This potato and green bean salad is a delicious side dish for summer. It’s a nice twist to traditional potato salad for a barbecue, and a great side for grilled meat or poultry. The balsamic dressing is tangy from the vinegar, Dijon mustard, and fresh lemon juice. It pairs nicely with the tender red potatoes and crisp fresh green beans.

Key Ingredients for Potato and Green Bean Salad

Green beans: 

Fresh green beans add welcome crunch. Use whatever looks best to you when shopping, from classic green beans to yellow wax beans to thinner haricots verts. Just be sure to trim off the stems before cooking.

Baby potatoes: You can use any small, quick-cooking potatoes for this salad, from baby red and yellow potatoes to fingerlings. We prefer to peel the potatoes, but you can certainly leave the thin skins on if you’d like.

How to make Potato and Green Bean Salad

Ingredients

Dressing

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 dash Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Salad

• 1 1/2 pounds small red skinned potatoes
• 3/4 pound haricot verts or other green beans, stems trimmed
• 1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)

Directions

Dressing Directions

1. For the dressing, whisk the balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce in a medium bowl.
2. Gradually whisk in the olive oil.
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Dressing can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature and re-whisk before using.

Potato Salad Directions

1. For the potato salad, steam potatoes until tender. Cool and cut into quarters.
2. Cook green beans in a large pot of salted boiling water until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and cut in half.
3. Combine green beans, potatoes, onion, basil, and optional pine nuts in a large bowl.
4. Add dressing.
5. Toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. This can be prepared up to 4 hours ahead of time.

How long can this potato salad sit out?

This potato salad can sit out for up to two hours at room temperature, or one hour in a very warm environment. Even though it doesn’t contain mayonnaise or eggs, the salad can still spoil if left out for too long. Be sure to refrigerate leftovers promptly, or toss them if the two-hour mark has passed.