Get ready to elevate your side dish game with our Mediterranean Green Beans! These vibrant green beans are quick-seared to perfection, resulting in a crispy exterior and tender interior. Drizzled with a zesty lemon tahini sauce, this dish is bursting with flavor and is sure to be a hit at your next meal!
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I love to entertain. It's just that simple. When a holiday or special birthday rolls around, I am the one in the family who hosts. This past New Year I was blessed with having all three of my boys back in our house for a few special days. We celebrated the holiday season together and brunch was the highlight, which included these blistered Green Beans with a Lemon Tahini Dressing.
I also serve these green beans for holidays. They are easy to prepare and I make the tahini sauce a day or two ahead. I also will make the green beans a few hours before the company arrives as these are just as good at room temperature as they are warm.
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I have a wonderful recipe for the Lemon Garlic Tahini Sauce and I also use it in Roasted Heirloom Carrots. I have also thrown the tahini sauce over the Smashed Fingerling Potatoes and it is delicious.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Easy Recipe - you can make this for a weeknight meal
- Leftovers - it is delicious the next day as either a side dish or as part of a salad
- Elevated - this is an elevated recipe for green beans and can be manipulated easily
Ingredients
You will need the following ingredients to make these green beans with a lemon sauce:
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Ingredient Notes:
Tahini is a Middle Eastern condiment that can be used alone, like with falafel or shwarma, or added in with other ingredients to make a sauce. It is vegan and made from ground sesame seeds. It is also mild in taste, keto, dairy-free, and easy to use!
Tahini can be found in most grocery stores or health food stores. It is considered a nut butter but one that is extremely healthy for you. I use it and combine lots of other ingredients into it for many different types of sauces.
Kronos is one of my favorite brands but I have also used the Whole Foods version and it's terrific as well.
See the recipe card for quantities
Additions & Substitutions
Additions:
- Nuts or seeds - toast some almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, or other nuts and place them on top of the tahini
- Spicy - While blistering the green beans, add some red pepper to the pan to toast alongside the beans while cooking.
Substitutions:
- Tahini dressing - if you do not like a tahini dressing, you can simply use a lemon butter sauce. Once the beans are done in the pan, remove them and wipe out the pan. Add some butter and freshly squeezed lemon juice to the pan and, over medium heat, reduce the sauce to half. Place on top of the green beans and serve.
- Garlic - while the sauce calls for garlic, you can omit this and simply have a lemon tahini dressing without it.
How To Make Mediterranean Green Beans: Step-By-Step
Here are some quick visual instructions. Remember that the full instructions with the exact ingredients are in the printable recipe card:
Step 1: Make the tahini sauce by combining the tahini, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic and water. You can find a full explanation of the Lemon Tahini Dressing here.
Step 2: Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a large skillet. Add half of the green beans.
Step 3: Saute the green beans until they are brown and blistered.
Step 4: Add the garlic and saute until brown. Add the rosemary and parsley. Stir to combine. Place the green beans on a platter and repeat with the other half of the green beans. When finished, top with the tahini sauce and serve.
Recipe Tips
- Easily doubles - while this recipe is enough for a weeknight dinner, you can easily double this recipe for a crowd. When doubling the recipe, cook only half of the green beans along with only half of the spices and garlic. Wipe out the pan and then continue with the rest of the green beans and spices.
- Served warm or cold - these can be served warm or at room temperature.
Confidence Tip
If you are nervous about blistering these green beans in a pan, simply roast them. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Place the green beans on a sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and kosher salt. Roast for 15-20 minutes until blistered and cooked through.
Storage and Reheating
- Storage - store the green beans in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will last for 2-3 days.
- Reheating - reheat either in the microwave for 30-60 seconds. If the green beans are stored without the tahini dressing on them already, reheat them in the oven at a low temperature for 10 minutes. Add the dressing on top and serve.
- Freezing - while you can freeze the blistered green beans without the dressing, I do not recommend it.
FAQ's
Cooks snap off the end of green beans so that they can cook evenly and be more tender. Plus, you would not want to eat the stem.
No. There is no reason to soak your green beans before cooking them; however, rinsing them under water will help to clean them prior to cooking.
Yes! You can eat raw green beans off the vine. However, the flavor will be more pronounced with cooking.
Other Delicious Side Dishes
Did you try this recipe? I would love to hear about it! Scroll down to the comment section and leave a ⭐️ rating and review. Share it on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
xoxoxo
Gwen
Mediterranean Green Beans
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Equipment
Ingredients
Lemon Tahini Sauce
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- ½ t lemon zest grated
- 3 t lemon juice
- 1 T warm water
- Kosher salt and pepper
Green Beans
- 2 T olive oil
- 1 lb green beans trimmed
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 t rosemary chopped
- 1 ½ T parsley chopped
Instructions
Make the sauce:
- Whisk the tahini with water.
- Add the lemon juice, zest, salt, and pepper.
- Whisk until smooth. You may need to add more water to get to a saucy consistency.
Make the Green Beans:
- Heat 2T of olive oil in a pan over medium heat.
- Add half of the green beans and saute' until brown, blistered, and wrinkled in spots.About 6 minutes.
- Add garlic and continue to saute' until lightly brown.
- Add half of the rosemary and parsley, along with a touch of salt to combine.
- Transfer to a platter and then repeat with the rest of the green beans.
- Drizzle the green beans with the dressing. Grate some lemon zest over the top.
Notes
Additions & Substitutions
Additions:
- Nuts or seeds - toast some almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, or other nuts and place them on top of the tahini
- Spicy - While blistering the green beans, add some red pepper flakes to the pan to toast alongside the beans while cooking.
- Garlicky - if you want to make this extra garlicky, add some sliced garlic cloves into the pan while blistering the green beans.
Substitutions:
- Tahini dressing - if you do not like a tahini dressing, you can simply use a lemon butter sauce. Once the beans are done in the pan, remove them and wipe out the pan. Add some butter and freshly squeezed lemon juice to the pan and, over medium heat, reduce the sauce to half. Place on top of the green beans and serve.
- Garlic - while the sauce calls for fresh garlic, you can omit this and simply have a lemon tahini dressing without it. Or, if you don't have any fresh garlic on hand, sprinkle some garlic powder over the beans while cooking.
- Oil - while this recipe calls for extra-virgin olive oil, you can easily substitute avocado oil or two tablespoons of butter.
- Green Beans - you can substitute french green beans in this recipe. You can also substitute frozen green beans that have been thawed; however, do not use a can of green beans.
Sage Scott says
The lemon tahini sauce takes green beans from regular to out-of-this-world! I'm going to make them like this from now on!
Anonymous says
Yum