These easy green beans with garlic are the perfect addition to any weeknight meal. The best part—they come together in less than 10 minutes!
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Green Beans with Garlic
Dinners often follow a basic formula of carb + protein + vegetable + something green. Sometimes, depending on my mood and how busy/exhausting the day was, the vegetable and the something green are the same thing. #doingmybest These green beans fit the bill—green + vegetable + FAST. Yes, super fast. Like….less than 10 minutes fast. They are truly the perfect dinner side for just about any meal. Bonus—my entire family loves them.
Frozen Green Beans
Ok, I told you that these are done in less than 10 minutes. Ready for the next bit of good news? I use frozen green beans. FROZEN! These green beans with garlic are sooooo convenient. I add a bag of green beans to my virtual shopping cart most weeks, and keep the extras in my freezer so that I always have a bag on hand when we are hungry and I just can’t even. In the summer I follow this same recipe with fresh green beans, but 10 months out of the year frozen is just easier….and tastier! Look for green beans called “haricot verts”—fancy French for….wait for it…..green beans. But don’t be fooled by “French style” which can sometimes mean pre-cut green beans. You don’t want that. You want the whole bean.
Quick to cook!
These green beans with garlic are soooo quick to cook! I cook them a little bit like I would cook frozen potstickers. I start with olive oil in a cast iron skillet. Add a 1 pound bag of frozen green beans. Let them cook over medium high heat. Add salt and a splash of water. Seriously, just 1 Tablespoon. Cover with a lid for 4 minutes, while you peel your garlic cloves. Mince a generous handful of garlic right into the beans. Toss for another minute or two while the beans finish cooking and the garlic sautés a little bit. And done. Told you that was easy.
Kid Approved
These days it seems like my kids are in disagreement about everything except video games. I mean, not really, but it certainly feels like that. Especially at dinner time. Jonny loves mushrooms, David and I don’t. We all love cauliflower. Jonny hates it. But these garlic green beans are one dish that we are all in 100% agreement about.
Serve these Garlic Green Beans with….
- Baked Tofu with Tomatoes, Lemon, and Capers
- Vegan Baked Ziti
- Vegan Waikiki Meatballs — Pantry Staple Meal
- Sweet Chili Tofu (with Air Fried Tofu!)
- Mango Chutney Chickpea Skillet
More Easy Veggie Sides that You Will Love
- Air Fried Cauliflower
- Roasted Asparagus with Lemon
- How to Make Air Fried Broccoli (3 variations)
- Latin Inspired Cabbage Slaw
- Easy Vegan Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts
Green Beans with Garlic
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound frozen haricot verts style green beans (or use fresh when in season!)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablsepoon water
- 4 cloves garlic minced
Instructions
- Pour the olive oil into a large cast iron skillet, and heat over medium high heat.
- Add the frozen green beans and allow to sauté for 1 minute.
- Sprinkle the salt and water over the green beans and toss with tongs. Cover with a lid and cook for 4 minutes.
- Remove the lid. Mince the garlic directly into the pan and give it a toss with tongs.
- Cook for 1 more minute, allowing the garlic to cook, and making sure all of the green beans are cooked all the way through.
- Remove from heat and serve.
This looks so delicious…wishing I had some nice fresh green beans…
~Have a lovely day!
I love making this dish in the summer with fresh picked green beans—my kids and I go to the farm and do u-pick! But these are great in winter with frozen green beans as well, as pictured in the recipe! One of our favorite sides!