Like broccoli, my kids enjoy green beans, so I serve them frequently. When time is of the essence, I rely on my microwave to make quick, simple, and consistently excellent steamed green beans. Use this technique to prepare beans during meal preparation or right before dinner. Try one of the 8 straightforward methods listed below to dress them up, or serve them warm with a pat of butter. Either way, they are nearly effortless.
How to Cook Green Beans in the Microwave
Place washed and trimmed green beans in a microwave-safe bowl. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water, just enough to cover the bowl’s bottom.
Green beans should be cooked in the microwave for 4 to 6 minutes, covered with a plate.
Remove plate with caution (the steam will be hot), drain the liquid, and then top the bowl with a tab of butter. Toss to coat and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Serve with something simple and easy, and enjoy!
Recipe Summary active: 5 mins total: 10 mins Servings: 4
Your green beans’ tough, knobby ends should be removed because they are difficult to chew through. You can trim the ends by individually pinching off the ends of the green beans; the skinny tips are edible. (When you snap them off, you’ll feel them naturally give at the ends. ) You can do this while watching TV or while lounging outside on a lazy afternoon. Its also a great task to give to the kids. However, if you’re in a rush, you can quickly remove the ends of your green beans by lining a handful of them up on a cutting board with their stems aligned, then using a chefs knife to cut the ends off.
Enter the microwave. The microwave is surprisingly good at some tasks, but it’s not the all-purpose cookware that it was once advertised as. And that includes cooking green beans. Really, all you need is some water, butter, and garlic. Heres how to cook green beans in the microwave:
Because some nights, especially during the extended stretches of hot summer nights in the months of July and August, I want to serve dinner without actually cooking, microwaving green beans comes in handy. Because of this, many meals consist solely of slicing peak-season tomatoes and topping them with flaky sea salt and olive oil. But man cannot live on tomatoes alone (Ive tried).
There are many foods that need to be cooked a little bit in order to be consumed. Green beans are one such vegetable.
In a dish suitable for the microwave, combine the butter, chopped garlic, and the cleaned green beans. Season the green beans with salt and pepper. Then pour water over your green beans and cover the container with a microwave-safe lid. (No lid? Plastic wrap will work instead. ) Preheat your microwave to high and cook the green beans for 5 to 6 minutes, or until they are crisp-tender and bright green. (When removing the lid or plastic wrap, be cautious of steam. ) When the beans are finished cooking, pour off any extra liquid.