In this spectacularly uncommon summer salad, slender haricots verts and two types of sweet peas are heaped on butter lettuce and tossed with an oh-so-creamy buttermilk ranch dressing. Eating your greens never tasted so good.–Angie Zoobkoff

Green Bean and Pea Salad FAQs

Can I make this green bean and pea salad recipe vegan?

Definitely. Simply replace the buttermilk ranch dressing with a basic lemon vinaigrette.

Can I make this salad with other vegetables?

Use whatever is in season for the freshest crunchiest salad. One tester had great success swapping in asparagus for the peas and basil and tarragon for the dill in the dressing. Any tender baby greens would work well in place of the lettuce here, too.

A black bowl filled with green beans, peas, and butter lettuce.

Green Bean and Pea Salad with Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

5 / 2 votes
This green bean and pea salad is easy to make and the creamy buttermilk ranch dressing will likely become a staple in your fridge. It certainly is in ours.
David Leite
CourseSides
CuisineAmerican
Servings4 servings
Calories205 kcal
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time35 minutes

Ingredients 

For the vegetables

  • Kosher salt
  • 1/2 pound fresh, slender green beans or haricots verts
  • 1/2 pound fresh sugar snap peas, ends and strings removed
  • 1 cup fresh or thawed frozen peas

For the salad

  • 1 small head Boston lettuce, cored, leaves torn
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning
  • Buttermilk ranch dressing

Instructions 

Cook the vegetables

  • Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil and add a generous pinch of salt. Fill a large bowl halfway with ice water.
  • Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook until crisp-tender and bright green, 2 to 3 1/2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to the ice bath to cool. Add the snap peas and peas to the boiling water and cook until crisp-tender and bright green, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain well and transfer to the ice bath to cool.
  • Drain the beans and peas and then pat them dry with paper towels. (The vegetables can be covered with a damp paper towel and refrigerated for up to a day before serving.)

Assemble and serve the salad

  • In a large bowl, toss the beans and peas with the lettuce and the snipped chives.
  • Just before serving, drizzle the salad with about half the dressing and gently toss to combine. Season the salad with salt and pepper, if needed. Serve immediately and pass the remaining dressing at the table.
  • If you have any leftover dressing, cover and refrigerate for up to a couple days, perhaps serving it with crudités or any green salad.
Just Cook It! Cookbook

Adapted From

Just Cook It!

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Nutrition

Serving: 1 portionCalories: 205 kcalCarbohydrates: 16 gProtein: 6 gFat: 14 gSaturated Fat: 2 gMonounsaturated Fat: 3 gCholesterol: 8 mgSodium: 290 mgFiber: 6 gSugar: 8 g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe?Mention @leitesculinaria or tag #leitesculinaria!
Recipe © 2018 Justin Chapple. Photo © 2018 David Malosh. All rights reserved.

Recipe Testers’ Reviews

I rarely give a recipe a 10, but this green bean and pea salad with buttermilk ranch dressing truly merits it! I’ve made it twice this week already. The salad looks so appealing—a mixed plate of spring greens and the variety of textures keeps it interesting bite after bite.

I made it once exactly as written and the second time swapping asparagus for the snow peas and basil and tarragon for the dill. Both versions were great! A real winner with endless possibilities to mix and match as the garden season progresses.

Beautiful spring and summer flavors. I am a huge fan of all-green salads and made-from-scratch dressings.

This herbed dressing will put all your ideas about buttermilk ranch dressings made from packets of spices (and all the “other ingredients”) to rest. No sweet weirdness from the gums, MSG, and other preservatives in prepared dressings or the envelopes of ready-to-mix dressing of our adolescence. As a young teen, I mixed up more than my share of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing and I am grateful to appreciate a fresh version now.

You do need a generous hand with the black pepper and a bit of salt to brighten the dressing, but it will be worth the extra few minutes to prepare. There are no bitter elements to this salad (which is part of why I think you want to be generous with the pepper), and this should make it popular with even the pickiest non-salad folks.

Frozen peas are fine, but pick the nicest snap peas and haricots verts you can. Brief blanching and then chilling will make these shine.

I made a full recipe, then reserved half the dressing and veg to assemble the next day. Any remaining dressing will make for a great dip as well. The creamy tang is perfect with the bright crunch.

This green bean and pea salad made a wonderful side. I enjoyed the crispiness of the green beans and snap peas against the creaminess of the homemade buttermilk ranch dressing.

It’s also a quick side that requires little use of a heating element, valuable for us dealing with the start of hot summers. This would go well alongside any grilled meat or fish—we served it with salmon.

What a beautiful warm weather dish! The vibrant green colors popped on the plate, nestled among the soft pieces of butter lettuce and coated with creamy, tangy buttermilk ranch dressing. The blanched vegetables retained just the right amount of snap and crunch.

The blanching technique worked but it was a little awkward to keep removing individual small vegetables bit by bit. Those peas are so much smaller than the other vegetables, they sank to the bottom of the serving bowl. Nothing can really be done to prevent this, but it imbalanced the composition of a nearly perfect salad.

It was a delicious dressing but there was too much of it due to my inexpert eyeballing of half the amount. Next time, I would either make the dressing in a very large measuring cup so I could measure out a portion or ladle out about 1/2 cup to initially dress the salad and then adjust from there.




About David Leite

I count myself lucky to have received three James Beard Awards for my writing as well as for Leite’s Culinaria. My work has also appeared in The New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, Saveur, Bon Appรฉtit, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Yankee, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and more.


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2 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I made this dressing using sour cream instead of buttermilk – it’s what I had – and made a salad of mixed greens, cucs & fresh cherries. It was delightful!