beans heating in a vegetable steamer (or you can use a metal colander inside a pot as long as the lid will fit.)
2. While the water comes to a boil, trim both ends of the beans and then cut them in half crosswise to make pieces about 2-3 inches long.
3. Prepare a bowl with water and ice cubes to put beans in when they’re cooked, to stop the cooking process. (I used my salad spinner, so it was easy to drain the beans after.)
4. As soon as the water is boiling enough to make steam, add beans to the pot and steam with the lid on about 8 minutes, or until beans are slightly tender-crisp.
5. Then immediately remove beans from the steamer and add to the ice-water.
6. Cool beans 1 minute, then remove the ice and drain the beans.
7. While the beans cook, cut the sausage in half lengthwise and then slice into half-moon slices.
8. Heat the olive oil in a large, non-stick pan; add sausage and brown over medium-high heat, turning often, until the sausage is brown on all sides. Let sausage cool.
9. Put olives into a colander and drain until all the liquid has drained away.
10. Combine the cooled sausage, beans, and olives in a bowl.
11. If you’re using fresh basil, finely chop to make about 3 tablespoons finely chopped basil.
12. Whisk together chopped basil (or thawed frozen basil) and vinaigrette dressing.
13. Stir in enough dressing to moisten all the ingredients, season to taste with salt and fresh-ground black pepper, and serve.

Notes

This will keep in the fridge for a few days, although you might want to stir in a bit more dressing when you eat the leftovers. If you want to vary the recipe you could add other ingredients to this salad such a cooked mushrooms, crumbled Feta cheese, or roasted red pepper.

Recipe created by Kalyn when she had green beans and Italian sausage and decided to think outside the box.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 354Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 89mgSodium: 1343mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 3gSugar: 7gProtein: 25g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Did you make this recipe?

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating (under the PRINT button in the recipe) or share a photo of your results on Instagram! THANKS!

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This Green Bean Salad with Sausage and Olives would be a great option for low-carb or Keto diets, which will prefer pork Italian sausage. If you use low-fat turkey Italian sausage, everything in this salad is a low-glycemic ingredient, suitable for all phases of the original South Beach Diet.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Salad Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for This Recipe:
This interesting Green Bean Salad recipe was first posted July 2015; it was last updated with more information in 2022.

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