Green beans with bacon and onion are PACKED with flavor, with perfect crisp-tender green beans every time. This family-favorite side dish comes together with simple ingredients and fits any menu, whether a weeknight dinner or a holiday meal.
Known as string beans in my house, these green beans with bacon and onion take a fairly standard side dish to new heights with little effort and a handful of basic ingredients.
Even though they're made with thick-cut bacon and onion, I don't really consider these green beans to be true "Southern-style". Southern vegetable sides are often simmered for a long while with smoked meats and other seasonings for a smoky flavor and ultra tender texture.
I achieve that goal (in a quicker, roundabout way) with Instant Pot collard greens, but I prefer my green beans snappy and crisp, with an extra punch of garlic.
So! I present a middle ground. Perfectly fork-tender green beans combine with thick-cut bacon pieces, sautéed onion, and garlic for an extra flavorful side dish that can do it all, from weeknights to holiday dinners.
Why This Recipe Works
- Steaming the green beans ensures all of the main elements of this simple recipe - string beans, bacon, and onion - cook for just the right amounts of time. There's no worry of too-firm or mushy green beans.
- Hello, efficient flavor. We're utilizing the fat rendered from the bacon to sauté the onion and garlic.
- Chopping the garlic cloves into larger pieces and adding them near the end of the cook time allows them to reach golden sautéed status without the stress of smaller pressed/minced pieces burning too quickly.
- Green beans with bacon and onion are versatile. This recipe is quick and easy enough for your everyday menu, but wouldn't look (or taste!) out of place on a holiday dinner table, either.
Recipe Ingredients
- Green Beans: For a time-saver some bagged fresh green beans come already trimmed, but there's an image below of how to trim them if you need. Fresh green beans are recommended, but frozen varieties can work, too.
- Bacon: Thick-cut bacon is recommended for its large presence in the finished dish. It holds its own among whole green beans and blends right in with the onion pieces.
- Onion: This cooks with the bacon for maximum flavor. White or yellow onion is fine.
- Garlic: Three chopped garlic cloves provides nice flavor, but you can use less (or hey - more!) if you prefer. Be sure to chop the garlic and not mince or press it so smaller pieces do not burn.
- Spices: Kosher salt and pepper keep things simple, but you can add whichever dried seasonings you like.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Trim the green beans, if needed. Slice off the very top bit where the stem is, then discard. Nothing needs to be trimmed from the other end.
- Chop the onion and garlic. The onion is standard, but do not finely mince or press the garlic cloves for this recipe as the tiny garlic pieces are likely to burn too quickly. Aim for the pieces to be a little smaller than pea-sized or between ¼- and ⅛-inch wide.
- Steam the green beans. Do this in your preferred manner - microwave, pot fitted with a steamer basket, etc. Pour about one-inch of water into the bottom of the pot, then insert the steamer basket (make sure the water doesn't rise up into the basket). Bring the water to a boil, add the green beans, then tightly fit the lid. Steam for five minutes, then transfer to a bowl.
- Cook the bacon and onion. Add the chopped bacon and onion to a large pan set over medium heat. Cook for 9-10 minutes, stirring everything up periodically, until the bacon is fully cooked and the onion has browned. Deglaze if needed with a drizzle of water.
- Sauté the garlic, then combine. Add the chopped garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Season with big pinches of salt and pepper, then stir in the green beans. Cook for several minutes, or until the green beans are fork-tender to your liking.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- Finish the green beans in the pan. Five minutes of steaming will cook the green beans most of the way. They'll need to sauté for a few minutes in the pan, which gives them time to soak up all of the tasty bacon, onion, and garlic flavors.
- Deglaze as needed. The bacon and onion mixture may begin to stick to the bottom of your pan. This is especially true if using stainless steel. Before adding the garlic and green beans, deglaze the pan by pouring in about two tablespoons of water and scraping up all of the browned bits (called fond) with a wooden utensil. Fond has tons of flavor so we want it to make its way into the dish.
- Use larger-sized garlic. Tiny garlic pieces can burn quickly, especially in an already well-heated pan. Chop pieces of garlic (versus pressing it) so they don't burn before the green beans have softened up to your liking.
Serving Suggestions
- Meatloaf is a classic green bean pairing, and these garlic green beans pair so well with the flavors of balsamic meatloaf. This glaze is everything.
- Green beans are a mainstay on many barbecue restaurant menus. While these beans have more of a crunch than their slower cooked counterparts, they'd still make a mean side dish to a slow cooker pulled pork sandwich.
- Break out the Instant Pot and whip up a rack or two of Instant Pot ribs.
Recipe FAQs
Fresh green beans will provide the most crisp-tender feel, but whole frozen green beans can also work. Cook according to package directions, then add to the pan with the bacon and onion during that recipe step. Be aware that previously-frozen beans might be a bit soggier than fresh. I don't recommend using canned green beans.
Beyond salt and pepper, a little heat in the form of ground cayenne, crushed red pepper, or chipotle chili pepper work very well on green beans. Other options are replacing salt and pepper with a pre-mixed blend that contains salt, like Cajun seasoning.
While these green beans with bacon and onion are freezable from a food safety perspective, I'm not sure how the texture would be once thawed and reheated as I fear the green beans will become mushy. If you don't mind a softer texture, freeze them once cooled to room temperature in an air-tight freezer bag or container for three months, thawing in the fridge before thoroughly reheating.
More Vegetable Side Dishes
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Green Beans with Bacon and Onion
Ingredients
- 16 ounces fresh green beans trimmed
- 4 slices bacon chopped (thick-cut recommended)
- 1 small onion diced (yellow or white)
- 3 cloves garlic chopped (see note)
- Big pinch of kosher salt more to taste
- Pinch of ground black pepper more to taste
Instructions
- If needed, trim green beans by laying them flat on a cutting board with the ends that have the small stem nub all facing the same way. Slice off the very stem end and discard. You don't have to trim the other side.
- Add about one-inch of water to the bottom of a pot fitted with a steamer basket and bring to a boil. Make sure the water does not come up and over the bottom of the basket. Once boiling, add the trimmed green beans and place the lid firmly on the pot. Steam for 5 minutes, then transfer green beans to a plate.
- Add the chopped bacon and diced onion to a large pan set over medium heat. Sauté for 9-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the onion and bacon are well-browned and fully cooked. If you find some of the bacon and onion to have stuck to the bottom of your pan, pour in 2 Tablespoons of water and deglaze by using a wooden utensil to scrape up anything stuck before continuing.
- Stir in the chopped garlic, salt, and pepper and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the steamed green beans to the pan and stir to coat them well. Finish cooking the green beans in the pan for several extra minutes, until they reach your preferred level of crisp-tenderness.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
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