18 Green Bean Salad Recipes That Your Thanksgiving Wouldn’t Be Complete Without

Updated September 11, 2020

Nothing says Thanksgiving like golden brown turkey flanked by casseroles but the meal just wouldn’t be complete without some fresh veggie dishes on the table too. These 18 green bean salad recipes are the perfect addition to your dinner table, adding a bright pop of green and delicious flavor that can rival even the creamiest casserole, like the amazing Green Bean Casserole Salad.

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Green Bean Salad with Feta Dressing

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Briny feta, tangy buttermilk and fresh herbs combine in a yummy dressing for steamed green beans in this healthy side dish recipe. The bold flavors will bring a delicious flair to your Thanksgiving meal. 

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Blistered 3-Bean Salad

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Haricots verts are thinner than regular green beans, but you can use any bean with an edible pod (ask the vendor at your local farmers' market) in their place in this easy side dish recipe. 

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Green Bean Casserole Salad

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Trying to lighten up your green bean casserole? Try this quick and easy salad version, which combines fried shallots, croutons, mushrooms, green beans, and chopped chard leaves for a lighter take on a holiday classic.

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Wilted Green Bean Salad

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“Killed,” or wilted, lettuce is a traditional Southern salad in which tender greens are tossed in a dressing of hot bacon grease and tart vinegar, salt and pepper, garnished with crisp pieces of bacon and raw green onion. Here we do something deliciously similar with lightly steamed tender new green beans to create this irresistibly delicious healthy green bean salad recipe.

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Lemon-Dill Green Beans

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This lemon and dill vinaigrette is a natural complement to green beans. It's also great tossed with steamed asparagus or drizzled over sliced fresh tomatoes.

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Blue Cheese-Walnut Green Beans

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Tender-crisp green beans tossed with creamy blue cheese and topped with toasted walnuts pair well with grilled steak or chicken.

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Green Bean & Shallot

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This easy Asian green bean salad recipe gets a deeply savory flavor from shallots and fish sauce. Part of the reason is time: after it's made, the dish is left at room temp for 20 minutes to allow the green beans to absorb more flavor. And those 20 extra minutes will give you more time to put the finishing touches on the your Thanksgiving dinner! 

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Lemon-Dill Green Bean & Potato Salad Recipe

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This Lemon-Dill Green Bean & Potato Salad is perfect for adding fresh flavors to your Thanksgiving meal. And, if available, multicolored baby potatoes will add a beautiful pop of color to you spread. 

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Fresh Green Bean Salad

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In this crisp side dish, fresh green beans and sweet peppers are joined with edamame in a sweet and spicy chili-lime dressing. To get these beans crisp-tender, we 

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Better Three-Bean Salad

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Traditional three-bean salad gets a healthy, fresh spin with the addition of black soybeans, snap peas and a tarragon-infused dressing. Find black soybeans near other canned beans; they're a sweeter, creamier relative of the green ones you're probably familiar with.

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Packet-Roasted Balsamic Green Beans & Peppers

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Quickly cooked in a foil packet, these green beans and peppers are dotted with pine nuts and drizzled with balsamic vinegar for a light and sweet salad side for your feast.

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Green Bean Salad with Basil-Tomato Vinaigrette

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This cold green bean salad, tossed with a homemade tomato vinaigrette and red onions, is a delicious and easy side dish, which makes for the perfect way to add a healthy option to your Thanksgiving meal without requiring a lot of prep. Feel free to add bits of creamy goat cheese to kick this simple dish up a notch.

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Mushroom & String Bean Salad

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Seasoned with white wine, olive oil and dill, this salad keeps things light to keep your holiday meal balanced. This salad can be served cold or at room temperature, so you can prep it the day before and have it ready to go for your Thanksgiving meal. 

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Three-Bean Salad

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This three-bean salad has far less sugar than typical versions. To keep things simple for your holiday feast, we opt for a combination of canned and frozen beans along with fresh green beans for their great taste and texture. 

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Green Bean & Tommy-Toes Salad

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At first glance, you may think that vinegar or lemon juice has been inadvertently omitted from the ingredient list of this green bean and tomato salad recipe. Not so. The juice of tiny ripe cherry tomatoes, called “tommy toes” in parts of the mountain South, is acidic enough that you don't need vinegar or lemon juice to go with the olive oil to dress this salad—it also contributes subtle sweetness—the perfect counterpoint to fresh beans.

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Corn and Green Bean Salad

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This colorful vegetable side dish is low-calorie, low-sodium, and suitable for diabetic food plans. While it calls for fresh corn, canned corn for Thanksgiving works just as well. Ready in less than 30 minutes, and only calls for eight ingredients, this dish is easy so you can focus on your main dish.

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Green Bean Salad with Corn, Basil & Black Olives

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This vibrant summer salad goes well with just about any entree. Be sure to get ultra-fresh beans and corn and blanch them just long enough to tenderize them and bring out their color. If they are available, use salt-cured black olives, which provide the best complement to the crisp vegetables.

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Warm Green Bean Salad with Toasted Walnuts

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This colorful salad makes a fine prelude to a hearty dinner. Walnut oil's distinctive flavor delivers a rich hit to the dressing made up of red wine vinegar and Dijon mustard. While this is very good warm, you can serve it chilled with blue cheese crumbles to complement the walnuts.

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