Green Beans with Bacon Recipe

Name: Green Beans with Bacon
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1 pound fresh green beans, ends snipped off and discarded, extra long beans, cut in half if you want; Salt; 2-3 slices bacon; Black pepper; 1 tablespoon lemon juice, cider vinegar, or red wine vinegar

There is nothing better than garden fresh green beans!

Even when my parents abandoned their garden beds for ten years, they still had their green bean trellises every summer.

Fresh Green Beans From the Garden

My father is rather picky about his green beans. They must snap and break when you bend them, not wiggle around like a rubber band. That's how you know they're fresh.

I have a couple rows of green beans this year, planted from seed right after I pulled out the fava beans and spring peas. (BTW, if you grow green beans from seed, it helps to soak the beans over night in water before planting them, or place them between two layers of wet paper towels for a couple of days, so they germinate first.)

They like heat, and at least in our part of the world, come into their own in August and September. When I left for vacation the plants were only a foot high, two weeks later they are climbing over the fence.

So far I've pulled off a total of one mighty green bean, but my parents got started on their bean teepee a few weeks before I did, so their beans are now ripe for picking.

A garden of green beans ready to harvest — Elise Bauer

The Trick to Cooking Green Beans

Zucchini can sometimes wear me out if I have to eat it every. single. day. But green beans? I can eat a pound all on my own (as Hank can attest, as I ate almost the whole batch of these) and never get tired of them.

Here's the trick with green beans. Usually we boil them, but if you boil them for longer than 7 minutes, they'll turn a brownish olive color. It's just a chemical reality. Tough old beans will take longer than 7 minutes to cook to tenderness, so no matter what you do, they'll be off color by the time you eat them.

Fresh, young beans though? They should cook quickly enough so they'll still have that vibrant green color when cooked. Look for beans that easily snap in half when you bend them.

Side shot of fresh green beans, blanched and sauteed with bacon on a plate — Elise Bauer

Bacon Makes Green Beans Even Better

This recipe is a simple preparation in which the beans are first boiled, then sautéed very quickly in bacon fat, then tossed with chopped bacon and sprinkled with black pepper. Easy and absolutely delicious.

At the very end you sprinkle on some vinegar or lemon juice. Acid is another thing that will turn green beans from green to brown, so add the vinegar just before serving.

What to Serve With Green Beans

These green beans make an excellent side dish for practically everything — roasted or grilled chicken, pork chops, fish, steak, you name it. For a starch, serve alongside roasted new potatoes or mashed potatoes.

Love Green Beans? Try These Recipes

Green Beans with Bacon

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 25 mins

Servings 4 servings

Not all green beans are alike. The longer the bean was on the vine, the tougher it can be. Fresh, young beans should be able to cook up perfectly well in less than 6 minutes. Tough old beans will have to cook a lot longer to get them tender. Look for beans that easily snap in half when you bend them.

1 pound fresh green beans, ends snipped off and discarded, extra-long beans, cut in half if you want
Salt
2-3 slices bacon
Black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice, cider vinegar, or red wine vinegar

Boil the green beans:

Heat a pot of salted water to a rolling boil (1 tablespoon salt for 2 quarts of water). Add the green beans and boil them for 4-5 minutes, until just tender enough to eat (you may have to cook longer depending on the particular green beans you have). Drain and set aside.
Cook the bacon:

While the water is heating up to boil the beans, slowly cook the bacon until crispy in a large sauté pan set over medium-low heat.

Use a slotted spoon or a fork to remove the bacon from the pan. Set the bacon on paper towels to sop up the excess fat.

You should have about one tablespoon of fat left in the pan. Pour off any fat beyond 1 tablespoon. (Do not pour the fat down the drain or you'll stop up your drain.) If you have much less fat than a tablespoon left in the pan, add a little olive oil or butter to the pan.
Sauté the green beans in the bacon fat:

Once the green beans are just barely cooked through, sauté them over medium-high heat for another minute in the bacon fat.
Toss with bacon:

Dice the bacon and add to the pan with the green beans. Sauté another minute.
Finish and serve:

Put the beans and bacon into a large serving bowl and sprinkle generously with freshly ground black pepper. Toss with lemon juice or vinegar and serve at once.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
82	Calories
3g	Fat
10g	Carbs
5g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories	82
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 3g	4%
Saturated Fat 1g	6%
Cholesterol 9mg	3%
Sodium 293mg	13%
Total Carbohydrate 10g	4%
Dietary Fiber 4g	14%
Total Sugars 4g
Protein 5g
Vitamin C 12mg	58%
Calcium 54mg	4%
Iron 1mg	5%
Potassium 221mg	5%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.