This Southern Green Bean Salad is also known as Three Bean Salad, and combines green beans, kidney beans, and wax beans into a tangy salad that is the perfect recipe for pot lucks and cookouts.
Three Bean Salad With Fresh Beans
Three Bean Salad With Fresh BeansThree bean salad is a traditional Southern side dish that is commonly found at cookouts and pot luck dinners.
Most commonly, the dish is made easy by using canned beans, however we like the fresh crispness that comes when we use fresh green beans (and wax beans, when they’re in season). We also prefer to use kidney beans that we have boiled from dry. This gives us kidney beans that aren’t soggy or salty.
What Are Wax Beans?
Wax beans are simply green beans that have been bread to not have the chlorophyll pigment that gives green beans their green-ness.
There is very little difference in the flavor of green beans and the flavor of wax beans, although sometimes wax beans can taste a little “lighter”. (But who knows if that’s a perceived difference as we see their color.)
Since they are effectively green beans, they can be uses as a substitute for green beans in any recipe, and you can substitute green beans for them as well. (But, that would make this salad a two bean salad, although no less tasty.)
Wax beans are in season between July and September, and honestly, we have a hard time finding fresh wax beans, unless we go to the farmer’s market in the middle of their season.
If you can’t find fresh wax beans, canned make a good replacement in this fresh three bean salad recipe.
Our Southern Green Bean Salad Recipe
As we mentioned, we prefer to use fresh beans for our green bean salad.
When doing so, we like to blanch our green beans and wax beans first. While the salad is still tasty if you use raw green beans and wax beans, we find that plunging the beans into boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute softens them just slightly.
After blanching the beans, we run them under cold water to cool them down immediately and keep them from cooking too much.
We do still want our beans to be crisp.
If done right, the beans are still crisp when you bite them, but they seem to absorb the dressing a bit better, and their texture brings the whole salad together nicely with the sweet and tangy dressing.
This salad definitely is one of our summer go-tos!
Three Bean Salad With Fresh Beans
Ingredients
- 2 c green beans (frozen or fresh, cut into 1 inch pices)
- 2 c wax beans, cut into 1 inch pieces (or roughly one 15 oz can, drained)
- 2 c cooked kidney beans (or roughly one 15 oz can, drained)
- 1 Vidalia onion, diced
- 1/2 c apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 c sugar
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- If using fresh green beans and/or wax beans, bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the cut beans and blanch them for 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until they are brightly colored and tender, but still retain most of their crunch. Transfer the beans to a colander and run cold water over them to cool.
- In a large bowl mix together green beans,wax beans, kidney beans, and diced onion.
- In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup (for easy pouring), whisk together the remaining ingredients.
- Pour the dressing over the bean mixture and toss to coat.
- Refrigerate overnight for best flavor.
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Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
Juliet
Wednesday 15th of May 2013
I haven't had green been salad in ages. Now I'm craving it. :0) This would be a great dish for a summer picnic. :0)