Green Beans with Bacon
This quick and easy green beans with bacon recipe is a very versatile side dish. The green beans stay crisp and bright green. It's also cooked with bacon fat, so it's extra delicious!
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 75kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds green beans, washed and ends trimmed
- 6 slices bacon
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small shallot, thinly sliced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Red pepper flakes optional, to taste
Ice bath
- Ice cubes
- Water
Instructions
- In a medium pot, bring generously salted water to a boil.
- Meanwhile, set up the ice bath: In a large bowl, combine water and ice (enough water to fully submerge the green beans and enough ice to keep the water ice cold). Set aside.
- Cook green beans for 4 to 6 minutes in the boiling water or until they are crisp tender and bright green. Drain and transfer to the prepared ice bath. You could also transfer them straight from the pot using tongs. Let them get fully cold, about 5-8 minutes. Then, remove green beans from the ice bath and pat dry with paper towel.
- In a large skillet, cook the bacon until crispy. Then, transfer to a plate lined with paper towel and chop. Set aside. Leave about 2 to 3 tablespoons of the bacon fat in the skillet.
- Add garlic and shallots to the skillet with the bacon fat, and cook until fragrant and slightly golden brown for about 2 minutes over medium-high heat.
- Add the green beans and bacon to the skillet, and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, tossing until coated and warm. Season with salt, pepper and red chili flakes to taste. Serve warm. Enjoy!
Notes
- Use fresh green beans. Don't use canned or frozen green beans - they will turn out soft, mushy, and pale.
- Pick green beans that have very fewer blemishes or brown spots. The fresher they are, the better.
- If you don’t have access to ice, run it through cold water immediately after draining through a colander until cold. You may also undercook by 1 minute to account for this.
- For crisp and bright green results, cook green beans for about 4 to 6 minutes. But really, it's a matter of preference. Taste test the green beans every 2 minutes until they are cook to your liking.
- Green beans: French green beans (aka haricort verts).
- Bacon fat: If you prefer not to cook with bacon fat, use olive oil, coconut oil, or vegetable oil.
- Shallots: Yellow onions.
Nutrition
Calories: 75kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 14mg | Potassium: 392mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1174IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 71mg | Iron: 2mg