The thing that makes this green bean salad delicious is also the thing that makes it easy.
Here’s the magic: You slow roast cherry tomatoes on a sheet pan until their juices caramelize into sticky borderline-burnt bits. Then—without washing the pan—you toss the green beans right onto that pan with stuck-on bits and blast them under the broiler. They char in spots, soak up all that umami-rich tomato essence, and take on a smoky-sweet depth that makes you forget that this dish only has a handful of ingredients.
The result? A green bean salad that’s bright, bold, and deeply satisfying—perfect for a picnic or a solo lunch straight from the bowl.
Green bean salad make-ahead instructions
To make this recipe ahead, you can roast the tomatoes, then roast the green beans, and store them in a container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can also mix the dressing and store it in a separate container along with the veg.
When is this recipe in season?
Green beans are usually in season from early summer through mid-fall, but they’re often available year-round. You might have a slightly harder time finding them fresh when they’re not in peak season. But frozen green beans are certainly available year-round, and that will work in a pinch in this recipe. Frozen green beans have a slightly different texture than fresh, and they won’t take as long to cook through.
Tomatoes are in season at the same time as green beans. And if you’re a tomato fan, you know that they’re really best enjoyed in-season. But slow-roasting really changes their texture and intensifies their flavor, so this recipe works incredibly well with out-of-season tomatoes.
So TL/DR: It’s technically in season in summer through fall, but this salad is really good year-round too.
easiest green bean salad
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
for the tomatoes:
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- Olive oil and salt
for the dressing:
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 small clove garlic, crushed through a press or finely minced
for the green beans and salad:
- 16 to 18 ounces green beans, washed, dried, stemmed, and broken into pieces
- Olive oil and salt
- 3 to 6 ounces feta cheese
Instructions
- Roast the tomatoes: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) convection.*
- Coat the tomatoes in olive oil and sprinkle evenly with salt.
- Spread the tomatoes out on a sheet pan,** and make sure they’re all facing cut-side up.
- Roast the tomatoes for 35 to 45 minutes, until the puddles of juice concentrate and become syrupy. Carefully lift them up with a spatula, and remove them to a salad bowl (but do not wash the pan!).
- Make the dressing: Whisk everything together until very well combined. Set aside.
- Roast the green beans and make the salad: Set the oven to broil. Coat the green beans in olive oil and sprinkle evenly with salt.
- Spread the green beans out on the sheet pan on top of all the caramelized tomato juices.
- Broil until blistered, a little charred, and somewhat softened (about 5 to 10 minutes, but it could be even less depending on your broiler).
- Momentarily toss the green beans in the (now slightly dissolved) tomato juices. I like to just run the spatula down the middle once or twice to coat them a little (but do not scrape up the tomato bits—they’re extremely strong, and you just want a light coating), and then empty them into the salad bowl.
- Crumble the feta into the salad bowl, drizzle with dressing, and gently toss everything together, just until combined (don’t over-mix or the tomatoes and feta will dissolve).
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Notes
* If you don’t have a convection oven, they might take a little longer, and you might need to rotate them once halfway through.
** For the cleanest flavor, it’s best to use stainless steel instead of aluminum, but I often use aluminum and it turns out totally fine. There’s a good Cooks Illustrated Article on the subject.
Wonderfully tasty, thank you very much!
Thank you! 😀
I have always been into salads and this one screams summer…can’t wait to try! I also love charring beans and peppers, I usually do it over the stove top but this way looks less time consuming. Happy feasting!
Thanks so much, hope you love this one! 🙂
What elements do you freeze? Thanks, nt
Hi Nancy! I don’t freeze anything for this recipe in particular, but if you’re looking for green bean recipes to freeze, lubiyeh b’zetha (https://www.cardamomandtea.com/blog/green-beans) and riza shirw’it fasouliyeh (https://www.cardamomandtea.com/blog/riza-sherwit-fasouleyeh) work great for freezing.