Southern-Style Green Beans Recipe - Simply Stacie (2024)

FAQs

Southern-Style Green Beans Recipe - Simply Stacie? ›

Add green beans to pan and sauté over medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add boiling water to pan and cover. Cook for about 15 minutes, just until beans are tender. Add vinegar, butter and salt and pepper and stir.

Add green beans to pan and sauté over medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add boiling water to pan and cover. Cook for about 15 minutes, just until beans are tender. Add vinegar, butter and salt and pepper and stir.

Pour 4 quarts of water and 2 Tbsp salt into a Dutch oven or large pot and bring to a boil. Add green beans and cook until soft and slightly overdone but not mushy, about 9 minutes. Drain green beans into a colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside to drain and dry.

Sautéed green beans only require a few ingredients and about 10 minutes to make, and this cooking method also saves space in the oven for you to roast your main course. While blanching the green beans before sautéing them isn't an essential step, it can lend a nice crunch and vibrant color to them.

Ever see those skinny little green beans in the market? They're a French variety of green bean, also known as haricots verts, or filet beans. Haricots verts are more delicate than regular green beans and cook up more quickly.

The ingredients listed in order are: "sea salt, granulated garlic, black pepper, granulated onion, ground cumin, and other spices". I have used the recipe listed on this site and included equal amounts of garlic powder and onion powder.

Put a pan of salted water on to boil. Meanwhile, trim the the beans. Once the water is boiling, steam or boil the beans until tender. Drain well, then tip the cooked beans into the bowl with your dressing and toss everything together, making sure all the beans get coated.

In doing a little research, America's Test Kitchen recommends adding some baking soda to the boiling liquid to help the beans tenderize faster, as well as absorb more flavor.

Overnight Soaking

To soak beans the traditional way, cover them with water by 2 inches, add 2 tablespoons coarse kosher salt (or 1 tablespoon fine salt) per pound of beans, and let them soak for at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours. Drain them and rinse before using.

Using a high concentration of salt in the blanching water (2 tablespoons per quart of water) allows the green beans to tenderize rapidly, so their bright green color is preserved. The large amount of salt in the blanching water penetrates the beans' sturdy skins to season them more fully than smaller amounts would.

How many minutes do you blanch green beans? ›

To blanch green beans, fill a large pot of water, set over high heat, and bring it to a boil. Salt the water (per quart of water, estimate a tablespoon of kosher salt), which will bring the green beans to life and enhance their flavor. Once the water is boiling, add the beans and cook for two to three minutes.

Blanching green beans before freezing helps them to retain that beautiful green color and crisp texture when you go to enjoy them. Skipping this step might result in your beans having a mushy texture once defrosted.

"French green beans, or haricot verts, are a more slender variety of traditional green beans, which are also called string beans here in the U.S.," Napolitano says. "Because they're harvested earlier, haricot verts also tend to be more tender, earthier in flavor and more expensive than traditional green beans."

A little butter, minced garlic, and lemon-pepper seasoning are all you need to bring the best out of fresh green beans.

The vegetable can be simply seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, or any of your favorite herbs and spices for additional flavor. Or you can go all out and create a healthier twist on the classic french fry by coating the string beans in a parmesan breadcrumb mixture.

Fresh green beans do not need to be soaked. To help tenderize the beans, blanch them in a large pot of salted water.

Here's a secret you may not know: You don't actually have to soak your beans at all. Just add them to your pot and plan on cooking your recipe for another hour or two beyond the usual cooking time. Keep an eye on the level of liquid, adding more water, broth or stock if the pot looks dry.