This potato green bean salad is super easy and perfect for summer barbecues and parties. Serve it with some Grilled Pork Chops or These Delicious Grilled Chicken Thighs In Homemade Italian Dressing for a complete summer meal!
It can be made ahead of time and will still be just as good! There’s only a few ingredients in this recipe.
You’ll need potatoes, green beans, red onion, cherry tomatoes, parsley, olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper for this Italian potato salad. Super simple ingredients!
If you like more string beans or tomatoes feel free to add them. Use the detailed recipe below as a general guide and feel free to make changes if you desire.
How To Make Italian Green Bean Potato Salad
- Start by cleaning the green beans and snapping off the stem edge. They snap off pretty easily, but you can also use a knife.
- Slice 1 medium red onion into thin slices like shown. Finely chop a 1/2 cup of fresh parsley and slice the cherry tomatoes in half.
- Clean and chop the potatoes into fairly large pieces. About 1 1/2″ cubes or slightly larger is fine. The measurement is not critical.
- Bring a salted (2 Tbsp kosher salt) pot of water to a boil and add the potatoes. Boil the potatoes until almost fork tender. This should take about 10-15 minutes.
- While the potatoes are boiling make the vinaigrette. In a large bowl whisk together a 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 tsp kosher salt and a 1/4 tsp black pepper.
- Add the onions into the vinaigrette and set aside.
- After the potatoes have been boiling for about 7 minutes add the green beans into the water so that they both finish cooking at the same time.
- Remove the green beans with a slotted spoon, then drain the potatoes. Whisk the vinaigrette one last time, then add the warm potatoes to the bowl and toss to coat. They will absorb all the flavors this way.
Next, add the green beans, toss and plate. Finally add the cherry tomatoes on top.
And that’s how to make an easy green bean potato salad.
Green Bean Potato Salad Substitutions and Additions
- Bacon – Use a half pound of crumbled cooked bacon. Toss it in right at the end with the tomatoes.
- Basil – If you love basil add it in along with the parsley.
- Greens – Kale and spinach both work quite well. Substitute the greens for the string beans or add it to the recipe. For the kale add it to the pot during the last 3 minutes of cooking. For the spinach (use baby), place it into the bottom of the vinaigrette bowl and let the warm potatoes wilt it with their residual heat.
Tips
- Use any type of potato you like. Yukon gold were used in the pics, but new potatoes would work nicely as well. The potatoes should be almost fork tender. Basically still a tiny bit firm, if they are too soft they will get mushy when mixed with the vinaigrette. Don’t worry though, cook it to your preference, no doubt some people like the potatoes in this salad on the soft side.
- Toss the warm potatoes into the vinaigrette to achieve maximum flavor. The warm potatoes will soak up and absorb the oil and vinegar much better this way.
- Adding the tomatoes at the end help avoid them breaking down from the hot potatoes.
Other Delicious Italian Sides
- Italian Green Beans With Garlic And Oil
- Grilled Fennel Salad With Shaved Parmesan
- Radicchio Salad With Orange Pignoli Nut Vinaigrette
- Cauliflower Salad
- Sauteed Italian Broccoli
- Sauteed Zucchini And Mushrooms With Burrata
If you’ve enjoyed this Potato Green Bean Salad or any recipe on this blog please let us know in the comments! We would love to hear how you did and it’s nice to show others as well. Thanks! FOLLOW US on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook.
Ingredients
for the salad
- 3 pounds potatoes
- 3/4 pound green beans
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 1 medium red onion
for the vinaigrette
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup parsley
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
Instructions
- Chop potatoes into bite size pieces. Clean and snap off ends of green beans. Slice red onion into thin pieces. Finely chop parsley and slice tomatoes into halves.
- Bring a large pot of salted (2 Tbsp kosher salt) water to a boil. Once boiling add in the potatoes and cook for 7 minutes. Add in the green beans and continue to cook until the green beans are bright green and the potatoes are almost fork tender (about 5 more minutes).
- Remove the green beans and set aside. Drain the potatoes into a colander and set aside.
- In a large bowl make the vinaigrette by whisking the 1 tsp of Dijon mustard, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, 1 tsp kosher salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, and 1/2 cup parsley. Add the red onions into the bowl.
- Place the warm potatoes into the vinaigrette and toss to coat. Next add in the green beans, toss and plate. Finally add the cherry tomatoes on top and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
- The cooking times are approximate. If the potatoes need more time simply remove the green beans with a slotted spoon and allow the potatoes to continue cooking.
- Only 1 tsp of salt was used in the dressing, plus the salt in the water. Adjust to personal preference.
Great salad, thanks for the yummy recipe. I used organic green beans, small purple potatoes and and onion from our CSA. Followed recipe exactly but added fresh garlic, garlic scapes and parmesan cheese.
Thanks so much! Sounds great with the additional ingredients!