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).
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.
Video note: You can find the video in the introduction to this blog post. If you don’t see it after scrolling up, please disable ad block and reload the page.
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.