Fresh Green Beans, One Way

By BClover

Ingredients

• 1 pound Green Beans
• 2 Tablespoons Bacon Grease (can Substitute 1 Tablespoon Butter And 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil)
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 1 cup Chopped Onion
• 1 cup Chicken Broth
• 1/2 cup Chopped Red Bell Pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon (to 1 Teaspoon) Kosher Salt (can Substitute Regular Table Salt; Use 1/4 To 1/2 Teaspoon)
• Ground Black Pepper To Taste

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 15mins
Cooking time 45mins
Adapted from thepioneerwoman.com

Preparation

Step 1

Enter your email address:

My homegirl Hyacinth make these with me last week, so you’ll be seeing her petite, lovely hands in the photos. I want her hands to be mine, and I’m trying to figure out how I can make that happen.

I used to wonder—and still do wonder somewhat—why you can’t just grab a big handful of beans, line them up, and chop off the ends with a sharp knife? Why spend the time snapping them? Is it just to feel old fashioned and traditional? Or is there some practical benefit to snapping the end? I think it might be so that one can tear off the tough string if one is present…but I’d prefer to think of the whole thing as a conspiracy to cause homemakers to spend as much time as possible in the kitchen. It’s all a conspiracy, I know it! The next thing they’ll want us to do is tie a grosgrain ribbon in our hair and wear an eyelet apron. And bring our husbands his slippers when he walks in the door. And call him “dear.”

And that’s it! That’s how I make my fresh green beans. Now go feed them to your family and ENJOY!

Begin by plopping about 2 tablespoons bacon grease in a skillet over medium low – medium heat. Yes, I said bacon grease. Yes, I said bacon grease. I’m sorry, but it tastes magical and there’s just nothing like it. But if you’d prefer to stay away from its grasp, use 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter. The butter will provide some nice color and flavor.

Next, chop or press 2 cloves of garlic and add it to the skillet. Note the tiny bits of bacon that were present in the bacon grease. Yikes. Is that even legal?

Then add in the onion, stirring around and cooking it for a moment.

Now add the green beans…

Stir it around…

Then add 1/2 teaspoons to 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Hyacinth used 1 teaspoon and it was plenty salty…but that was part of what made it so good. Also add in some black pepper to taste.

NOW—important: Turn the heat to low/medium low and cover with a lid, but CRACK THE LID so the steam escapes. Cook for 20-30 minutes until the liquid totally evaporates and the beans are fairly soft, but still have a bit of a bite to them. Don’t be afraid to let the chicken broth cook away, because the onions and beans will begin to caramelize, which means flavor-flavor-flavor!

Snap the stem ends of green beans, or cut them off in a big bunch with a knife if you’d like. Just don’t tell Granny. Melt bacon grease in a skillet over medium low heat. Add garlic and onions and cook for a minute. Then add green beans and cook for a minute until beans turn bright green. Add the chicken broth, chopped red pepper, salt, and black pepper. Turn heat to low and cover with a lid, leaving lid cracked to allow steam to escape. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until liquid evaporates and beans are fairly soft, yet still a bit crisp. You can add more chicken broth during the cooking process, but don’t be afraid to let it all cook away so the onions and peppers can caramelize.

Melt bacon grease in a skillet over medium low heat. Add garlic and onions and cook for a minute. Then add green beans and cook for a minute until beans turn bright green.

Add the chicken broth, chopped red pepper, salt and black pepper. Turn heat to low and cover with a lid, leaving lid cracked to allow steam to escape. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until liquid evaporates and beans are fairly soft, yet still a bit crisp.

You can add more chicken broth during the cooking process, but don’t be afraid to let it all cook away so the onions and peppers can caramelize.

I just saw this post come up…. we LOVE fresh green beans. I usually cook them just until crisp tender, then butter, salt & pepper. Very simple, but sweet and good! I will try your recipe next time I make them.

What a coincidence. I made something similar last night. The only addition is quartered red potatoes.

Another to add to my collection. This looks delicious!! Can’t wait to get to the store and get some green beans.

I make this recipe slightly different to speed up cooking time. I steam the green beans in a pot separately for about 10 minutes, and at the same time get my garlic green onion sauteeing in the skillet with some bacon. I then strain the green beans, and dump them in the skillet to finish up – about 5 minutes. Be sure to give them a good toss in there so they’re coated with the butter and seasonings.

If you would like , crisper, tender green beans, try parboiling the beans first for about a minute.Then stir fry for a few minutes and add about a fourth of cup of broth and steam for a few minutes. The beans will stay a brighter green and be crisp and tender. You could carmelize the onion and red pepper beforehand and then add to beans later. Just a different way of cooking veggies I picked up from my grandmother and mother.

I make mine very similiar. cook up a little bacon (2 slices), remove bacon, and some of grease. Add onion and cook. Chop up bacon and add back to pan along with broth and green beans. Add a little bit of brown sugar, and continue cooking just like ya said. YUMMY! Bacon, onion, beans, and brown sugar! Almost heaven!

oh that sounds soooo good! and easy! Peter makes a complicated recipe that

Oh yummm, Ree ! excellent idea ! I’m going to make those for dinner tonight ! I LOVE green beans, and this is going to make them fabulous

Yum! And you’re absolutely right – a little bacon grease is key. I always wondered why I couldn’t make green beans like my grandmother did, and then a couple weeks ago I found a similar recipe that called for salt pork (basically bacon). They were ALMOST as good as my grandmother’s – the only difference I think is that my grandmother’s green beans were always picked fresh out of her garden that morning and mine came from the grocery store. Next year I’m adding beans to my garden!

Hey Ree. Yesterday my husband was asking if any of my recipes used bacon grease. I don’t tell him how many do! I think I’ll make these beans tonight- yum.

YUM – sounds so good. Question – where do you store your bacon grease? in the fridge, after you pour it in a can?

Oh my goodness. THANK YOU for understanding the bacon grease thing. I have had people nearly fall off their chairs when they ask what I did to the green beans to make them so tasty, and I tell them its bacon grease!! My nana made her beans this way always- and it will always be my favorite way to eat them!

I’ve always loved fresh green beans. I make them with garlic, bacon, and vinegar. Yours look great too!

This is perfect – I have a bag full of green beans and bacon grease! Whew. Can’t wait to make these.

As for canned beans, when I do make them, I plop two cans of blue lake Del Monte beans (juice and all), salt and pepper, 1 tsp or so of olive oil, and a 1/2 tsp-1 tsp of sugar. Cook this all down until the juice is gone and they are starting to burn. Not as good as fresh, but still tasty! Ohh…I cook over medium heat…takes about 30 minutes.

That’s similar to how I make mine! I do chopped onion, bacon grease and just a scant bit of sugar….oh it’s pure heaven! Even my no-veggie-eating husband loves them!

Another great recipe with green beans is to take a package of bacon and cut it in half. Then grab 4-5 green beans and wrap them in the half strip of bacon. Begin to lay these little packages of goodness in a 9×13 pyrex pan until full. Then take 1/2 a stick of butter and melt it. Add 1/4 cup of brown sugar and stir, then garlic salt to taste and then pour all over the top. Adjust if you make a smaller pan – or more if you like more sauce. Bake at 350 until bacon is cooked. When you take them out you are left with HEAVEN!! Very Yummy!!!

…Wow do these ever look good! I am def’ giving this one a try and am doing so this week… I’ve got Paula Deen’s meat loaf on the menu this week and I think I’ll make these to go with it. And one MUST use bacon grease – I can’t imagine any other way ’round it!

Girrrrrrrrrrrllllllll! It’s hotter than blazes here so I think I’m going to make these for dinner tonight with a nice chunk of salmon.

I make mine with bacon and onion. Barely cover green beans and chopped onion with water, let them cook down (water evaporating). While they are cooking down (25-30 minutes, like yours) take chopped bacon and fry. When green beans and onion are ready, add bacon with the grease and all.

You can’t beat bacon grease!

My recipe is similar , but I actually chop up bits of bacon and then drain most of the fat before I cook the beans in the rest. I don’t usually cook them in the pan, though. I like to toss the garlic, onion, peppers, beans, bacon and fat, and I add slivered almonds, and then I spread them on a baking sheet and roast them until the beans are done. I like mine a bit caramelized and crispy on the outside edges. My garden started late this year because of all the tornadic weather, but my beans are finally sprouting and I cannot wait for them to finish coming in!

Oh yum – I never get tired of green beans and we have them every single night while they are coming on in the garden. I will add this recipe to the list of ones I use.

I discovered fresh green beans about a year ago and is the only way I cook them for my husband and two little girls. I make them very similiar to this recipe only no peppers. I’ll try that next time.

I have never thought to do anything but open a can of green beans and heat them. I learn something new (and old, with the snapping of the ends!) every single day!

Fresh skillet-fried green beans, buttermilk cornbread, iced sweet tea with a slice of lemon…takes me back to my Great-Aunt Mary’s kitchen in her little 3 1/2 room shotgun house. No air conditioner…just the window fan blowing, but my, what a spread on that table! Thanks for the stirring up the memories with this wonderful recipe. Keep’m comin’!

I love green beans. I make mine in a similar way, but without the bacon grease and the red bell pepper. The bacon grease probably gives it a nice flavor.

PW, this is how I make my green beans! We don’t have any yet (maybe next week), but I did spend two hours on Saturday picking and shelling fresh peas. YUM!!

I “cannot” make fresh green beans….it’s phobic level, really :/.

But….my recipe for Sweet & Sour green beans, using (gasp) CANNED BEANS? People a) think they’re Southern-cooked fresh, and b) get thirds of those BEFORE DESSERT! (Heathens!)

you can’t beat the bacon grease to add flavor! never thought of doing the red pepper with it tho; will have to try that….and always, those green beans are good cooked with the red potatoes too. (skins on). Thanks Ree for sharing.

Oh my!! My grandma used to make a recipe almost just like this. She called them Fried Green Beans and they were delicious! Of course, being from the South, we fry almost everything, right? And I definitely think bacon grease is the way to go–I always keep a little jar in my fridge. Nothing like it for awesome flavor!

My grandmother used to just cook bacon and then add everything else you did without the extra salt (bacon is salty already) and added a little teryiaki (spelling)sauce at the end as well. YUMMMMMMMMY!

Inspired by a trip to ABQ, these ridiculously easy enchiladas will make your skirt fly up in a major way.