This recipe for skillet garlic green beans is a delicious side dish that is ready in just 15 minutes. Perfect for fresh produce and let’s face it, anything with garlic in the recipe must be scrumptious.
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The photo above shows a meal that our family enjoyed the other evening. We devoured everything. Delicious baked potato that has a crispy outside skin and flaky inside, garlic green beans that are cooked to a perfect tender-crisp. Lastly, an Applewood Smoked Pork Chop from Nueske’s. Have you ever been in a fancy restaurant and had the pleasure of seeing Nueske’s Bacon on the menu? Well, we are lucky enough to have their headquarters 20 minutes from our home. Therefore, we enjoy all of their products very often. They do have online ordering if you are interested.
Tender-Crisp Beans
The beans come out tender-crisp, so they are super healthy and they take just 10-15 minutes to cook. This is an easy addition to your family table. They are perfect to serve with your weeknight meal, your next party, or your holiday table.
What is Tender-Crisp?
You might be wondering what I mean by a tender-crisp bean. Tender-crisp is when a vegetable is cooked through, but still has a little bite to it. Therefore, they are tender enough that your teeth will sink into them, meaning you can enjoy them with other elements of your dinner, but crisp enough that they still snap when you chew them, which means that you get a bit of texture and the vegetables keep their structure.
A Side Dish Can Make a Difference in the Entire Meal
There is a local fancy restaurant that steams their green beans and my family hates them.
They seem to have a lot of large events there and whenever we attend, they serve their green beans. We actually anticipate having the bad beans.
Why are they so bad you might ask.
Well, for starters, there is zero flavor. Next, they are too crisp, you might as well be standing in the garden eating them. Lastly, my husband thinks that they are stingy with their 13 beans each plate. Yes, he has counted them.
My daughter said that standing in a garden eating beans has more flavor than the beans this restaurant serves. Under cooked beans squeak as when eat them, we find them awful to chew.
As you can see, my family has become green bean snobs, I think.
My Family Loves This Green Bean Recipe
They have just the perfect flavor and they are tender-crisp. However, I need to make about half a pound for each of us as we tend to overeat these. That is not such a bad thing though…it will help us eat healthier.
Should You Blanch Beans Before They are Sautéed
I have made these blanched first and not blanched first. However, I do think their tender-crisp turn out better if you blanch them first. Therefore, technically you can get away with not blanching the green beans before throwing them in the sauté pan. For me, I do prefer to blanch them first because it helps preserve the texture and bright green color of the fresh green beans, making for a better overall side dish.
You might be wondering if you can blanch the beans ahead of time.
You can; however, you will need to dip them in ice water right after removing them from the boiling water to stop the cooking. Make sure to pat them dry before placing them in an air tight container. They can be refrigerated 1-2 days ahead of time.
Generally, I will blanch them 2-3 minutes, scoop the beans out with a spider and put them right into the skillet for finishing with the olive oil and garlic.
Green Beans are Part of a Delicious and Easy Weeknight Meal
This was another delicious meal we had a few weeks ago. Green Beans, Steak, Fried Mushrooms, Mustard Butter Sauce, and Garlic Bread. For four of us, this entire meal took about 45 minutes to make. We enjoyed every last bit of this.
Recipe Tips and Ideas
- Try adding a wide variety of spices to the beans with the garlic for more flavor, such as seasoned salt, paprika, oregano, cayenne, soy sauce, or thyme.
- Try adding other pairings with the beans, such as toasted almonds, bacon, onions, mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, sesame seeds, or cashews
- Trim both ends of your beans before preparing
- Blanch the beans 2-3 minutes in boiling water before you Sauté the beans in a skillet
- Don’t overcook. Saute the beans over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes.
- Use garlic powder if you do not have fresh on hand
- I prefer this recipe with fresh green beans. However, you can use frozen green beans – just skip the blanching step.
Skillet Garlic Green Beans
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Kitchen Essentials
Ingredients
- 1 Lb. Fresh Green Beans Trim the ends.
- 2 Tbl. Olive Oil
- 3 Cloves Garlic Minced. Or 2 Tbl. Minced.
- Salt to taste – about 1/4 tsp.
- Pepper to taste – about 1/8 tsp.
- Water enough to cover beans
text ingredients
Instructions
- In a kettle, bring water to a boil, add the cleaned green beans. Cook for 2-3 minutes to blanch.
- While the beans are blanching, in a large skillet add the olive oil and garlic.
- When the beans are done being blanched, remove them with the spider so the water can quickly drain off.
- Add the beans to the garlic and olive oil.
- Use a tongs to toss the green beans with the garlic. Cook for 7-8 minutes on Medium-high heat until tender-crisp. Tossing occasionally.
- Enjoy with your favorite meal.
Your Own Private Notes
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I hope that you liked this recipe. If you are looking for more ideas on what to make, here are a few other recipes that you may enjoy.
You can find Victoria crocheting, quilting, and creating recipes. She has cooked in restaurants for over 20 years, including many larger parties. She learned to crochet when she was just 11 years old and has been crocheting ever since; over 50 years now. Over 40 years ago, she loved her first class in sewing and continues to hone her skills in quilting. Many have enjoyed the handmade gifts over the years. In her professional career, she has worked in management in a wide variety of businesses including higher education as a dean of a division. All the while attending college part-time to achieve her doctorate in higher education with an emphasis in e-learning.