If youre only busting out green beans around Thanksgiving, youre missing out. With these recipes, you can add savory, spicy, and sweet flavors to crisp, fresh beans that will make everyone, even those who say they don’t like green vegetables, want more. Make these versatile green bean recipes for the holidays, or even just to spice up a weeknight meal.
For this recipe, we ditched the canned cream of mushroom soup and went for fresh instead. You can make a base with a lot of flavor by sautéing mushrooms and thinly sliced onion in butter. Trust us, its SO worth it. Get the Green Bean Casserole recipe.
It’s easy to end up with more green beans than you know what to do with when your garden is producing in abundance. While fresh green beans are delicious when simply steamed sautéed or added to salads, having extra beans on hand presents an opportunity to preserve them so you can enjoy their flavor all year long. Here are some ideas for putting those surplus green beans to delicious use.
Slow Cooking
Slow cooking green beans allows their flavor to develop fully. Try adding extra beans to soups, stews and chili. Allow them to simmer until very tender so they soak up the surrounding flavors. Slow cooked green beans pair especially well with smoky salty meats like ham, bacon or smoked turkey.
Stir-Frying
The high heat of stir-frying helps keep green beans crisp-tender. Toss cut beans with a little oil then stir-fry with garlic, ginger and soy sauce for an easy side dish. Add slivered veggies like onions, carrots or red bell peppers for extra flavor and color. Stir-fried green beans also work well in fried rice or noodle dishes.
Frying
For another crispy preparation coat halved or thinly sliced green beans in tempura batter or breadcrumbs then fry in hot oil. Fried green beans make a fun appetizer or snack. You can also dry fry beans with preserved veggies like garlic or kimchi for a flavor and texture contrast.
Sautéing
A simple pan sauté is one of the quickest ways to use up extra green beans. Melt a little butter in a skillet then add cut beans, garlic, salt and pepper. Cover and cook over medium heat until the beans reach your desired tenderness, tossing occasionally. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice for brightness.
Pickling
Pickled green beans have a pleasant sour-salty flavor and crunchy texture. Pack washed and trimmed beans into jars, then cover with a hot vinegar solution spiced with your choice of pickling spices like dill, garlic, peppercorns or red chili flakes. Refrigerator pickles are ready in just a few days while canned versions will keep for over a year.
Fermenting
Fermenting green beans results in tangy, probiotic-rich preserves. Pack raw beans into a jar, covering them completely with a brine of water and salt. Allow the beans to ferment at room temperature for 1-4 weeks until reaching your desired sourness, then transfer to the refrigerator. Kimchi is one popular way to ferment green beans.
Freezing
One of the simplest preservation methods for green beans is freezing. Blanch beans briefly in boiling water, then quickly chill in ice water to stop the cooking process. Pat dry and pack into freezer bags or containers. Frozen green beans will keep for 8-12 months and can be cooked straight from frozen.
With this variety of cooking and preserving options, you can easily make the most of an abundant green bean harvest. Experiment with different techniques and flavor combinations to keep your taste buds excited and your pantry stocked. Those bountiful beans from the garden won’t go to waste.
Parmesan Roasted Green Beans
This side is like if green beans dressed up as cheesy garlic bread. This simple but delicious side dish, tossed in garlic and black pepper and topped with cheese, will be the star of every holiday table.
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Ginger Beef Stir-Fry With Ramen
This stir-fry has a ginger-garlic kick that you wont be able to resist. Its our favorite way to class up a pack of instant ramen!.
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EASY Canned Green Beans Recipe – how to cook canned green beans
FAQ
Can I freeze fresh green beans?
What can I do with extra large green beans?
What can I make with garden green beans?
This page is for you if you have a bounty of garden green beans! Dishes include casseroles, salads, crockpot, Instant Pot, roasted, Southern and Chinese recipes. When you pick green beans from the garden, it always begins with a couple, then a handful, and suddenly you’re picking 5 pounds and wondering ‘What should I make?’
What is the best way to eat beans?
The best way to eat beans is to first cook them in a large pot of water, about 4 cups of water to every 1 cup of beans. Adding lemon grass or other herbs to the water can improve the flavor. Once beans are cooked the best thing to do is combine them with cooked rice, this is because beans are low in methionine and rice is low in lysine, so combining them makes a more complete protein.
What to do with boiled green beans?
To dress up boiled green beans, toss them with a tapenade, a light mustard vinaigrette, or a creamy crème fraîche dressing. Green beans are a favorite addition to summer potato salads and Salad Niçoise, and are, of course, the main show of the holiday staple green bean casserole. Green beans and tomatoes are a lovely match.
What to serve with green beans?
Adding white wine, lemon juice and garlic gives a little kick to green beans. It was enough to turn our old, traditional holiday side into a year-round favorite. —Shannon Reynoso, Bakersfield, California Roasting vegetables such as broccoli, green beans and Brussels sprouts is a fantastic way to serve them, and almost any veggie combo works.