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These sauteed green beans come out bright green and crisp tender in about 15 minutes: an easy side dish that’s full of flavor!
Bright green string beans are honestly a little underrated, if you ask me. Because they make a perfect side dish: delicious, healthy, and easy to make. They’re great steamed or roasted, but the easiest way to prepare them is by far my favorite sauteed green beans!
You do need a few tricks to sauté green beans perfection: this recipe is my tried and true method that works every time. It’s easy to make for a weeknight, but fancy enough for a party. I have made these so many times and they are always a hit!
5 Star Reader Reviews
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Made these last night (to go with the foil-grilled salmon). Best beans EVER! This is my new go-to method for cooking green beans!” -Rita
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here’s what you’ll need for this simple recipe:
- Fresh green beans: When shopping, look for beans that feel firm; you can also use haricots verts if you can find them, they just cook faster.
- Shallot: This is optional, but I recommend it for a subtle onion flavor.
- Olive oil or butter: Olive oil is my favorite heart-healthy cooking oil; butter is another option that adds great flavor.
- Salt and pepper. This is 100% the most important! You must salt your beans to perfection. This means that when you bite into it, it tastes seasoned but not salty. Just like the cooking part, you’ll need to taste to get it to the right level.
- Lemon juice and zest. Lemony green beans always taste delicious! Here I’ve used both lemon juice and lemon zest, but you can skip the zest if you prefer. Fresh citrus always makes beans taste incredible. I use the trick of finishing with lemon juice in many of our sauteed vegetables recipes.
How To Sauté Green Beans
Sure, you can just throw green beans straight in a skillet and go about sautéing. But here’s the thing: the pan starts to dry up before the beans are fully cooked. The best way to sauté green beans is to steam them in the pan first, then finish with a sauté.
This method works very well with tougher vegetables like pan fried broccoli or sauteed broccoli. Here are the basic steps for how to sauté green beans:
- Trim the green beans. See my post about my fast way of how to trim green beans.
- Steam the beans first. Add the beans with a splash of water to a skillet. Cook over medium high heat for 4 minutes covered.
- Uncover and cook out the water. Remove the cover and cook until the remaining water evaporates, about 1 minute.
- Sauté the beans. Now that the beans are softened, add the olive oil or butter and saute the beans for 2 minutes until tender but still bright green!
Tips To Avoid Overcooking
The biggest problem most people have with sauteed green beans? They overcook them. Even a minute or 2 too long, and the beans turn dark green and limp. They’ll taste fine, but the texture is not nearly as desirable. Here are a few tips to avoid overcooking green beans:
- Taste often. Once you see the beans start to become tender, pull out a bean with a fork and give it a taste! If it’s too crunchy, keep going. Keep on tasting until you’ve got it where you want it.
- Err on the early side. If you’re in doubt, pull them earlier rather than later. Even a few minutes can make soggy green beans: and no one likes that!
Easy Flavor Variations
You can easily change up the flavors here. A few readers have skipped the shallot and the lemon if they don’t have it. Here are some other ideas:
- Garlic: Stir in minced garlic during the last minute of sautéing, or see my Garlic Green Beans.
- Toasted almonds: Add toasted almonds or make my Green Beans Almondine.
- Ginger and soy: Use olive oil, grated ginger with the shallot, and finish with a few shakes of soy sauce or tamari.
- Parmesan: Add a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese or Pecorino cheese before serving.
What To Serve With Sauteed Green Beans
I serve this recipe all the time because it’s an easy vegetable side dish that truly goes with almost anything! Here are some natural pairings
- Salmon: Try Easy Pan Seared Salmon or Oven Baked Salmon.
- Chicken: Serve alongside Lemon Garlic Chicken or Pan Seared Chicken Breast.
- White fish: They’re great with Baked Cod with Lemon or Baked Tilapia.
- Tofu: Pair with Perfect Pan Fried Tofu and rice.
- Holiday meals: Add them to your repertoire of Thanksgiving side dishes.
Storing Leftovers
Sauteed green beans look absolutely beautiful and bright green immediately after making them. But take note! Storage changes the game:
- The green color fades in the refrigerator. While the beans fade to a dark green color, they still taste great! So this shouldn’t be a problem unless you were planning to serve them to guests. We don’t recommend making this recipe in advance!
- Green beans last up to 3 days refrigerated. Pop them in a sealed container and they might be good even longer.
- How to you keep the color of green beans? Blanch them! Go to Nicoise Salad and follow the prep instructions for the green beans.
Dietary Notes
This sauteed green beans recipe is vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.
Perfect Sauteed Green Beans
These sauteed green beans come out bright green and crisp tender in about 15 minutes: an easy side dish that’s full of flavor!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Sauteed
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh green beans
- 1 shallot (optional but recommended)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (and zest of 1/2 lemon if desired)
- Fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Trim the green beans. Mince the shallot.
- Place the beans in a large skillet and add ⅓ cup water. Heat over medium-high heat. Once the water starts boiling, cover the skillet and boil the beans for 4 minutes. Then uncover and cook until the water is fully evaporated, about 1 minute or os.
- Once all the water has cooked out, add the olive oil or butter, minced shallot and kosher salt (take care because any additional moisture can cause the beans to momentarily spit). Sauté for 2 minutes more until tender, stirring frequently.
- Turn off the heat and remove the beans to a bowl. Stir in the lemon juice and if using, top with grated lemon zest. Taste, then add plenty of fresh ground pepper and a few additional pinches of kosher salt. Eat immediately. Leftovers store 2 to 3 days refrigerated: though the bright green color is lost, they still taste delicious.
Made these last night (to go with the foil-grilled salmon), but omitted the shallot and lemon. Best beans EVER! This is my new go-to method for cooking green beans! I may even use it with asparagus, if I ever get tired of grilling it, that is. :)
Loved this, thank you!!
Good recipe! Much better than blah steamed green beans. I sometimes replace the shallot and lemon with about 1/4 cup slivered or sliced almonds, sauteed separately in butter (which is what my mom used to do with green beans). Also, I sometimes have too much water left in the pan after the steaming step, so a useful trick is to remove it with a turkey baster.