Green Beans with Tahini and Lemon

Green Beans with Tahini and Lemon  are a great low-carb side dish and everyone who likes Tahini Sauce will love this recipe. You can also make the sauce with creamy peanut butter if you don’t have Tahini, and this post has more great ideas for cooking fresh green beans, enjoy!

PIN Green Beans with Tahini and Lemon to try them later!

This recipe for Green Beans with Tahini and Lemon is a fun think-outside-the-box way to cook green beans for anyone who is growing them in the garden or finding fresh green beans in the market. And the combination of Tahini Sauce and lemon really was a winner in this recipe, and it was definitely something that we gobbled up when we tested the recipe.

But if Tahini is not going to work at your house (or you don’t want to buy it for one recipe), this would still be tasty with natural peanut butter substituted for the Tahini. If you like fresh greens beans I hope you’ll try this for a new way to cook them, because these beans are really good!

What ingredients do you need?

• fresh green beans (preferably thin French style green beans.)
• salt
• flat-leaf Italian parsley (Parsley is optional, but it did enhance the flavors.)
• Tahini Sauce (affiliate link)
• fresh-squeezed lemon juice, I used my fresh-frozen lemon juice
• minced fresh garlic or Minced Garlic (affiliate link) from a jar
• extra-virgin Olive Oil (affiliate link) (Use the best tasting olive oil you have for this.)
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

What is Tahini?

Some people might not be familiar with Tahini, which is a middle eastern sauce made from ground sesame seeds. It’s an essential ingredient in hummus, and adds wonderful sesame flavor in many dishes. I think Tahini goes especially well with vegetables, and if you enter “tahini” into the search bar on the blog you’ll find other recipes where I’ve used it. You can find Tahini Sauce (affiliate link) it at ethnic markets, health food stores, and large grocery stores or buy it online. And if you don’t want to buy any, creamy peanut butter will work for most recipes using Tahini.

What brand of Tahini do I prefer?

There are many good brands of Tahini, but I’m a huge fan of Soom Tahini (affiliate link) and that’s the kind I always choose.

Want more ideas for cooking fresh green beans?

It’s no secret that I love fresh green beans! If you want to see every recipe on my site that has green beans as an ingredient, check out the Green Beans Recipes.

How to make Green Beans with Tahini and Lemon:

(Scroll down for complete recipe including nutritional information.)

1. Trim both ends of the green beans.  (I do this by gathering a bunch in my hand and standing them up on the cutting board so the ends are even and trimming, then do the same thing on the other side. I like whole beans but you can cut them smaller if you prefer.)
2. Cook the beans for 3-4 minutes in boiling salted water. 
3. Drain immediately and rinse with cold water so they don’t keep cooking.
4. While the beans cook, whisk together the Tahini Sauce, lemon juice, minced garlic, and olive oil to make the sauce.
5. Season sauce with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. 
6. Coarsely chop the parsley.
7. When the beans have drained, lay them out on a plate, drizzle sauce over, and garnish with chopped parsley.
8. Serve the Green Beans with Tahini and Lemon right away and enjoy!

Make it a Low-Carb Meal:

This delicious green beans side dish would taste amazing with Rosemary Mustard Grilled Chicken, Grilled Cuban Flank Steak, Chicken Cutlets with Mustard Sauce, Paprika Chicken, or Spicy Baked Shrimp with Garlic for a low-carb meal!

More Low-Carb Green Beans Recipes:

• Roasted Green Beans with Mushrooms, Balsamic, and Parmesan
• Lemony Green Beans
• Green Beans with Lemon, Parmesan, and Pine Nuts
• Garlic Roasted Green Beans with Shallots and Almonds
• Roasted Green Beans and Red Bell Pepper

Continue to Content

Print

Yield: 4 servings

Green Beans with Tahini and Lemon

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 4 minutes

Total Time 19 minutes

These barely-cooked Green Beans with Tahini and Lemon are an amazing low-carb and gluten-free side dish for a special meal.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. fresh green beans, ends trimmed (preferably thin French style green beans.)
• 1 tsp. salt (for green bean cooking water)
• 2 T chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley (Parsley is optional, but it did enhance the flavors.)
• 2 T Tahini
• 2 T fresh-squeezed or fresh-frozen lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. finely minced fresh garlic (or more)
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (Use the best tasting olive oil you have for this.)
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Bring a medium sized pot of water to a boil.
2. Trim both ends of green beans, but keep them whole.  (I trim by grabbing a handful of beans in the center and then standing them up on the cutting board, letting them fall so the ends are even. Then trim and repeat on the other side.)
3. When the water is boiling, stir in the salt and add the green beans.  Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until they are barely tender-crisp. Drain beans and rinse with cold water; then let them drain well.
4. While the beans are cooking whisk together the Tahini Sauce (affiliate link), lemon juice, minced garlic, and olive oil to make the sauce. (I used my fresh-frozen lemon juice.
5. Taste to see if you'd like more garlic; then season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper.
6. Wash and coarsely chop the parsley if using.
7. To serve, arrange the beans on a serving dish, drizzle sauce over and garnish with the parsley.  Serve hot.

Notes

Recipe adapted very slightly from Fine Cooking.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 203Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 740mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 4gSugar: 4gProtein: 4g

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 recipe would be great for low-carb eating plans, including Keto. Tahini and olive oil would both be considered “good fats” for the original South Beach Diet, so Green Beans with Tahini-Lemon Sauce would be a great side dish that would be approved for all phases of South Beach.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Check out Side Dishes for 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 recipe was first posted in 2012 and I’ve probably made it at least once every summer since then. It was last updated with more information in 2022.

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