Southern Green Beans begin with fresh green beans, bacon, onions, and garlic, all slow cooked to tender, delicious perfection. This is one of my favorite vegetable recipes and I’m sure it will become one of your favorites too.
While it may be trendy to serve green beans slightly cooked for a crunchy texture, simmering them slowly in a smokey bacon and garlic flavored broth creates a dish that will redefine delicious and have you coming back for more. Southern Green Beans are so tasty that you might even be satisfied with a large plate of green beans as a meal!
Ingredients to Make Southern Green Beans
- Fresh Green Beans: They bring a fresh, earthy flavor that balances perfectly with bacon and garlic.
- Bacon: Some might argue this is the foundation of Southern Cooking, bacon brings a rich, smokey flavor to the dish.
- Fresh Garlic: There’s nothing subtle about the Garlic flavor in this dish!
- Vidalia Onion: Because of their higher sugar content, these onions are much more mild and beautifully compliment the bacon and garlic.
- Chicken Stock: Rich Chicken Stock adds a comforting depth of flavor to the beans.
- Kosher Salt: Salt enhances the flavors of all your ingredients.
- Fresh Ground Pepper: Adds subtle warmth and depth of flavor.
How to Make Southern Green Beans
- Prep the beans. Rinse the beans under cool, running water. and snap off the ends.
- Prep the onions. Remove the skin and slice the onions into 1/8 inch slices.
- Prep the garlic. Crush the garlic and fine mince.
- Prep the bacon. Cut the bacon into 1/2 inch pieces.
- Fry the bacon until golden brown in a Dutch oven or cast iron skillet (see note #1 below). Once browned, remove the bacon and set aside, reserve the grease in the pan.
- Add the onion to the bacon grease and allow to lightly brown, about 2-3 minutes.
- Begin to layer flavor by adding 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt and pepper to the cooking onions.
- Add the garlic, stir to combine. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add a half-cup of the chicken stock to deglaze the pan. If you used a cast iron skillet, transfer the contents of the skillet to a Dutch oven or stock pot. If you didn’t use a cast iron skillet, or once you transfer the bacon and onion mixture, add the green beans, then cover with chicken stock and gentle stir to combine.
- Bring the beans to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer. Cook until tender, about 2 hours.
- Drain the beans, then add the bacon. Stir to combine and serve immediately.
Southern Green Beans
My Southern Green Beans are slow cooked until they are melt-in-your-mouth tender and flavored with rich, smokey bacon and garlic. This traditional southern side dish can be found on just about every table in the south!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 (4-ounce) servings 1x
- Category: Side
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of Green Beans
- 8 slices smoked bacon
- 5 cloves garlic, crushed and fine mince
- 1 medium Vidalia Onion, sliced into 1/8-inch slices (can use yellow or white onion)
- 32 ounces chicken stock
- Kosher salt
- Fresh Ground Pepper
Instructions
- Clean the beans by running them under cool water, then snap the ends off and cut into 2-inch pieces.
- Remove the skin from the onion and cut it into 1/8-inch slices.
- Crush the garlic and fine mince.
- Cut the bacon into 1/2 pieces. Then fry the bacon until golden brown in a Dutch oven or cast iron skillet (see note #1 below). Once browned, remove the bacon and set aside, reserve the grease in the pan.
- Add the onion to the bacon grease and allow to lightly brown, about 2-3 minutes. Add 1/4 teaspoon of Kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon of fresh ground pepper to the onions.
- Add the garlic to the onion, stir to combine. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add a half-cup of the chicken stock to deglaze the pan. If you used a cast iron skillet, transfer the contents of the skillet to a Dutch oven or stock pot. If you didn’t use a cast iron skillet, or once you transfer the bacon and onion mixture to the Dutch oven or stock pot, add the green beans, then cover with chicken stock and gentle stir to combine.
- Bring the beans to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer. Cook until tender, about 2 hours.
- Drain the beans, then add the bacon. Stir to combine and serve immediately.
Notes
#1 – Because of their even heat, I am a big fan of cast iron skillets. To the point, I often make additional work for myself. As you can see in the pictures, I browned the bacon and cooked the onions in a cast iron skillet. After adding the garlic, I deglazed the skillet with a small amount of chicken stock and then transferred the mixture to a large stockpot. You don’t have to use a cast iron skillet. You can do the recipe in one stockpot.
