Green Bean and Tomato Salad

Thinly-sliced fresh basil added at the end makes this Green Bean and Tomato Salad such a delightful summer treat! And this is a great way to use garden green beans if you’re lucky enough to have some!

PIN the Green Bean and Tomato Salad to make it later!

It’s a big holiday weekend in the U.S. and to encourage you to make some special food for the holiday I’m reminding you about this Green Bean and Tomato Salad for my Friday Favorites pick!

Three things bumped this salad up into WOW status for me: the thinly sliced fresh basil added at the end, the use of slivers of sweet onion for a boost of flavor, and a very flavorful dressing with lemon, garlic, and dried oregano. But seriously I love absolutely everything about this salad!

If you like green beans at all (and especially if you’re growing green beans and looking for ways to use them), this salad is a must-make! And it will definitely be a festive addition to your Fourth of July menu for those who are celebrating; enjoy!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

• thin French-style green beans
• sweet onion
• cherry tomatoes
• thinly-sliced fresh basil
• salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
• extra-virgin olive oil (see notes)
• fresh-squeezed lemon juice, I used my fresh-frozen lemon juice
• minced fresh garlic or Minced Garlic (affiliate link) from a jar
• Dried Oregano (affiliate link)
• sea salt

What kind of green beans did I use for the Green Bean and Tomato Salad?

Years ago I discovered those wonderful thin French green beans at Costco, and even after I started growing my own green beans I’d still buy the Costco ones when I had a craving for green beans. This amazing salad was so delicious made with those Costco beans, and it’s one of the reason green beans show up regularly on my shopping list.

Can you use other tomatoes for this recipe?

The salad was great with the cherry tomatoes that I used. But if you have larger fresh tomatoes, just cut them into chunks. I might drain the tomatoes in a colander if they’re extra juicy.

Will this Green Bean and Tomato Salad keep in the fridge?

Generally I don’t like to refrigerate salads with tomatoes, but this salad was still pretty good after it had been in the fridge overnight. I don’t think it would keep much longer than that though.

Want More Summer Tomato Salads?

Check out 20 Summer Tomato Salads for lots more amazing salad ideas for summer tomatoes!

How to make Green Bean and Tomato Salad:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.

1. I like fresh beans best when they still have a bit of crunch, so we steamed the beans for this recipe for just about 5 minutes.
2. Then we immediately put them in ice water to keep them crisp.
3. Drain the beans very well.
4. Cut up the cherry tomatoes, and cut the sweet onion into slivers. (We used Vidalia onions, but any type of sweet onion will be good.)
5. Whisk together the olive oil, minced garlic, lemon juice, dried oregano, and a little salt to make the tasty dressing.
6. Wash basil leaves, spin dry in a salad spinner (affiliate link) or dry with paper towels and then cut into thin strips. I used my beloved Herb Scissors (affiliate link) to cut the basil.
7. Toss together the beans, tomatoes, and onions, then toss with dressing and gently stir in the sliced basil.
8. Season the salad with salt and a little fresh ground pepper as desired and serve. 

Make it a Low-Carb Meal:

Something like Low-Carb Marinated Beef Kabobs, Grilled Cuban Flank Steak, Very Greek Grilled Chicken, Grilled Cod with Garlic, Basil, and Lemon, or Grilled Salmon Burgers with Caper Mayonnaise would be delicious with this Green Bean and Tomato Salad for a low-carb meal.

More Amazing Tomato Salads for Summer:

• Summer Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese
• Green Bean, Tomato, and Feta Salad
• Tomato, Olive, and Fresh Mozzarella Salad
• Avocado Tomato Salad
• Tomato Cucumber Avocado Salad

Continue to Content

Print

Yield: 6 servings

Green Bean and Tomato Salad

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Thinly-sliced fresh basil added at the end makes this Green Bean and Tomato Salad a summer treat that's low-carb, gluten-free, and vegan!

Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. thin French-style green beans (see notes)
• 1/2 small sweet onion, cut into thin slivers (see notes)
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• generous amount thinly-sliced fresh basil (see notes)
• salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste

Dressing Ingredients:

• 3 T extra-virgin olive oil (see notes)
• 2 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice (see notes)
• 2 tsp. finely minced fresh garlic
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt

Instructions

1. Start water boiling in a vegetable steamer or pot with a steaming rack (affiliate link) while you trim the beans on both ends and cut them into pieces about 2 inches long.
2. (I do this by gathering a handful of beans that are standing up straight and letting them fall down on to the cutting board, so the ends are even. Trim that end and then turn them over and do the same thing with the other end.)
3. When the water starts to boil, steam beans for 5 minutes, then drain and immediately put them in a bowl of ice water. (Some beans are tougher than others, so I might test one for doneness after 5 minutes to see what you think.)
4. Let beans cool in the ice water about one minute, then drain immediately into a colander placed in the sink.
5. While beans are cooking, cut cherry tomatoes into halves and cut the onion into thin slivers.
6. When beans are draining, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, and salt to make the dressing.
7. Wash fresh basil leaves and spin dry in a salad spinner (affiliate link) or dry with paper towels, then cut the basil into thin strips. (I used my beloved Herb Scissors to cut the basil.)
8. Remove drained beans from the colander into a bowl large enough to toss ingredients together.
9. Add the cherry tomatoes and onions and toss ingredients together.
10. Toss with desired amount of dressing and then gently mix in the sliced basil.
11. Season salad to taste with salt and fresh-ground black pepper and serve.

Notes

We used Vidalia onion for this recipe. I used my fresh-frozen lemon juice for this recipe. Any fresh garden green beans can be used. We used about 1/3 cup sliced basil, but next time I’d use more if I had plenty of basil in the garden. Use an olive oil with good flavor for this.

This is best when it’s freshly made, but it wasn’t bad at all when it had been in the fridge overnight.

This recipe inspired by a green bean salad in Eating Well Vegetables (affiliate link).

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 108Total Fat 7gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 0mgSodium 297mgCarbohydrates 11gFiber 3gSugar 6gProtein 2g

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 salad is not only low in carbs and great for the original South Beach Diet, but it’s also gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan. I’d say that makes this a delicious healthy salad for any type of diet, wouldn’t you agree?

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use the Salads Index 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, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This salad with green beans and tomatoes was first posted in 2016. It was last updated with more information in 2023.

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