Every kid has at least one veggie they’ll eat, right? For my daughter (the older one anyways), that’s usually green beans. My younger daughter will only touch corn so far, but I’m still continually reintroducing the green beans to her. I have this idea that eventually she’ll eat them.
Fresh or Frozen Green Beans?
Any time of year it’s easy to make green beans. They’re often available fresh in the produce section of the grocery store, but if not a bag of frozen green beans works almost as well. I tend to go for the French Cut style, labelled Haricot Vert if you’re feeling fancy. The thinner style cooks a bit faster and for some reason my daughter eats more of them.
How Long to Cook?
In the recipe below I’ve listed approximate times, but the real key to cooking these grean beans is knowing when to stop the initial steaming phase, dump out the excess water, and start to sauté the green beans instead. I time this transition for when the green beans change from just green to a bright green. There’s a definite change, and you can see this point in the picture below. It takes a little longer to reach this point if you’re using fresh green beans instead of frozen, and thicker beans will also take longer.
Make Your Green Beans Fancy
I used to do all sorts of fancy things to green beans, but over the years cut out steps, tried additional things, and settled on this method, it’s easier and tastes better. The almonds are optional, I usually only include them for holidays.
An easy recipe for fresh green beans, it is so fast that it's perfect for a weeknight! Even my picky kids will eat this one.
- 1 pound Green Beans washed and cut
- 2 pats Butter
- 1/4 cup Slivered Almonds
- 1 pinch Salt
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Put as many green beans as you want into a 12 inch skillet. Add 2-3 tablespoons of water and cover to steam, about 4-5 minutes.
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Once the green beans are bright green, remove the cover and dump out any excess water. Add butter and salt, sauté. Allow green beans to brown slightly, about 2-3 minutes. Serve immediately.
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Optional: My kids won't eat the almonds, but most adults love this recipe with almonds! I add slivered almonds about the same time as the butter, they'll get browned and perfectly compliment the green beans.
Because this is cooking at home and not in a factory, there might be some variation between how I prepare this recipe and what you create at home. As such, all nutritional information are estimates and may vary. If you like this recipe or find it useful, you can rate it by clicking on the stars above. A 4 or 5 rating would be greatly appreciated!
We like to use the whole frozen green beans but love it with almonds.
Frozen ones still taste just as good, and they’re definitely easier! Somehow the girls eat the fresh ones a little bit better. I’m not sure why.