Green Beans plus Bacon, Garlic, and Onion

A match made in heaven, these green beans with bacon are completely irresistible. They well might be your new favorite green bean recipe!

At a glance

What stands out: This recipe takes green beans to new heights.

How long it takes: about 20 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: saucepan, colander, skillet, sharp knife
Servings: 4

The other day, we had green beans on our grocery list and our shopper texted and said the store (not naming names, here) was all out! We couldn’t believe it. Summer isn’t over yet, is it? We're hoping everyone just snatched up all the beans in a last-ditch effort to squeeze all the fresh beans they could into these last few summer days.

Thankfully, we have a beautiful farm stand up the road from where we live. We headed there to grab some tomatoes (we get a little crazy if we don’t have some of those memorable summer tomatoes waiting for us on our counter). To our surprise, there sat two bags of fresh green beans. They had picked them that morning and they were so amazingly rich. We found myself feeling thankful that the store was all out, otherwise we probably wouldn’t have bought them from the farm stand.

About These Green Beans with Bacon

Add bacon to anything and we're on board, seriously. (Although we will say, not everyone agrees with us…just check out the comments on our broccoli salad.)

Should we say more about this recipe or can we just say, “bacon, gooooood.”

We'd be fine with leaving it at bacon, but we love this recipe and you guys are going to as well. The sweet yellow onions, fragrant garlic, and salty bacon pair evenly with fresh and flavorful green beans. Finished off with a little heat from red pepper flakes and some bright lemon juice? It’s “beany” perfection.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Green Beans: Fresh are definitely a standby for this recipe. Frozen or canned green beans can be substituted. If you prefer, steam the beans instead of blanching them.
• Bacon: Use thick cut bacon for heartier bits of bacon. You’ll need about ¼ pound, or 4 ounces.
• Onions: Any type of onion will work. Use your favorite.
• Garlic: Make it as garlicky as you like. We usually use one clove of garlic because our husband isn’t a huge garlic fan.
• Red Pepper Flakes: You’ll love the extra zing that red pepper flakes add. If you’re all out, a few good grinds of black pepper are rich.
• Fresh Lemon: Garnish with a wedge of fresh lemon. Keep reading for more about why you definitely don’t want to leave this ingredient out.

Why Lemon?

You’ll notice we recommend serving with lemon wedges. This recipe tastes so great with a little acidity from lemon juice. It can slightly affect the color of the green beans, browning them a little, so we like to squeeze it on immediately before eating, but you could do this before serving if you’d prefer. The beans are also good with a little splash of vinegar to provide acidity (apple cider vinegar is a good choice).

Finely diced fresh tomatoes are also a good choice. They add acidity, color, and flavor.

Why an ice bath?

Because you want green beans, not brown beans! The ice bath stops the cooking and helps the beans retain their bright color and crisp texture. If you’re in a hurry (or if you like softer beans), skip it, it’s not the end of the world. It’s just a speedy little extra step to take this recipe to the next level.

Make it happen if you’re serving this up for guests. You’ll be glad you did. Busy Monday night, we'll be honest, we probably wouldn’t bother.

Make It Your Own

We mentioned a few ideas in the previous paragraph about adding acidity (lemon! vinegar! tomatoes!), but there are more ways you can make these green beans your own:

• Add almonds for crunch. Obviously we can’t do that in our house due to our kids’ nut allergies, but if you can, go for it! If you love almonds, be sure to try our green beans almondine recipe.
• Add a touch of sweetness. Stir a teaspoon of brown sugar into the onions and garlic; let it melt a little before stirring in the beans. If the mixture seems a little dry, add a bacon grease or butter. The sweetness of the brown sugar contrasts well with the spicy red pepper flakes.
• Use bacon bits instead of real bacon, if you have to. But really, don’t. Please.
• Make them Whole30 compliant: We love that some bacon is Whole30 compliant, If you choose a Whole30 compliant bacon, and don’t follow the sugar suggestion we just mentioned, this recipe fits into a Whole30 program.

Make-Ahead Ideas

The components of this recipe can be prepared ahead of time. Cook the bacon and blanch the beans (cook as directed, cool in ice bath). Store separately in the refrigerator up to two days.

When you’re ready to serve the green beans, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet. Sizzle the onions and garlic, as directed, then add the beans and red pepper flakes, stirring and cooking for a few minutes until the beans are heated. Add the bacon and cook for a few more seconds. Serve with lemon.

Leftover Love

If you have lots of green beans with bacon left, make a pasta side dish. Cook up a small batch of your favorite pasta, reserving a half cup of the cooking water when you drain it. Stir in the green beans, bacon, and shredded Parmesan cheese. Add water as needed to make a sauce. Add a squeeze of lemon juice, and sprinkle with fresh herbs (parsley, basil, or oregano) and additional cheese.

• Yield: 4 servings
• Prep: 10 minutes
• Cook: 15 minutes
• Total: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh green beans, stem ends trimmed off
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ pound (4 ounces) sliced bacon, cut into ½ -inch pieces
• ¾ cup finely chopped yellow onion (about 1 small onion)
• 1 small garlic clove, minced (about 1 teaspoon minced garlic)
• ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
• Lemon wedges, if desired

Method

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add green beans and boil for 8 minutes, or until just tender. Drain into a colander, then plunge the colander with the beans into a bowl of ice water. Drain again.
2. Meanwhile, in a large frying pan over medium heat, cook chopped bacon until crispy, about 10 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of bacon grease from frying pan.
3. Carefully add onions to bacon grease and cook over medium heat, stirring, for 5 minutes or until translucent. Add garlic and continue to cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant.
4. Add red pepper flakes and green beans, stirring to combine (tongs work great here, too!).
5. Sprinkle with bacon immediately before serving. Serve with lemon wedge, if desired.

Notes

We like to use center cut bacon because it has more meat and less fat.

If you would like to use frozen green beans instead of fresh, cook beans as directed on bag, cool in ice bath, and proceed with step 2, as directed.

For canned green beans, begin with step 2, drain beans, and add them to the bacon mixture to heat.