Green Bean Fennel Farro Salad

This Green Bean Fennel Farro Salad is an easy, crunchy, incredibly flavorful healthy salad that keeps really well in the fridge for lunches or meal prep! It’s filled with chewy farro, perfectly blanched, crisp green beans, thinly sliced red onion and fennel, toasted pine nuts, and fresh parsley! Everything gets tossed with a lemon dijon vinaigrette – it’s completely crave-worthy!

I’ve been making a version of this green bean salad ALL summer long, and I just had to share it with you guys before it was really too late. We’re already into apple and fig season, and all of the squash, pumpkin, and pomegranates are soon to follow! Until then, I will still be enjoying this because I can’t get enough of these flavors and the CRUNCH!

I’ve had this recipe written in the notes on my phone as “The Green Bean Salad of My Dreams” because that’s exactly what it is. Earlier this summer, when I had a plethora of green beans from the farmers market, I came up with this salad, with ingredients I had on hand! It was such a last minute thing I did for dinner, and at the time I made it with just green beans, red onion, and pine nuts. No farro or fennel.

But let me tell you – the raw fennel and chewy farro make it even more amazing and more substantial for a meal! I’m such a lover of fennel, raw and roasted, and you’ll find me adding it to my salads all fall and winter long!

SO underrated.

The salad comes together in minutes. And that’s exactly what I need this time of year when things are BUSY. I feel like I haven’t had time to take a breath since my cookbook release, and now that we’re going into the holidays, it’s just going to get busier! Meals like these are exactly what I need.

The fennel makes this feel a little more like fall, and the green beans are for the little bit of summer we’re holding on to.

You can totally make this salad year-round though, and you can sub in whatever seasonal veggies you love!

Honestly, you can’t mess this one up. It’s super versatile!

It’s so simple, and it works really well for meal prep or packing lunches for work because it’s such a hearty salad. The green beans, fennel, farro, and red onions really hold up well to the vinaigrette, and everything just tastes better the longer it marinates honestly!

All you need for this salad:

• green beans (I quickly blanch them to remove a little bit of the bite, and to make them super vibrant and green!)
• farro (I often use the quick cooking kind from Trader Joe’s to save time)
• red onion (shaved super thin so they soak up all that delicious dressing!)
• fennel (also shaved super thin)
• toasted pine nuts (such a delicious nutty bite of crunch and flavor)
• fresh flat-leaf parsley

And for the vinaigrette:

• lemon zest
• lemon juice
• garlic
• dijon mustard
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper!

Could not be simpler or more delicious. I am completely HOOKED.

I knew I HAD to get this recipe up for you guys ASAP before I start sharing all of my fall recipes! Sharing it this late in September was even pushing it for me, but I couldn’t wait until next year. It’s just toooo good.

And to make this more of a meal, you can add whatever protein you love. Grilled chicken or shrimp would be awesome, or serving this alongside salmon would be incredible too.

If you’re not a farro fan, or if you’re gluten free, you could substitute quinoa, or leave it out all together. It will be just as delish!

It would also probably be really good with a few crumbles of feta, or even parm shavings if you wanted to add a little cheese!

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Green Bean Fennel Farro Salad

This Green Bean Fennel Farro Salad is an easy, crunchy, incredibly flavorful healthy salad that keeps really well in the fridge for lunches or meal prep! It's filled with chewy farro, perfectly blanched, crisp green beans, thinly sliced red onion and fennel, toasted pine nuts, and fresh parsley! Everything gets tossed with a lemon dijon vinaigrette - it's completely crave-worthy!

Course Dinner, Lunch, Main, Main Course, Salad, Side, Side Dish

Cuisine Healthy, Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword easy farro salad, easy grain salad recipe, fennel salad, green bean salad, lemon dijon vinaigrette, meal prep salad, vegetarian farro salad, vegetarian picnic salad

Prep Time 25 minutes

Servings 4

Author Molly | Spices in My DNA

Ingredients

For the salad

• 1 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cups cooked farro*
• 1/2 of a small/medium red onion, very thinly sliced
• 1 fennel bulb, cored and very thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted*
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus extra for serving
• salt and pepper to taste

For the lemon-dijon vinaigrette

• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 2 lemons
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. Begin by blanching the green beans. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Once boiling, add your green beans and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until bright green. Drain and rinse under cold water for a couple minutes to cool and stop cooking (or, you could throw them in an ice bath!) Set aside.

2. Make the vinaigrette. In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, lemon juice, dijon, garlic, salt, and pepper until smooth. Gradually add the olive oil, whisking to combine, until smooth. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper if desired.

3. Add farro to a large mixing bowl. Add the green beans, red onion, fennel, pine nuts, parsley, and a couple pinches of salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Add the vinaigrette and toss until thouroughly combined. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper if desired. Serve with extra chopped parsley.

Recipe Notes

*I like to use the quick cooking farro from Trader Joe's, because it's just that - quick! It only takes 10 minutes, and it's just as good as the stuff that takes longer to cook.
*To toast your pine nuts, add them to a dry skillet over medium-low heat, and let them toast until they're fragrant and golden brown. Watch carefully though - they can burn in an instant!
*This salad keeps really well in the fridge for a few days since it's so hearty! I find it keeps just fine all tossed together, but you could also keep the ingredients separate until you're ready to eat if you'd like!

There may be an affiliate link(s) in this post, which means that if you click on a product link above and complete a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission at no extra cost to you! As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you SO much for reading!