Garlic Green Beans

How to Make Garlic Green Beans

You can have a fancy side of green beans on the table lickety-split with our time-saving method. We’ll lay out the basic steps here, but the full recipe and list of ingredients can be found below.

Prep the Ingredients

Fresh green beans should be looked over and trimmed before cooking. For this recipe, the green beans are kept whole, so we just need to remove the stem end and trim off any bad spots. Use a paring knife to cut about 1/4 inch past the stem. If any of the green beans look limp or bruised, cut off the affected areas and discard. Then, prep the garlic. You can purchase pre-peeled garlic to save time or peel your own. Trim the root ends from the garlic cloves and discard, then finely chop. For a perfect mince, thinly slice the garlic cloves lengthwise. Stack the slices and thinly slice again to create finely julienned garlic. Turn the julienned cloves 90° and run your knife through them once more. We don't recommend using pre-minced garlic, or "jarlic," since it can be very wet and tends to cook faster than fresh garlic.

Microwave the Green Beans

Instead of blanching the fresh green beans in salted boiling water on the stovetop, we decided to take a shortcut by steaming the beans in the microwave with just a little water. There’s also no need to drop the green beans in ice water after cooking because they’re going straight into the pan to get coated with butter, garlic, and salt. One important note: It’s essential to drain the beans before adding to the skillet to avoid splattering when you add them to the hot butter. If you prefer to use the stovetop to blanch see our guide on How to Blanch Vegetables.

Add Flavor and Sauté

At this point, the green beans are crisp-tender, but they still need seasoning and sauce. So, add them to your skillet with chopped garlic and salt, and toss to coat. Then add the broth, and boil until the liquid coats the beans to make a sauce. You may find that it’s easier to move the green beans around in the pan using kitchen tongs instead of a spoon or spatula.

All that’s left to do now is plate your beautiful, tender, flavorful, garlic green beans!

How to Store Garlic Green Beans

If by some miracle you have leftover garlic green beans, you can store them in the fridge for a few days. We don’t recommend freezing these green beans, since freezing will ruin their crisp-tender texture. Here’s how to pack them up and refrigerate them.

Cool Down Quickly: Ensure your cooked green beans cool down within two hours for food safety. Keep your fridge at or below 40°F.

Portion Control: Divide the green beans into individual servings to make reheating more efficient.

Use Proper Containers: Use airtight lidded containers or zip-top food-storage plastic bags.

Label and Date: Always label and date your containers to keep track of how long the food has been stored. Leftover green beans can be stored, covered and refrigerated, up to four days.

More Vegetable Side Dishes

Looking for more easy, delicious veggie sides? We’ve got ‘em!

Honey-Balsamic Roasted Carrots uses roasting, another of our favorite methods to simply cook vegetable dishes. Roasting caramelizes vegetables’ natural sugars and intensifies flavor while also creating a desirable crispy exterior. With just 7 ingredients and a few minutes of prep, you can have these savory, sweet-tart carrots on your holiday or weeknight dinner table.

Roasted Cauliflower with Shallots, Orange and Thyme is a vegan side that is a bit more elevated. Bursting with flavor, this dish takes cauliflower to another level! The toasted pine nuts add a lovely crunch, but if you don’t have them on hand, substitute pecans or walnuts, or leave them out entirely.

Spring Roasted Potato Salad is the dish to turn to for a bright, yet hearty side. With convenient, bagged baby arugula, asparagus, and new potatoes, this sturdy dish works well with grilled steak, chicken, or seafood, and any leftovers make a lovely lunch the next day.