It's easy to transform simple fresh green beans into the BEST summer side dish or appetizer - toss them with Indonesia's favorite spice mix and grill them!! Grilled green beans is one of my favorite vegetable dishes of the barbecue season - perfect for summer parties and backyard BBQs. Whenever I make these, everyone crowds around the bowl and they disappear quickly!
Here's what I love about this recipe
It's a cinch to make.
Fresh, healthy green beans are transformed into an addictive, sumptuous treat.
I love when vegetables take center stage.
The inspiration for this dish comes from my research into Indonesian cuisine, where Satay - also know as Sate - is perhaps the most famous spice mixture, and where grilling is among the most popular cooking techniques.
Traditional Satay is a dish consisting of skewered and grilled meat or poultry. The spice mix varies from chef to chef, but its signature yellow color comes from ground turmeric root.
HOW TO MAKE SATE SPICE MIX
All you need for this mix is five common spices.
- Turmeric
- Brown sugar
- Chili powder
- Salt
- Coriander
Measure the spices out into a small bowl, stir them together, and you've got a tasty homemade Indonesian sate spice mix.
Indonesian Sate - though designed for beef, pork, fish, lamb, and chicken - is absolutely fantastic on green beans!
While the grill is heating up, toss the beans with vegetable oil and spices, to coat. Grill and enjoy!
HOW TO GRILL GREEN BEANS
Green beans can take up to fifteen minutes to cook through on the grill, depending on how large they are and how many you're making at once.
I've tried putting the beans directly on the grill and I don't recommend it. The beans require some flipping and tossing to brown evenly, and Inevitably you will lose some beans through the grates, no matter how careful you are.
- Use a vegetable grill rack.
- Preheat the grill on high, with the rack in place.
- Carefully add the beans to the pre-heated grill rack
- Close the grill and let the beans cook, undisturbed for 6 minutes
- Open the grill and give the beans a good toss.
- Close and cook for 5 minutes longer.
- Open and toss again, checking for doneness.
- Close the grill and continue to grill for another 5 minutes, or until the beans are done to your liking.
The lemon aioli is easy to throw together. It's a mix of mayo, yogurt, lemon juice, garlic and salt. Stir in some fresh herbs, if you like. Creamy and brightly flavored, this is the perfect compliment to the richly spiced grilled green beans.
I adore recipes like this, where healthy vegetables become crave-worthy delicacies. Here are two more of my favorites:
Here's the recipe for Grilled Green Beans with Lemon Aioli Dipping Sauce. If you make this, I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!
PrintIndonesian Grilled Green Beans with lemon aioli dipping sauce
Spicy, flavorful, Grilled Greens Beans with lemony aioli - a perfect summer side dish or appetizer.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 16 mins
- Total Time: 31 mins
- Yield: 4-6 1x
- Category: Appetizer, side dish
- Method: barbecue
- Cuisine: Indonesian
Ingredients
- Lemon aioli
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise (I like Hellmans best)
- ⅓ cup lowfat greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic or 1 garlic clove, pressed
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons of slivered basil or mint (optional)
- Indonesian spice mix
- 1 tablespoon turmeric powder
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- Beans
- 2 pounds green beans, washed, root ends trimmed off
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- Lemon Aioli Mix all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Indonesian Spice Mix Mix all spices in a small bowl, set aside
- Beans Heat the grill to high. If using a vegetable grill rack, place it on the grill to preheat it. Toss the green beans with oil, to coat. Sprinkle the spice mix over the beans and toss to coat evenly. When the grill is hot, put the beans into the grill rack. (Alternatively, if you don't have a grill rack, you can cook the beans directly on the grill by carefully placing them perpendicular to the grates and using care when flipping them so they don't fall through.) Close the grill and cook the beans for 6 minutes, undisturbed. Open the grill and toss the beans. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes. Toss again. Close and cook for a final 5 minutes. Remove beans and mound them onto a platter or serving bowl.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with lemon aioli dipping sauce on the side.
Notes
[This post first appeared on Panning The Globe in September 2013. It was updated in July 2019 with added nutritional information and more details added to the written post]
Keywords: grilled green beans, grilled string beans, Indonesian spiced grilled green beans,
Ah-mazing! My whole family loves these. You know it’s a winner when my 5 and 8 year olds just can’t eat green beans fast enough.
★★★★★
Hi Angela, Such awesome news! I especially love that your kids are devouring the green beans! Thank you for coming back to leave a comment.
What a fun green bean recipe! So unique
★★★★★
Could you do these in an oven or grill pan on stove top, to enjoy all year?
Great idea because they are so good, why just have them in the summer?! Yes, you can get great results cooking the beans in a large cast iron skillet. Get it nice and hot and make sure your vent is on 'high' because there will be some smoke. Toss the beans in the hot dry skillet and let them get lightly charred. To ensure that they cook through, you can add a bit of water (carefully, it will sputter) and cover the pot for a few minutes to steam the beans. I hope that helps - enjoy!
Made these last night - they were delicious. Great recipe.
Question: I used chili I bought from an Indian spice store that is really hot (although there is no indication on the packaging). I used 1 t. instead of 1 T. and it was still really spicy. What kind (brand?) of chili are you calling for? Thanks!
Good question! I use the type of chili powder you'd use for making chili - in the grocery store it's just called "chili powder." In specialty stores you could look for "New Mexican chili powder." Chipotle or ancho would probably be good with the green beans too.
Good to know - thanks!
I love this twist for green beans. Wonderful flavours and interesting cooking method. Sounds fantastic, I will cook this tonight, thank you 😀
Thanks! 🙂
Lisa, my garden is overrun with green beans the way some are overrun with zucchini- so great to have another way to serve them. We love this recipe, and have since used the spice mixture on flank steak with the aioli- terrific! my repertoire of your recipes for go-to cooking is growing! xo, Ingrid
Thanks Ingrid! I'm happy to hear that the recipes are working for you and I love hearing about what's growing out of control in your garden. 🙂
Love this recipe! The aioli is fantastic too
Hey Lisa -- This looks fantastic. Quick question, does it make a difference whether you use American or French beans? I prefer the thinner French ones if we're just blanching or simmering them but maybe on the grill it doesn't matter, or maybe for dipping as an appetizer the thicker American beans even work better? Can't wait to try this. Just pressed "print!"
Hi charlie - the recipe is designed for the regular, thick American string beans. I'm sure it can be adapted to the the thinner haricots vert but you'd definitely have to shorten the grilling time. I would suggest checking them and tossing them every 3 or 4 minutes on the grill until they look about 20% browned. Also, I'm not sure you'd be able to dip them. But you could serve them with the aioli drizzled on top and eat them with a fork. If you do try the French beans, I'd love to know how they turn out.
I'm going to do it your way first. Thanks!
Uau this is amazing..Love it! Thanks for recipe 🙂
Great meeting you last night! Loved the beans and the dip. Truly!
Thanks! Great meeting you too. I look forward to visiting Conley's!