Argentine Green Bean Salad

When an Argentine asado gets fired up on a Sunday afternoon, a bowl of ensalada de chauchas almost always shows up on the table, light and simple, ready to balance out all that grilled meat. Chauchas—the Rioplatense word for green beans—are cooked just until tender-crisp, then tossed with onion, tomato, and a straightforward oil-and-vinegar dressing.

This salad is part of Argentina’s everyday side-dish lineup, right alongside mixed salad and Russian salad, and it’s typically thrown together with whatever’s on hand: a handful of ingredients, plenty of freshness, and a tangy edge that gets the appetite going before the main course.

Argentine Green Bean Salad

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• Author: Recetas123
• Prep Time: 15
• Resting time: 15
• Cook Time: 12
• Total Time: 42
• Yield: 4 servings
• Category: Salad
• Cuisine: Argentine

Print Recipe

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Ingredients

• 500 g of green beans (chauchas) (about 3 cups, trimmed)
• 1 unit of red onion, medium, thinly sliced (1 medium onion)
• 2 units of tomatoes, medium, diced (2 medium tomatoes)
• 2 units of hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered (2 eggs) (optional)
• 60 ml of olive oil (4 tablespoons)
• 30 ml of red wine vinegar (2 tablespoons)
• to taste of salt
• to taste of black pepper

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Instructions

1. Cook the green beans, wash the green beans, trim the ends, and boil them in salted water for 8 to 10 minutes, until tender but still slightly firm; drain them and plunge them into cold water to stop the cooking and keep their bright green color.
2. Prep the vegetables, while the green beans cool, thinly slice the red onion and dice the tomato; if the onion tastes too sharp, let it sit in water with a splash of vinegar for a few minutes to mellow it out.
3. Assemble the salad, arrange the drained green beans in a serving bowl along with the onion, tomato, and, if using, the quartered hard-boiled eggs; spread the ingredients out evenly.
4. Dress and serve, drizzle the salad with olive oil and vinegar, season with salt and pepper to taste, toss gently, and serve at room temperature or lightly chilled.

Practical Tips

• Don’t overcook the green beans—they should stay tender but firm, never mushy.
• The ice-water bath after boiling keeps that vibrant green color locked in.
• If making the salad ahead, add the dressing right before serving so the beans don’t lose their texture.
• Soaking the onion in vinegar-water tones down its bite without sacrificing crunch.

Traditional variations

• Some households add diced boiled potato, tying in another Argentine table staple.
• Another version swaps the oil-and-vinegar dressing for mayonnaise, making the salad creamier.
• It’s common to finish with chopped parsley or a splash of lemon juice instead of vinegar.

Traditional Way to Serve

Ensalada de chauchas is served cold or at room temperature, straight from the bowl it was tossed in, so everyone can help themselves. It’s a common partner for asado, milanesas, roast chicken, or stews, adding freshness and color to the table.

Recommended sides

• Asado (Argentine barbecue)
• Milanesas
• Roast chicken
• Homemade bread

Origin and Tradition

The word ‘chauchas’ comes from Quechua and is used in Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, and Chile for the green pods that other Spanish-speaking countries call ejotes, vainitas, or judías verdes. In Rioplatense slang, the same word is also used to mean ‘money,’ though in the kitchen it keeps its original meaning as a vegetable.