If you’re looking for a side dish that delivers pure, unadulterated comfort, we invite you to try our recipe. It’s the kind of dish that fills the kitchen with a wonderful, savoury aroma and evokes fond memories of family meals. We’re talking about our cherished recipe for Fresh Southern Green Beans with Bacon, a timeless classic that elevates a humble vegetable into something truly special.

These aren’t your typical, quickly blanched green beans. This is a dish with genuine heart and soul. We gently slow-cook fresh green beans with smoky bacon and sweet onions, allowing them to become incredibly tender and absorb every ounce of flavour from the pot. It’s a method that rewards patience, resulting in a deeply satisfying side dish that will have everyone coming back for more. Let’s begin.

What Makes These Southern Green Beans So Special?

The real magic behind exceptional Southern green beans is the patient cooking process. Instead of a quick steam or fry that keeps them crisp, we embrace the traditional method of a slow, gentle simmer. We refer to this as “cooking them down,” a technique that allows the beans to become melt-in-the-mouth tender. This method also lets them fully absorb the rich flavours of the other ingredients.

The flavourful foundation of this dish is, without a doubt, the bacon. We render the fat from streaky bacon to create a savoury base in which to sauté our onions and garlic. That wonderful, smoky fat is the key element that infuses the entire dish. When combined with a hearty chicken broth and a few select seasonings, we create a ‘pot liquor’ that is nothing short of divine. It is this patient, flavour-layering approach that defines authentic Country style green beans and truly sets them apart.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Deeply Delicious: The trio of smoky bacon, rich broth, and tender beans melds into a complex flavour that is utterly satisfying.
• Perfect for Sharing: This is a guaranteed winner at any dinner table, from Sunday lunches to festive holiday feasts. It complements almost any main dish.
• Wonderfully Straightforward: For all its rich flavour, this is an uncomplicated recipe using everyday ingredients. It’s an ideal simple side dish for cooks of all abilities.
• The Ultimate Comfort Dish: There’s a heartwarming quality to a bowl of these slow-cooked beans that speaks of tradition and home cooking at its finest.

Ingredients

• 900g (about 2 lbs) fresh green beans, topped and tailed
• 170g (about 6 oz) thick-cut streaky bacon, chopped
• 1 large yellow onion, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 700ml (about 3 cups) low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional, for a little heat)
• Salt to taste

Step-by-Step Guide to Perfect Fresh Southern Green Beans with Bacon

Crafting this comforting dish is all about giving the flavours time to develop and mingle. We’ve laid out the process in clear, easy-to-follow steps to ensure your success.

1. Prepare the Ingredients

Before you even turn on the heat, we recommend getting all your components ready. This French culinary principle, ‘mise en place’, ensures the cooking process is calm and organised.

1. Wash and Trim the Beans: Give your green beans a good rinse under cold running water and pat them dry. Next, ‘top and tail’ them by snapping off the stem and tail ends. You can leave them whole or snap them in half if you prefer smaller pieces.
2. Chop the Aromatics: Finely chop your yellow onion and mince the garlic. Cut the bacon into small, even pieces, about 1-2 cm wide.

2. Build the Flavour Base

This is the crucial stage where we begin to layer the flavours that the beans will later absorb during the simmer.

1. Take a large Dutch oven or a pot with a heavy base and set it over a medium heat. Add your chopped bacon and cook, stirring now and then, until it’s lovely and crisp and has released its fat. This should take around 8–10 minutes.
2. With a slotted spoon, lift the crispy bacon bits out of the pot and place them on a plate lined with a paper towel. Leave approximately two tablespoons of the rendered bacon fat in the pot.
3. Add your diced onion to the pot and gently sauté it in the bacon fat for about 5-7 minutes, until it has softened and turned translucent.
4. Stir in the minced garlic and continue to cook for one more minute until it becomes wonderfully fragrant. Take care not to let it brown.

3. The Slow Simmer for Maximum Flavour

This final step is where patience pays off. The extended cooking time is what elevates these beans from good to truly magnificent.

1. Tip the prepared green beans into the pot and give them a good stir, coating them in the delicious onion and bacon fat mixture.
2. Pour over the chicken broth. Add the apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, black pepper, and the red pepper flakes if you’re using them. Stir everything together well.
3. Bring the liquid to a gentle boil, then turn the heat right down to low. Pop the lid on the pot and leave it to simmer away.
4. Let it cook for a minimum of 1 hour, or even up to 2 hours for exceptionally tender beans, giving it an occasional stir. The longer the simmer, the richer the flavour and more tender the beans will be as the liquid reduces.
5. When the beans have reached your preferred level of tenderness, have a taste and adjust the seasoning. You might need to add a pinch of salt, but always taste first, as the bacon and broth provide a good amount of saltiness.
6. Stir most of the reserved crispy bacon back into the beans, but keep a little aside to sprinkle over the top as a final garnish before serving.

Expert Tips for the Best Bacon Green Beans

We’re dedicated to helping you make your Bacon green beans absolutely perfect. Here are a few valuable tips we’ve picked up that guarantee a brilliant result every time.

Choosing the Right Green Beans

Freshness is key for this recipe. We recommend looking for green beans that are vibrant green, feel firm to the touch, and make a clean snap when bent. Try to avoid beans that appear limp, feel rubbery, or have any discolouration. While many varieties will work, we find that classic green beans (also known as haricots verts) give the best results.

Variations and Add-Ins

Although we adore this recipe just as it is, we encourage you to make it your own!

• Add Potatoes: For a more substantial side dish, you can add a handful of quartered new potatoes to the pot at the same time as the green beans. They will cook down beautifully and become wonderfully soft.
• Smoked Paprika: A small pinch of smoked paprika can be added with the other seasonings to deepen the smoky notes from the bacon.
• A Touch of Sweetness: If you enjoy a slightly sweeter flavour profile, feel free to increase the amount of brown sugar to two teaspoons.

What to Serve with Your Seasoned Green Beans

These wonderfully seasoned green beans are an incredibly versatile side dish that pairs well with a host of main courses. They are a natural fit for a classic Sunday roast, be it chicken, beef, or pork. We especially enjoy serving them with our Juicy Chicken Recipe, where the rich, savoury beans provide a perfect counterpoint. They are also a non-negotiable part of our holiday meals, sitting beautifully alongside roast turkey or glazed ham.

For a truly satisfying weeknight dinner, why not try them with our Chicken Breast And Green Beans recipe? It’s a delightful way to enjoy this fantastic vegetable prepared in two different, delicious ways.

FAQ

A Timeless Side Dish Worth Making

So, there you have it—our much-loved recipe for Fresh Southern Green Beans with Bacon. We believe it’s more than just a side; it’s a tribute to simple, honest ingredients and the comforting joy of a home-cooked meal. By taking the time to slow-cook these beans, you unlock a remarkable depth of flavour that is sure to enhance any dinner.

We sincerely hope you try this recipe in your own kitchen. Gather your ingredients, settle in for a gentle simmer, and get ready to enjoy a dish that will warm you from the inside out. We’d love to hear how it goes, so please feel free to leave a comment below. Happy cooking!

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Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 1 hr 20 mins
Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 900g fresh green beans, topped and tailed
• 170g thick-cut streaky bacon, chopped
• 1 large yellow onion, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 700ml low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Cook the chopped bacon in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, until crisp. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving about 2 tablespoons of bacon fat in the pot.
2. Add the diced onion to the pot and sauté in the bacon fat for 5-7 minutes until soft and translucent. Stir in the minced garlic and cook for 1 more minute until fragrant.
3. Add the prepared green beans to the pot, stirring to coat. Pour in the chicken broth, then add the apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, black pepper, and optional red pepper flakes. Stir to combine.
4. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer for 1 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the green beans have reached your desired tenderness.
5. Taste and season with salt if needed. Stir in most of the reserved crispy bacon, saving some to garnish the top before serving.