Blistered Green Bean and Corn Quinoa Salad
This summery quinoa salad features sautรฉed green beans and sweet corn in a simple lemon-basil dressing. Toasted almonds and feta top it off.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on May 14, 2025
Make this salad once, and youโll crave it all summer long. Itโs an unexpected riff on classic quinoa salad, perfect for summer potlucks and barbecues. Itโs hearty but fresh, and one to try even if youโre not the biggest fan of green beans (this recipe might change your mind).
Iโm obsessed with this saladโs contrasting flavors and textures, and I love how they come together. The salad features blistered green beans cooked to perfection with some sweet red onion and garlic, freshly toasted slivered almonds for a savory crunch, tender cooked quinoa and sweet raw corn, creamy feta and tangy tomatoes.
Toss it all in a zippy lemon-basil dressing for an unforgettable salad experience.
If youโve been cooking your green beans the same way for a while now, you might be intrigued by this method. It yields tender (not mushy!) green beans with a light sear in spots. Youโll find all the details in the recipe below.
I created this recipe in 2012 and love it so much that I am sharing it again with fresh photos. I hope it becomes one of your favorite summertime recipes.
Serving Suggestions
This salad is a wholesome and well-balanced light meal on its own. Itโs a great salad to bring to a cookout to serve with grilled entrรฉes. Itโs good at room temperature, so consider it for your next potluck or picnic.
To make a bigger meal, serve it with a simple summer sandwich, like my Caprese Sandwich or Vegetarian โBLTโ Sandwich. Consider it with burgers, like my Favorite Veggie Burgers, or pizzas like my Margherita Pizza or Grilled Pizza.
For a soup and salad combo, try Gazpacho on a hot day or Chickpea Tomato Soup on a cooler evening.
For dessert, make Lemon Posset, a fruity crisp like my Peach Crisp, or Simple Blueberry Cake.
More Green Bean Recipes
Here are a few more of my favorite green bean recipes:
- Best Ever Green Beans: also known as haricots verts amandine
- Classic Minestrone Soup
- Perfect Roasted Green Beans
- Green Bean Salad with Toasted Almonds & Feta
- Green Goddess Tortellini Salad
Please let me know how your salad turns out in the comments! I love hearing from you.
Green Bean and Corn Quinoa Salad
This summery quinoa salad features sautรฉed green beans with sweet corn and cherry tomatoes in a simple lemon-basil dressing. Top with toasted sliced almonds (mandatory) and feta (optional)! Recipe yields 6 servings.
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed well under running water in a fine mesh colander
- 1 pound haricots verts or green beans (roughly 3 cups)
- โ cup sliced almonds
- 3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- ยผ teaspoon fine salt
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- ยฝ medium red onion, sliced into very thin strips
- 1 cup (ยฝ pint) cherry tomatoes, quartered
- Kernels from 2 corn on the cobs (or 1 ยฝ cups defrosted frozen corn)
- Up to 4 ounces (1 cup) crumbled feta
Dressing
- ยผ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ยผ cup lemon juice (about 2 small lemons), more to taste
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
- ยฝ teaspoon fine salt
- 10 twists of freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine 2 cups water and the rinsed quinoa. Bring the mixture to a boil, cover, and reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook for 15 to 17 minutes, until the water is absorbed. Remove the pot from the heat and fluff the quinoa with a fork. Cover the pot and set it aside.
- Meanwhile, chop off the straggly ends of the green beans. Cut them on the bias (diagonally) into 2- to 3-inch long pieces. Set aside.
- In a 12-inch cast iron or stainless steel skillet over medium-low heat, toast the almond slivers while stirring constantly until fragrant and golden, about 2 to 3 minutes. Pour them into a bowl to cool, then keep the skillet handy for the next step.
- Over medium heat, warm 2 teaspoons of olive oil in the skillet until shimmering. Add the green beans and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until spotty brown, about 4 to 6 minutes.
- Use a wooden spoon to push the green beans from the center of the skillet. Add another teaspoon olive oil and the minced garlic. Stir the garlic constantly until fragrant, about 20 to 30 seconds. Stir the garlic into the green beans.
- Grab the lid to your skillet (or a baking sheet, if you donโt have one) and keep it nearby. Add the red onion and ยผ cup water to the pan, and cover until the beans are bright green and crisp (about 2 minutes). Uncover the pan and increase the heat to medium-high. Cook until the water evaporates and the beans are lightly browned (3 to 5 minutes), then remove the pan from the heat.
- Transfer the green beans to a big mixing bowl. Add the cooked quinoa, cherry tomatoes and raw corn. Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and pour it into the salad bowl. Toss to combine. If it doesnโt taste like an end-of-summer party, add another squeeze of lemon juice for more zing, or salt (ยผ to ยฝ teaspoon) for overall flavor.ย
- Top the salad with toasted almonds and feta, and serve. Leftovers will keep well in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 4 days.
Notes
Green bean cooking technique adapted from The Americaโs Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook.
Make it vegan: Skip the feta.
Make it nut free: Leave out the almonds.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionistโs advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I think this was the first of your recipes that I cooked, way back in 2014! Itโs still a great combination of summer flavors, especially when green beans and tomatoes and basil start showing up in local farmers markets.
Subbed pecans for almonds and didnโt have basil-still DELICIOUS!
I just made this for my dinner tonight โ YUM. I like how thereโs a lot of different interesting textures in this salad, and lots of different flavors. Iโll admit I forgot to put the feta on and started eating, and it was still delicious! The vinaigrette is delicious and adds a nice flavor boost. This recipe is definitely more time intensive โ not one Iโd attempt while having kids underfoot.
This is delicious! I use wild rice instead of quinoa which tastes great and ups the protein.
I woul like to know how to print some of these recipes. Not all would appeal to me but would love to have some of them.
Hello, there is a โprintโ button that produces a printer-friendly version, and you can choose the text size and whether or not to include pictures.
Absolutely delicious salad โ made it as a side for dinner tonight. My husband called it a โmasterpiece!โ And it makes a lot โ so glad, because we both want it again for lunch tomorrow. What a delight!
Made this today with friends visiting for dinner. I was out of quinoa, so I used farro instead. Was delicious! Love the varied textures. Will definitely make again. Thank you Kate
Hi Sara, Iโm glad it was good with the farro! Thanks for taking the time to share.
This was delicious!!! I wish I cooked my green beans a bit longer but otherwise it was perfect. I used the frozen basil cubes from Trader Joeโs and they blended perfectly into the dressing.