Green beans and onions is a quick and easy side dish for your next weeknight meal. Fresh green beans are tossed with flavorful sautéed onions, garlic, and butter. Ready in twenty minutes.
Recipe summary
Flavor/texture: Crisp-tender green beans are tossed in sauteed onions and garlic in butter.
Green beans: Use fresh, frozen, or canned green beans with great results!
Serves: 4 people
Similar to: Green Beans with Almonds, Sautéed Zucchini and Onions
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Ingredients
- Green beans - Fresh or frozen green beans work in this recipe. If you have canned green beans on hand, skip the step of boiling and continue with the recipe as written. Canned green beans will not turn out crisp-tender like fresh or frozen beans.
- Onions and garlic - Add flavor to your green beans. I don't recommend omitting either ingredient because they add a significant amount of flavor to the dish.
- Salt and pepper - Enhances the flavor of the green beans. You could also try adding your favorite seasoning blend, like a pinch of cajun seasoning or everyday seasoning for more flavor.
How to make green beans and onions
- Trim the ends and slice green beans in half.
- Bring water to a boil in your sauté pan and cook green beans for 5 minutes, then drain and set aside.
- Return pan to stovetop, melt butter, and sauté onions and garlic.
- Add green beans and seasoning, stir to combine, and cook for an additional minute.
Tips and tricks
Fresh green beans - I highly recommend using fresh green beans for this recipe. The extra flavor from using fresh produce can't be beat. If you can't find any fresh green beans, I recommend using frozen green beans instead. They'll thaw while boiling, so they don't even need to be thawed beforehand.
Trimming green beans - First, turn all of your green beans with the stems pointing in the same direction. Gather them in a small bundle and trim off the stem ends, about ¼ to ½ inch in. There is no need to trim the opposite "curly" end of the green bean - it can be eaten as is.
Frequently asked questions
While fresh or frozen green beans have the best flavor, canned green beans can work in this recipe. Simply skip step one (boiling), and continue with the recipe as written.
Leftovers will keep for 3 to 4 days in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.
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📖 Recipe
Green Beans and onions
Ingredients
- 16 ounces green beans, trimmed and halved
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ small onion, thin sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- In a large stock pot, bring water to a boil. Boil green beans for five minutes, drain, and set aside.
- In a sauté pan over medium heat, add butter. Once melted and bubbling, add sliced onions. Cook for about 3-5 minutes, or until onions are lightly browned around the edges and begin to turn translucent.
- Add garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds.
- Add green beans to sauté pan, stirring to combine. Cook for one additional minute before removing from heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then serve immediately.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Fresh or frozen: Fresh green beans can be substituted with frozen green beans.
- Canned: If using canned green beans, skip step one, then continue recipe as written. Canned beans will not turn out crisp-tender like fresh or frozen beans.
- Vegan: Make this recipe vegan by substituting the butter with olive oil.
BEST recipe. I been cooking for a while but could never get string beans down pat.. OMG TY for this! It was abs perfect and made cooking a breeze. Im not scared anymore and thrilled to buy more green beans ha
This recipe is great. Everyone loved them. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Connie, so glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Heather! My mom asked for this dish to be served today for Thanksgiving and I like your recipe the best. It is simple, and, while I haven’t made it yet, I can tell it will be delicious. I know she will love it. Thanks for the recipe Heather!
Yum! These are amazing! Thanks!
Can the green beans and onion recipie be frozen and if so for how long?
Hi Lisa, your cooked green beans and onions can be stored in an airtight, freezer-safe container and frozen for up to 3 months.