These classic Southern Style Green Beans are cooked with onion, garlic and bacon until tender and melt in your mouth delicious! A quintessential side dish for any southern gathering or BBQ!
Growing up these southern green beans were a staple at every get together and BBQ! The bacon is diced and cooked until crisp then onion and garlic are cooked in the bacon grease. The you add spice, a little brown sugar, chicken broth and fresh green beans and cook low and slow until tender. Believe me when I say I could eat several bowls of these on my own. They really are that good!
This dish is super versatile and is a crowd pleaser year round. It's great for spring and summer BBQs and potlucks and is fantastic at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Enjoy!
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Equipment
All you really need for this recipe is a cutting board, sharp knife and measuring cups and spoons.
You will also need a large, heavy bottomed pot with a lid. I love using my Le Creuset Dutch Oven.
Ingredients
- Fresh green beans: If you can I recommend using fresh green beans for this recipe. While canned, drained beans will work in a pinch, the flavor and texture you get from fresh is unrivaled. Just be sure to snap off the stem end.
- Bacon
- Chicken broth or stock: Pay attention to how salty the broth or stock you use is as this will affect how much salt you will need to add to the final product.
- Onion: Red, white or yellow all work.
- Garlic: I always recommend using fresh garlic rather than the stuff in a jar for the best flavor.
- Half a lemon
- Brown sugar: You can omit if desired.
- Red pepper flakes: You can substitute with a pinch of cayenne if desired or omit entirely.
- Salt & pepper
Recipe FAQ
While I recommend using fresh for the best flavor and texture, you can used canned green beans in a pinch.
You'll need to drain the beans completely before using and reduce the amount of broth used by about a cup (use enough to cover the beans completely). You will also need to adjust the salt added depending on if the canned beans have been salted already. Reduce the cooking time to around 30 minutes to avoid them getting too mushy.
Yes, I actually love making these green beans a day ahead of time and then warmed up to serve.
This is totally up to your personal preference. We really like the broth and so I typically serve straight from the pot with slotted spoon. But if you want you can strain (I recommend a fine mesh strainer so you don't accidentally strain out the garlic/spices and bacon pieces) and transfer to a serving dish.
Serving suggestions.
These green beans go fabulously with any southern style recipes.
Some examples are:
- Mac and Cheese: This Hatch Chile Mac and Cheese is one of our favs!
- Meatloaf and mashed potatoes
- BBQ chicken
- BBQ pork ribs
- Green Chile Hash brown Casserole
Other green bean recipes for you to enjoy.
Made this Southern Style Green Bean recipe? Let me know what you think in the comments!
Recipe
Southern Style Green Beans
Equipment
- Cutting board and knife
- Measuring cups and spoons
- large heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven with a lid
Ingredients
- 2 lb fresh green beans, snapped into 2-3 inch pieces
- 5 slices of bacon, diced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- pinch of red pepper flakes add more or less to taste
- 3 cups chicken broth or stock amount can be adjusted to cover the green beans
- ½ lemon, juice of
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Wash and snap the green beans, diced the onion, mince the garlic and dice the bacon.
- Heat a heavy bottomed pot over medium high and cook the diced bacon until crisp. Use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.
- Add the onion to the pot with the bacon drippings and cook on medium to medium high heat for a few minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for another minute until fragrant. Then add in brown sugar, red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt and pepper. Add in green beans and stir to coat. Then stream in 2-3 cups of chicken broth (should be enough to just about cover the green beans) and the juice of half a lemon. Bring to a gentle bubble, then turn the heat down to low and simmer for about an hour until tender but not mushy. Taste a couple times throughout the cooking process and add additional salt according to you preference.
- Remove the pot from the heat and stir in cooked bacon. Serve directly from the pot with a slotted spoon or strain through a fine mesh strainer and transfer to a serving bowl. Enjoy!
Beth
These are exactly like the green beans I remember! I love that classic combo of onions, bacon, and garlic with the green beans. I served them with steak last night, and they were a huge hit.
suja md
Wow! this is my new favorite recipe!
Dana
Love this green bean recipe so much! it's so flavorful. The bacon adds such a nice salty richness and the lemon brightens it up for balance!
Jacqueline Debono
One of my favourite ways to serve green beans. The combo of beans with bacon is a delicious classic!
Tayler
I made these green beans with dinner last night and they were perfect! One of my new favorite go to side dishes!