8 Green Bean Recipes You Can Make Any Time Of The Year
Unlike more delicate, seasonal vegetables such as asparagus, green beans are a sturdy staple that you can find in the produce section all through the year. Fresh beans do require a little prep work since you need to rinse and trim them before cooking, but this is easily done since the ends just snap right off. You can also buy bagged green beans that are trimmed and ready to cook.
Green beans are fine and dandy in frozen form, too. Some of the following recipes call for fresh ones. Others call for frozen, and in many cases, you can use them interchangeably — they're equally nutritious as well. We even have one recipe that uses canned green beans. While it's true that canned beans can be a bit softer and more mushy than their fresh or frozen counterparts, they're still just as healthy. What's more, they're both long-lasting and economical, so why not show them a little love, too?
Copycat Texas Roadhouse Green Beans
This is the canned green bean recipe, but by all accounts, this ingredient is just what Texas Roadhouse uses. If you have some of these kicking around the pantry and you don't know what to do with them, we assure you that this recipe will make the beans taste a whole lot better than they will straight out of the can. How do we know? Because bacon, that's why. Bacon makes everything better.
Slow Cooker Green Bean Casserole
Why has green bean casserole become a de rigueur Thanksgiving side dish, right up there with cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes? We may never know for sure, but one thing we know is that if your oven's full of turkey and stuffing, it's a good idea to make this holiday staple in a slow cooker. A bag of frozen beans, a can of mushroom soup, a can of evaporated milk, and a sprinkling of salt are all you need for this super-easy dish. Oh, and some crunchy fried onions, of course, but don't add those until the casserole's done cooking; otherwise, they'll lose all their crunch.
Recipe: Slow Cooker Green Bean Casserole
4-Ingredient Green Bean Casserole Pastry Bites
Of course, it is possible to become bored of the same old green bean casserole for Thanksgiving. With this recipe, you can give a nod to tradition by using the same one-two-three punch of beans, mushroom soup, and fried onions but transform the ingredients into a bite-sized appetizer via the intervention of frozen puff pastry (an all-around kitchen hero). Bonus: They can be eaten at room temperature, which means it's okay to cook them before the turkey goes in the oven.
Fresh Green Bean Soup
This extra-healthy soup — which is also vegan, btw — is made with tomatoes, onions, herbs, and a hint of lemon juice, plus, of course, the eponymous fresh green beans. If you would prefer to make it with frozen ones, it will still turn out fine, but for the sake of truth in advertising, we'd ask that you simply bill it as "green bean soup."
Recipe: Fresh Green Bean Soup
Air Fryer Garlic Green Beans
If you just want plain and simple green beans and you also have an air fryer, well, you can introduce the beans to the appliance and they'll be cooked in under 10 minutes since there's no need to preheat. In this recipe, the beans are flavored with garlic and salt, although you could also make use of other seasonings such as lemon pepper, smoked paprika, or herbes de Provence.
Recipe: Air Fryer Garlic Green Beans
Three Bean Salad
The green beans in this recipe share the billing with two other types of legumes: chickpeas and kidney beans. While beans (green ones, at least) are typically eaten warm, this salad can also be eaten cold. While the recipe calls for dressing the salad with cider vinegar, red or white wine vinegar or lemon juice can also be used if these are more to your liking.
Recipe: Three Bean Salad Recipe
Spicy Szechuan Green Beans
If you're not 100% sold on the flavor of green beans but would like to eat them for their health benefits, there's no better way to disguise that vegetal flavor than with a generous dose of Szechuan-style spice. Even if you are a green bean fan, you may enjoy them even more in a tasty sauce made from hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and soy sauce.
Recipe: Spicy Szechuan Green Beans
Old-Fashioned Green Beans And Potatoes
If you want an all-in-one side that combines a green vegetable with a starchy one, this green bean/potato combo will do the trick. It even adds a third vegetable to the mix, this being red onion. Like the three-bean salad, this dish can be eaten either warm or cold. It also comes with a dressing made from oil and cider vinegar, which can again be swapped out for lemon juice or a different vinegar if preferred.