These Old Fashioned Green Beans only require a handful of ingredients, easy to make and requires very little time. Simple ingredients but lots flavor!
Hubs made his monthly trip to Costco last week and bought me a bag of gorgeous fresh green beans. I love green beans but I don’t cook enough with them. However, I couldn’t pass out an opportunity like this because these beans were super fresh -what can I say they inspired me!
Bacon and green beans are great together, a classic, marriage made in heaven, so if I was going for an old fashioned recipe, adding bacon was a no brainer. You want to crisp up the bacon perfectly because this will add a nice crunch to the beans and tons of flavor.
I added soy sauce and brown sugar for that sweet and salty combination. Add the beans, cover up the pot and cook for 15 minutes and you’ll end up with perfect green beans every single time.
The beans will still have a nice crunch to them, and amazing flavors from the bacon and brown sugar. Bacon does make everything taste better.
Ingredients
- Bacon – None of that precooked crumbled stuff, be sure to cook this up fresh so that your beans have some smokey and delicious fat to cook up in.
- Beans – Fresh Green beans! Feel free to trim the ends and clean them up a bit, but keep the beans whole.
- Sugar – I used brown sugar today, it pairs so well with the bacon and will caramelize nicely.
- Soy sauce – This will add depth and umami to our dish as well as some great color. I recommend using low sodium since we have lots of salt from the bacon and the seasoning in this dish.
- Seasoning – Salt and pepper to taste.
Not A Fan Of Green Beans?
This recipe is very versatile and can be used on different types of vegetables. Try it on carrots, broccolini, asparagus, peas, or whatever your favorite veggies just so happen to be!
How To Make Old Fashioned Green Beans
- Cook the bacon: Add the chopped bacon to a large skillet and cook over medium heat until the bacon is nice and crisp and most of the fat has rendered, should take about 5 minutes.
- Combine the sauce: Add the soy sauce, brown sugar and water to the skillet and stir. Bring to a boil.
- Cook the beans: Add the green beans and toss them around a bit, so they get covered in the sauce. Reduce the heat to a medium-low, cover the skillet with a lid and simmer for 15 minutes. The green beans should be crisp-tender when done.
- Season with salt and pepper if needed, then serve.
How To Serve
This side dish is perfect alongside some savory mains, pair them up or just eat a big bowl on their own, I won’t judge.
- Roast Chicken
- One Pan Roasted Honey Orange Chicken And Potatoes
- Maple Mustard Glazed Salmon
- Beer Can Chicken
- Braised Lamb Shanks
- Brined Roast Turkey Breast
- Prime Rib Roast
- Pan Seared Pork Chops with Gravy
- Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb
- Rosemary Garlic Pork Roast
Storing Leftovers
This dish will store well in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 – 4 days. These beans will also freeze well! Just store in an airtight container or tightly wrapped for 4 – 6 months in the freezer.
More Delicious Sides To Try:
- Brandy Glazed Carrots
- Loaded Scalloped Potatoes
- Italian Parmesan Roasted Potatoes
- Greek Potato Foil Packs
- Garlic Parmesan Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Avocado Tomato Salad
- Green Beans and Chanterelle Mushrooms
- Roasted Green Beans and Mushrooms
- Green Bean Casserole from Scratch
- Garlic Herb Red Potato Salad
- Cowboy Caviar
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Old Fashioned Green Beans
Ingredients
- 10 bacon strips chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce low sodium
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 1/2 pound fresh green beans
- 1/8 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper or to taste
Instructions
- Add the chopped bacon to a large skillet and cook over medium heat until the bacon is nice and crisp and most of the fat has rendered, should take about 5 minutes.
- Add the soy sauce, brown sugar and water to the skillet and stir. Bring to a boil.
- Add the green beans and toss them around a bit, so they get covered in the sauce. Reduce the heat to a medium-low, cover the skillet with a lid and simmer for 15 minutes. The green beans should be crisp-tender when done.
- Season with salt and pepper if needed, then serve.
Video
Recipe Notes
- This recipe is very versatile and can be used on different types of vegetables. Try it on carrots, broccolini, asparagus, peas, or whatever your favourite vegetables are!
- This dish will store well in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 – 4 days. These beans will also freeze well! Just store in an airtight container or tightly wrapped for 4 – 6 months in the freezer.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Super easy and very tasty! I added half of a finely diced onion in with the bacon. When I added the green beans, I also added one ear of fresh corn that I sliced off the cob. To make the beans truly taste “old fashioned,” I cooked them an extra five minutes (just like grandma did). There was nothing crisp or firm about them. They were cooped to death just like my family likes them.
OMG we just picked fresh garden beans & tried your recipe so delicious & feel this will become a fav – I didn’t have bacon on hand but will try it with next time. Thank you Jo – 😋
Yum – Fresh beans!!! You are so welcome 🙂
Hi
Where is the recipe for the gorgonzola orange chicken.
Hi there! We never ended up posting that recipe, unfortunately.
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I love anything green beans! It’s so easy to make and looks yummy. I must try this.
OMG vegetables with bacon? Brilliant!
Only one word for this – Brilliant!