Bacon Green Beans

Bacon Green Beans are so easy and have so much flavor with an amazing bacon butter and garlic sauce!  Use fresh, canned or frozen green beans to make simple side dish and complete any meal!

You guys have been asking me for a great veggie side dish to go along with some of my post popular chicken recipes!  My Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs and Lemon Pepper Chicken both pair perfectly with these green beans!  I’ve told you before, I love potatoes so we have my Cream Cheese Mashed potatoes with our chicken quite often.  But, this is a great option when you don’t want potatoes, or for any of you that are low carb.  I’ve personally never been the biggest green bean fan, just being honest!  I have to say they need tons of flavor if I’m going to enjoy them.  I loved these so much I’ve made them twice in one week. Who doesn’t love bacon, brown butter, and parmesan cheese?  Another great easy skillet side dish is our simple Buttered Corn Recipe!

How to Cook Green Beans with Bacon:

1. You’ll want to start by boiling your beans in a large pot of salted boiling water.  This takes about 8-10 minutes for them to get tender.
2. While the green beans are boiling, go ahead and cook your 6 slices of bacon.  Then, remove them from the pan to a paper towel lined plate.  Pour off excess grease leaving about 1 Tablespoon.
3. At this point, drain the green beans and set them aside.
4. Add 2 Tablespoons of butter to the bacon grease in the skillet.  Reduce the heat to medium-low.  Allow the butter to melt and cook for about 3-4 minutes until browned.
5. Add the minced onion, Italian seasoning, and garlic to the pan.  Cook and stir for 3-4 minutes until the onion is soft.
6. Place the green beans in the skillet and continue to cook for just a couple of minutes, stirring constantly to allow the green beans to absorb the flavor.
7. Remove the pan from the heat and top the beans with the cooked and crumbled bacon as well as the parmesan.

How Do You Trim Green Beans?

This is probably the biggest question I get asked about green beans from people who want to use fresh, but have always only used canned beans.  Trimming them is super simple.  You will want to grab a handful of green beans and place them on your cutting board with the stems lined up.  Then, use your knife to make one single cut all the way through the beans until the stems are removed.  Repeat with remaining green beans, this should only take you a few minutes as you only need to trim the end with the stem.  Alternately, you can purchase green beans that have already been washed and trimmed at your grocery store if you want to keep things even more simple!

Bacon Green Beans Recipe Notes and Tips:

• WHAT KIND OF GREEN BEANS:  You can use fresh, frozen or canned here!  I like to use fresh when I have them because they are soft while still being crisp.  But, if you  have canned or frozen beans they work fine too.  If using canned, I recommend 2 (15 Ounce each) cans or one pound of frozen. For canned make sure to drain all the liquid off and if using frozen, thaw them first.
• If you like a little sweetness you can add in 1-2 Tablespoons of brown sugar to the skillet when you add in the green beans and stir everything together.  When adding brown sugar I like to leave off the parmesan, personally.
• If you don’t have Italian seasoning, just add some oregano, basil or both to taste. You could also leave them out or even add some Cajun seasoning, red pepper flakes, or lemon pepper depending on your taste.

Enjoy!

~Nichole

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5 from 22 votes

Bacon Green Beans

By Nichole

Bacon Green Beans are so easy and have so much flavor with an amazing bacon butter and garlic sauce!  Use fresh, canned or frozen green beans to make simple side dish and complete any meal!

Prep 10 minutes mins

Cook 20 minutes mins

Total 30 minutes mins

Servings 6

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 Pound Fresh Green Beans, Trimmed and Washed
• ▢ 6 Slices Bacon
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons Butter
• ▢ 1/2 Small Onion, Finely Diced
• ▢ 3 Cloves Garlic, Minced
• ▢ 2 Teaspoons Italian Seasoning
• ▢ Salt & Pepper, To Taste
• ▢ 1/3 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Instructions 

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil . Add the green beans and cook for 8-9 minutes until tender.
• While the beans are cooking, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook the bacon to desired doneness.  
• Once the bacon is cooked, remove it from the skillet to a paper towel lined plate.  Pour off all but one Tablespoon of bacon grease (eyeball it) from the skillet.
• Drain the green beans and set aside.**
• Place the skillet with the reserved bacon grease back on the heat and add the butter.  Allow the butter to cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally to mix with the bacon grease, until browned.
• Add the diced onion, minced garlic, and Italian seasoning to the pan.  Cook, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes.
• Add the green beans to the pan and stir constantly for 3 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the heat, salt and pepper the beans to taste then top with the bacon and parmesan cheese as desired.

Video

Notes

NOTE ON TYPE OF GREEN BEANS: You can use fresh (trimmed and washed) frozen (thawed and drained) or canned (drained) green beans.  If using frozen, use one pound and if using canned use two 15 ounce cans.

**NOTE:  To keep your green beans bright green, you can place them into a large bowl of ice water after boiling and draining them.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Cup, Calories: 150kcal

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

Additional Info

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

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