Make these quick and easy Garlic Sauteed Green Beans for a seasonal and tasty side dish. Crisp and fresh green beans sauteed in butter with thinly sliced garlic and spring onions. Easy, wholesome and flavoursome!
With only six ingredients and under half an hour, you can have this fresh and delicious side dish on your table! If you’re a fan of fresh vegetable side dishes, you should give this one a try sometime soon. It would go wonderful alongside a Thanksgiving Turkey this year or even a more casual weeknight dinner alongside some Parmesan Crusted Turkey Tenders.
Don’t miss 27 Thanksgiving Sides and Salads to make this year!
What are These Green Beans Like
- Difficulty – A really easy dish that requires only six ingredients. Can be prepped ahead of time and cooked just before serving.
- Taste – These beans have a fresh flavour with a buttery and garlic flavour at the same time. They are crisp but if you prefer them softer, just steam them for a little longer.
- Serving – This dish will serve around four people as a generous side dish. In the recipe card below you can easily adjust the serving size.
Ingredients
- Green Beans – Green beans are young beans that can also be know as French beans, string beans, and snap beans. For this recipe, fresh green beans work best.
- Spring onions – Spring onions are also known as scallions or green onions. They are long, thin and green turning to pale yellow towards the small bulb at the root.
- Garlic – Fresh garlic cloves are a must for this recipe. I cut the garlic bulbs into very thin slices for big garlic flavour.
- Olive oil – Extra virgin olive oil. But any olive oil will work.
- Butter – Use unsalted butter for this recipe.
- Salt – I used regular table salt to finish the dish.
NOTE, The full recipe and instructions can be found at the end of the post in the recipe card.
Instructions
- Blanche and steam green beans – Place the green beans in a colander and pour over boiling water. Then pour cold water immediately over the green beans. Place the green beans in the top part of a vegetable steamer or a colander placed over boiling water. Cover and steam the green beans for about 15 minutes until they are starting to go soft. Remove from heat.
- Cook spring onions – In a large skillet set over medium heat add the butter and olive oil and allow the butter to melt, about 30 seconds. Add the sliced spring onions and give a really good stir. Cook the spring onions down until they are soft but not brown. This should take about 5 minutes. Adjust heat if necessary so you don’t brown or burn the spring onions. Add the garlic slices and stir really well. Cook for a further 1 – 2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant.
- Combine green beans and spring onions – Add the steamed green beans to the skillet and toss really well. Increase heat to medium-high and cook the green beans for 2 – 3 minutes. Add salt and toss.
- Serve – Remove from heat, transfer to a serving dish and serve hot.
Recipe Tips
- Multi task – Steam the vegetables and make the garlic butter at the same time. This will not only save time, but both parts of the recipe will be ready at the same time.
- Prep ahead – The green beans can be trimmed and washed up to a day before and kept in the fridge.
Substitutions and Recipe Variations
- Fresh green beans – Although fresh green beans are best, you can use frozen green beans for this dish.
- Spring onions – These give a great fresh flavour to the dish. Alternatively, you can use leeks, white onions, brown onions or yellow onions.
- Garlic – Don’t skip the garlic in this recipe! However, if you are not a fan of sliced garlic, you can use minced garlic.
- Additions – Feel free to toss in some fresh herbs at the end. Both fresh cilantro and parsley would both work well. If you would like a different flavour, you could even try a little fresh basil.
Serving Suggestions – Some Great Turkey Dishes to Serve with These Green Beans
- Turkey and Mushrooms in a Creamy White Wine Sauce
- Spinach and Gouda Stuffed Turkey Breast
- Parmesan Crusted Turkey Cutlets
- Stuffing Topped Roasted Turkey Tenderloin
Frequently Asked Questions
What is blanching vegetables?
Blanching vegetables is the process of pouring boiling water over the vegetables and then immediately cooling the vegetables by pouring over cold water. This helps keep the vegetables crisp and keep their bright vibrant colour.
Can Sauteed Green Beans be made in advance?
You can make sauteed green beans in advance. I recommend placing the cooked beans in a oven proof dish and covering with foil. When ready to serve, place in a preheated 350 degree f/180 degree c oven for about 15 minutes until warmed through.
Can you freeze Sauteed Green Beans?
Ultimately, most fresh vegetable dishes are best when fresh made. However, yes you can freeze them. Allow them to cool properly and store in an airtight container for up to one month. Allow to defrost in the fridge and rewarm in the oven for about 10 minutes.
Parmesan Topped Green Beans
Green beans might not be the most exciting thing ever, but jazzed up a bit they can be mighty tasty. These oven roasted green beans are topped with parmesan cheese and toasted pumpkin seeds. Perfect for fall dinners.
Check out this recipe
Easy Parmesan Roasted Asparagus
This four ingredient Easy Parmesan Roasted Asparagus would be great with your Easter dinner. With seasonal asparagus, fresh grated parmesan cheese, olive oil and sea salt you can have this side dish ready in under 20 minutes.
Check out this recipe
Oven Roasted Italian Green Peppers
These Oven Roasted Italian Green Peppers are such a great accompaniment to many different dishes. Simple Italian peppers, seasoned with sea salt and drizzled with olive oil and roasted in the oven. Easy and delicious!
Check out this recipe
Garlic Sauteed Green Beans
Make these quick and easy Garlic Sauteed Green Beans for a seasonal and tasty side dish. Crisp and fresh green beans sauteed in butter with thinly sliced garlic and spring onions. Easy, wholesome and flavoursome!
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 lb green beans washed and ends trimmed
- 3 spring onions ends trimmed and thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Place the green beans in a colander and pour over boiling water. Then pour cold water immediately over the green beans. Place the green beans in the top part of a vegetable steamer or a colander placed over boiling water. Cover and steam the green beans for about 15 minutes until they are starting to go soft. Remove from heat.
- In a large skillet set over medium heat add the butter and olive oil and allow the butter to melt, about 30 seconds. Add the sliced spring onions and give a really good stir. Cook the spring onions down until they are soft but not brown. Adjust heat if necessary so you don't brown or burn the spring onions. This should take about 5 minutes. Add the garlic slices and stir really well. Cook for a further 1 – 2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant.
- Add the steamed green beans to the skillet and toss really well. Increase heat to medium-high and cook the green beans for 2 – 3 minutes. Add salt and toss.
- Remove from heat, transfer to a serving dish and serve hot.
*A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
