This green bean and potato salad is bright, zippy, and completely mayo-free. It leans on a warm lemon garlic dressing poured over slightly warm potatoes, green beans with just the right snap, olives, fresh herbs, and crumbled feta.
Jump to: ℹ️ Overview | 🛒 Ingredients | 📷 How To Make | 📹 Watch The Video | 👩🍳 Recipe Tips | 🥗 Serving Suggestions | 📝Full Recipe Card | 🍽 More Mediterranean Salad Recipes
At A Glance
- ⏱ Ready In: 30 minutes
- 🍽 Serves: 6
- 🌱 Diet: Vegetarian, Gluten-Free (vegan without feta)
- 💪 Nutrition Highlights: Good source of fiber, vitamin C, potassium, and healthy fats from olive oil
- 🥕 Main Ingredients: Baby potatoes, green beans, Kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes, feta, lemon garlic vinaigrette
- 🔥 Flavor Profile: Fresh, bright, tangy, garlicky — with a salty herby finish
- 🧊 Meal-Prep Friendly: Keeps well for 3–4 days in the fridge; dresses better the longer it sits
- Best Served With: Grilled chicken, lamb, fish, skewers, or as a standalone summer side
The trick with this green bean potato salad is the warm lemon garlic vinaigrette — garlic briefly cooked in olive oil until mellow, then stirred together with lemon juice, zest, red wine vinegar, and a touch of mustard.
Pour it over slightly warm potatoes, and they soak up every bit of it. The green beans stay snappy, the olives add that briny depth, and the fresh herbs round everything out. No creamy dressing, no heaviness — just bright Mediterranean flavors that work next to anything off the grill. The feta on top is optional, but I’d strongly recommend it.
👩🍳 More Potato Salad Recipes:
• Creamy Potato Salad with Dill Pickles
• Crispy Smashed Potato Salad
• Potato Salad with Apples, Capers & Dill
•Potato Salad with Green Beans & Romesco Dressing ( No Mayo)
• Vinegret (Ukrainian Beet Salad)
• Southern Potato Salad
• Best Potato Salads
What You’ll Need
Here is what you’ll need for this Greek-style green bean potato salad recipe. Find the full measurements in the recipe card below.
For the salad:
- Baby potatoes — halved or quartered so they cook evenly and have more surface area to soak up the dressing. Any small waxy potato works well here; they hold their shape better than floury varieties.
- Green beans — trimmed and blanched just long enough to keep that snap. Don’t overcook them! You want them bright green, not olive-colored and floppy.
- Red onion — thinly sliced for a little sharp bite. If raw onion is too strong for you, soak the slices in cold water for 10 minutes before adding.
- Kalamata olives — salty, meaty, and very Greek. Swap for any pitted olive you like.
- Cherry tomatoes — halved, for pops of juicy sweetness. Heirloom tomatoes look beautiful if you have them.
- Fresh parsley — brightens the whole thing up. You really do need fresh here, not dried.
- Fresh dill or oregano — dill gives it a more summery, Scandinavian-ish vibe; oregano leans more classically Greek. Both are delicious; use whichever you prefer or have on hand.
- Feta cheese — optional, but genuinely makes this dish. It adds salty, creamy little crumbles over the top that are hard to resist.
For the lemon garlic dressing:
- Olive oil — use a good one; it makes a difference in a dressing this simple.
- Garlic — briefly cooked in the olive oil so it softens and loses that raw bite. Don’t skip this step.
- Lemon juice and zest — both! The zest adds a fragrant citrus note the juice alone can’t give you.
- Red wine vinegar — a little extra acidity that plays nicely with the lemon.
- Dijon mustard — optional, but it helps the dressing emulsify and adds a subtle depth. I nearly always add it.
- Salt and pepper — season well; potatoes need it.
How To Make Green Bean & Potato Salad
Find the full recipe and nutritional information below. Here are some handy step-by-step photos for how to make this potato green bean salad.
- Cook the potatoes in a large pot of well-salted boiling water for 12–15 minutes until fork-tender. Keep an eye on them — you want soft but not falling apart. Drain and let them cool partway (still warm is what you’re after).
- In the same or separate pot, blanch the green beans for just 2–3 minutes. Drain immediately and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking and keep them brilliantly green.
- Make the dressing: warm olive oil in a small pan over medium heat, add the garlic, and cook for 30–60 seconds until fragrant but not brown. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice, lemon zest, red wine vinegar, Dijon, salt, and pepper.
- Add the still-warm potatoes and the cooled green beans to a large bowl. Pour most of the dressing over and toss gently so the potatoes absorb it.
- Add cherry tomatoes, red onion, olives, and fresh herbs. Toss again with the remaining dressing.
- Top with crumbled feta and extra herbs, and serve.
Watch The Video
Recipe Tips
- Don’t let the potatoes go cold before dressing them. Warm potatoes absorb dressing far better than cold ones — this is what makes the salad so flavorful.
- Don’t overcook the green beans. Two to three minutes is plenty. Rinse them under cold water the moment they come out of the pot.
- Watch the garlic. It goes from fragrant to bitter in seconds. Medium heat, 30–60 seconds, then off the heat.
- Make it vegan: Just leave out the feta, or use a good-quality vegan alternative.
- Add more protein: Chickpeas tossed through make this a more substantial meal. White beans also work beautifully.
- Swap the herbs: If you don’t have dill or fresh oregano, flat-leaf parsley on its own is perfectly delicious. Basil is also a lovely addition in summer.
- Storage: Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3–4 days. The flavors actually improve overnight as the potatoes absorb more of the dressing. Give it a quick toss and maybe a small squeeze of lemon before serving from the fridge.
- Make ahead: You can cook the potatoes and beans up to a day ahead and keep them refrigerated. Make the dressing separately and toss everything together when ready to serve.
Serving Suggestions
This green bean and potato salad works beautifully as a side for anything grilled — think lamb chops, grilled chicken thighs, or a simple piece of fish. It’s also great alongside a Greek-style frittata or a big bowl of Greek butter beans for a fully vegetarian spread. In summer, I’ll often just serve it with a pile of crusty bread and call it lunch. If you’re taking it somewhere (a BBQ, a picnic, a potluck), it travels incredibly well and only gets better after sitting for a while.
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Video
Ingredients
Salad:
- 1.5 lbs baby potatoes, halved 24 oz / 680 grams
- 10 oz green beans, trimmed 280 grams
- ¼ red onion thinly sliced
- ½ cup Kalamata olives, pitted 2.5 oz / 75 grams
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- ⅓ cup fresh parsley chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill or oregano chopped
- 3 oz feta cheese, crumbled (optional) 85 grams
Dressing:
- ¼ cup olive oil 2 fl oz / 60 ml
- 3 cloves garlic finely minced
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard optional
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the halved baby potatoes and cook for 12–15 minutes, until fork-tender. Don't overcook — you want them to hold their shape. Drain and set aside to cool slightly (still warm is perfect).
- Using the same pot of water, blanch the trimmed green beans for 2–3 minutes until just tender and bright green. Drain immediately and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking.
- Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook for 30–60 seconds until fragrant. Don’t let it brown.
- Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice, lemon zest, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper.
- Place the still-warm potatoes and cooled green beans in a large bowl. Pour most of the dressing over and toss gently to coat, letting the potatoes absorb the dressing.
- Add the cherry tomatoes, red onion, olives, and fresh herbs. Toss again, drizzling over any remaining dressing.
- Top with crumbled feta and extra fresh herbs. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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