Southern Style Green Beans
Green beans are a favorite vegetable around here, and this Southern Style Green Beans recipe is one of the reasons!
The official start of summer is less than a week away, and many of you in warmer parts of the country are close to having fresh green beans in your gardens. Growing up in the Midwest, I can remember picking rows of bush green beans from our garden and watching my mom turn those into shelves of quart jars full of green beans that we ate the rest of the year. Mom also made the best Southern Style Green Beans–often for Sunday dinner.
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How to Prepare Fresh Green Beans
Either straight from the garden, farmer’s market or grocery store shelf, fresh green beans are the star of this recipe. These do require a little work, but it is totally worth every second! Just snap off the ends and then snap into bite sized pieces, and wa-la you are ready to make cook one of the best vegetables out there. While the snapping may seem to take a little time, little helper hands in the kitchen can handle snapping beans and it is a great time to talk about the day. (Are you curious how these gems are grown? Check out this article!)
How to Cook Green Beans
Cook the bacon on medium heat until done and remove bacon from the pot. Leave the bacon grease in the pot for flavoring and add your diced onion. Sprinkle with a pinch or two of Kosher salt and cook the onions until they just start to turn golden on the edges. Then add your garlic to cook for 30 seconds.
Once your garlic has been in the pot a minute it is time for my secret step…throw in your green beans. You want to coat the green beans with all the onion, garlic, bacon grease goodness for about a minute. Then, add your freshly washed beans to the pot. If the water from the beans does not help pick up all the fond from the bottom of the pot as you are stirring, then add a little more water or chicken stock at this point. This will not only keep the bottom of your pot clean, but it will infuse all sorts of yummy flavor into the dish.
After the beans have had their chance to bask in the goodness for a minute, add your small red potatoes whole and the chicken stock. At this point, it will look like you barely have room to cover the potatoes with stock, but just trust the process here.
Turn the heat to high and boil uncovered for 10 minutes. Then reduce to simmer, add back in your bacon pieces, and cover the pot and cook for 20 minutes. At the end of the cook time, I then take my spatula and cut the potatoes in half and let them simmer for the last 5 minutes to soak in the yumminess. When the timer goes off, you are in for a treat!
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Southern Style Green Beans
Learning how to cook green beans and bacon together in this fresh green beans recipe is one of the fond kitchen memories I have from growing up. This recipe will surely become a favorite in your home too!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs Fresh Green Beans, snapped
- 6 Slices Bacon, cut in 1 inch cubes
- 1 Onion, diced
- Pinch of Kosher Salt
- Fresh Ground Pepper
- 4 Cloves Garlic, minced
- 1lb Bag of Small Red Potatoes
- 32 oz Chicken Stock
Instructions
- Cook bacon on medium in a large pot until cooked.
- Remove bacon, and add diced onions.
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper and let onions cook until the edges begin to turn golden.
- Add garlic and continue to cook 1 minute.
- Toss in green beans to the pot and let cook a minute while gently scraping the bottom of pot free of fond with your spatula.
- Add potatoes and chicken stock to the pot, turn heat to high, and let boil for 10 minutes.
- Reduce heat to simmer, put lid on pot and cook for 15 minutes.
- Cut potatoes in half with spatula and let simmer for 5 more minutes.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 CupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 178Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 455mgCarbohydrates: 21gFiber: 4gSugar: 7gProtein: 11g
