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These Southern green beans with bacon are slow-simmered to perfection with smoky bacon, garlic, and onions for a rich, savory side dish that’s full of classic Southern flavor. No one will turn down veggies when they’re this delicious!
For another crowd-pleasing veggie side, try my Fresh Corn Salad or Roasted Brussels Sprouts.
Why you’ll love this simple Southern green beans recipe!
I think I make these green beans at least twice a week. It is one of my go to side dishes and everyone in my family loves it, so I make it quite often!
These old-fashioned green beans are so much tastier than plain green beans thanks to the addition of bacon, onions, and lots of garlic. (These Crack Green Beans are similar!) Once you try this recipe, you will never want to cook them any other way!
- Big Southern Flavor: Bacon, garlic, and onions transform simple green beans into something irresistible.
- Perfectly Tender: Slow cooking makes the beans soft, flavorful, and melt-in-your-mouth good.
- Easy to Make: Simple ingredients and minimal prep make this a go-to side dish.
- Pairs with Everything: These beans go with just about any main course.
Table of Contents
Ingredient Notes
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions for these fresh Southern green beans.
- Bacon – I like to use hickory smoked bacon, but any kind will work. Cut the bacon into small pieces—about one inch in size—before cooking. They don’t have to be exactly the same, just a rough chop!
- Onion – I use white onion, but Vidalia onions would add a nice, sweet taste.
- Garlic – Three cloves of garlic is about one tablespoon of minced garlic.
- Fresh green beans – Fresh green beans work best for this recipe. If you need to use frozen green beans, reduce the cooking time by about half. Frozen green beans are already soft and tender so they will cook faster. (For another classic green bean recipe, try my Slow Cooker Green Bean Casserole.)
- Chicken broth – You can replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth or water in a pinch.
- Butter – Unsalted butter is best since the bacon in the recipe is quite salty.
Substitutions and Variations
- Use vegetable broth in place of chicken broth and skip the bacon to make vegetarian Southern-style green beans.
- After straining the green beans, use the extra chicken broth to make a quick gravy that you can use as a sauce for the green beans.
- Toss the cooked green beans with some crispy fried onions for an extra Southern touch.
- Add ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper to make spicy Southern green beans.
- Use maple bacon to make the green beans a little bit sweet.
How to Make Southern Green Beans
- Cook the bacon: Add the chopped bacon to a pot and cook over medium-high heat until the bacon is crispy and browned. Add the onions and garlic to the skillet with the bacon and sauté until the onions brown. Remove the bacon and onions from the pan and set them aside.
- Cook the green beans: Add the green beans and chicken broth to the same pot you used to cook the bacon and onions. Bring to a boil then cover and simmer over low heat for about one hour.
- Strain: Strain the green beans and return them to the pot. Add the onion and bacon, along with the butter.
- Serve: Stir well, then serve warm.
Serving Suggestions
These simple Southern green beans pair perfectly with comfort food classics like Southern meatloaf, fried chicken, baked pork chops, or barbecue.
They’re also a great addition to holiday meals or potluck spreads.
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
- To Store: Keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3–4 days.
- To Reheat: Warm on the stovetop or microwave until heated through.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most green beans in the South are string, snap, or pole beans. There are lots of different varieties of green beans, but any will work for this recipe. Yellow beans are fine too!
Green beans and string beans are essentially the same thing. The term “string beans” refers to the string that runs down the center of the bean. The two terms are used interchangeably for almost any variety of green beans.
Snapping the ends off of the green beans helps the beans cook more evenly and become more tender. The end of the bean where the beans were attached to the plant can be tough. Snipping the ends off enables you to eat the entire bean without worry of getting a stem.
Slow cooking fresh Southern green beans makes them tender and allows them to absorb more flavor.
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Southern Green Beans With Bacon
Ingredients
- ½ pound bacon
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 pounds fresh green beans, ends trimmed
- 2 cups chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Chop the bacon into pieces, about 1 inch in size (roughly).
- Add the chopped bacon to a large saucepan and cook over medium heat.
- Cook for about 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally. The bacon should be golden brown and crispy.
- Add the onions to the pan with the bacon and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add the garlic to the pan and cook for another minute.
- Remove the pan from the heat and put the bacon, onion, garlic mix in a bowl and set aside. Return the pan to the stovetop- do not wash it! You want all that tasty bacon flavor in the pan.
- Add the green beans to the pan along with the chicken broth and bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low.
- Let the green beans simmer for one hour.
- Strain the chicken broth from the green beans, keeping the beans in the pan and discarding the broth.
- Add the onions and bacon back to the pan along with the butter.
- Stir to melt the butter and mix the green beans with the onions and bacon.
- Serve warm.
Those flavours sound so good. Southern green beans like that can easily steal the spotlight from the main dish!
Those flavours sound so good. Southern green beans like that can easily steal the spotlight from the main dish!
These look so flavourful, love how much depth the bacon and onions add.
Simple ingredients, amazing flavour. Definitely trying this one!
This recipe was so easy to follow and turned out perfectly. Definitely making it again!
I’m not much of a cook, but this turned out great for me!