Garlic Green Beans not only taste incredible, but are super easy to make. Fresh green beans, butter/olive oil and garlic sauteed in a skillet make for the perfect healthy side dish year round or for your holiday table.
Looking for more easy to prepare, healthy side dishes for a weeknight or Holiday? I recommend healthy green bean casserole, roasted asparagus or crowd pleasing bacon wrapped asparagus.
Sauteed Green Beans with Garlic
These garlic green beans will change your perspective on string beans. They are perfectly cooked until firm and then seasoned with lots of garlic sauteed in butter or olive oil. So much flavor!
It is such a simple side dish recipe, takes only minutes to prep/make and yet, tastes so incredible.
Ingredients for Garlic Green Beans Recipe
- Green beans: You can use fresh or frozen green beans. Sadly, they are on the dirty dozen list which means they are high in pesticides. For this reason, I don’t often buy them in winter unless I can find organic and only local in the summer. Washing helps to remove pesticides. So, wash well.
- Garlic: Garlic is the all star ingredient in this garlic green beans recipe. And you know how much I love garlic!
- Butter: I use butter, but you can also use olive oil. And don’t forget the salt and pepper.
How to Make Garlic Green Beans
There is a full recipe card below.
- Cook green beans: In a large preheated skillet, add beans with 3 tbsp water. Cover and cook for 4 minutes. Beans should be “al dente”. If you are using frozen beans, cook on the skillet without water. After 3 minutes, check to see if they need more water or time to cook.
- Season sauteed green beans: After pushing the beans to one side of the skillet, add butter/olive oil and minced garlic and saute for about 30 seconds. Sauteing garlic makes it more flavorful and less spicy.
- Combine it all together. Finally, mix string beans, garlic, salt and pepper together and cook for 30 more seconds. Serve warm.
Variations
There are so many ways to change up this garlic green beans recipe and add a different flavor. Here are some of my favorite things to add:
- Lemon: Squeeze fresh lemon over the sauteed green beans.
- Parmesan cheese: Sprinkle 2 tbsp of freshly grated Parmesan cheese over beans.
- Bacon: Cook up ~ 3 slices of diced bacon in a skillet. Stir into the sauteed green beans.
- Almonds: 1/4 cup of skillet toasted slivered or sliced almonds is the perfect addition to this side dish.
How to Serve and Store
For a regular dinner side dish, serve garlic butter green beans with:
- Salmon: Roasted string beans with garlic pair well with honey garlic salmon or thai salmon.
- Chicken: Green beans and chicken are a perfect match! Try baked chicken breast or thighs.
- Side dishes: Mashed potatoes or cauliflower mashed potatoes.
Sauteed green beans will also add a vibrant punch of colour to your Holiday table along with:
- Turkey: Roast turkey breast and boneless turkey breast roast.
- Side dishes: Healthy sweet potato casserole and Beet salad with arugula and pecans.
Store: Garlic green bean leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days in the refrigerator. Do not freeze.
More Side Dish Recipes
- Sauteed brussels sprouts with bacon and pecans
- Sauteed zucchini
- Roasted sweet potatoes
- Honey garlic butternut squash
Garlic Green Beans {SO Easy!}
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs fresh string green beans ends trimmed*
- 3 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp butter or olive oil
- 3-4 large garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat large ceramic non-stick skillet on medium heat.
- Add green beans and 3 tbsp water.
- Cover with lid and cook for 4 minutes.
- Remove the lid and if there is any water left, cook green beans until water has evaporated.
- Push beans to the side and add butter or olive oil and garlic. Cook for 30 seconds and then stir with green beans.
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper; and sauté for another 30 seconds.
- Serve warm.
Store: Refrigerate leftovers for up to 2 days in an airtight container. Do not freeze.
Notes
- Wash frozen beans well with cold water to remove dirt and pesticides. No need to thaw. Skip this step if you washed vegetables before freezing.
- Then add to the skillet without water, cover and cook for 3-4 minutes on medium-high heat. Frozen green beans will release their own water during cooking.
- Check after to see if they need more water or more time to cook.
- Lemon: Squeeze fresh lemon over the sauteed green beans.
- Parmesan cheese: Sprinkle 2 tbsp of freshly grated Parmesan cheese over beans.
- Bacon: Cook up ~ 3 slices of diced bacon in a skillet. Stir into the sauteed green beans.
- Almonds: 1/4 cup of skillet toasted slivered or sliced almonds is the perfect addition to this side dish.
Nutrition
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My name is Olena Osipov. I'm a mom to 2 boys, a wife to Alex and we reside on magical Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. This is our healthy family recipes blog. Originally from Ukraine, I grew up on real food. As an adult, I struggled with diets for years because none worked long-term. Now for over 10 years, I cook easy healthy meals for my family. I can help you with “What’s for dinner?” too.