Tender, flavorful, and steeped in tradition, Southern Style Green Beans are a down-home side dish that’s easy to make! Fresh green beans cooked with bacon and just the right amount of seasoning is the perfect side dish recipe for any meal.
Serve these Southern Style Green Beans with Crock Pot Beef Roast and Twice Baked Potatoes Casserole for a classic family dinner perfect for Sunday supper or entertaining.
In This Post
What Are Southern Style Green Beans?
Southern Style Green Beans is a cherished recipe known for its rich, savory flavor and melt-in-your-mouth texture. Unlike their crisp, quick-cooked counterparts, these green beans are slow-cooked on the stove, allowing them to soak up the mouthwatering blend of flavors from bacon and seasonings.
A standout element in my recipe is bacon, which infuses the beans with an irresistible smoky note. This traditional approach to preparing green beans results in something more than a side dish — it’s a celebration of Southern hospitality and home-cooked comfort.
Ingredients Needed To Make The Best Green Beans
- Bacon: The heart of Southern comfort cooking, bacon brings an irresistible rich, smoky flavor.
- Fresh Green Beans: They bring a fresh, earthy flavor that balances beautifully with the richness of bacon.
- Vegetable or Chicken Stock: This flavor enhancer adds a light vegetable sweetness or a hearty chicken depth to the beans.
- Garlic Powder: A convenient and quick way to add a warm, slightly spicy undertone.
- Salt: Salt brings out the natural flavors of your ingredients. It is the essential seasoning that sharpens and defines all the other tastes in your dish.
- Black Pepper: Adds a slight kick and complexity, and pepper introduces a subtle warmth that perfectly complements the savory notes of bacon and the freshness of the green beans.
Scroll Down For Measurements And Instructions
How To Cook Fresh Green Beans, Southern Style
- Place a heavy bottom pan or small Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the sliced bacon to the skillet and cook until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and place it on a paper towel to drain. Set aside.
- Add green beans to the pan and cook over medium-high heat. Toss beans in bacon drippings to coat. Continue to cook until beans turn bright green.
- Carefully pour in the vegetable or chicken broth and add garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Stir to incorporate. Add bacon pieces back to the pot with beans.
- Turn burner to low, cover beans with a lid, and cook for about 1 hour until beans are tender, stirring every 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve immediately
What Kind Of Green Beans Are Best To Use?
Choosing beans that can withstand the long cooking process without turning mushy is important.
- Blue Lake Bush – is known for its crispiness and sweet flavor.
- Kentucky Wonder – easy to grow and great for canning or cooking fresh.
- Half Runners – a cross between a bush and green beans that are great to make “snap beans” cooked fresh or canned.
How Long Should I Cook Green Beans On The Stove?
Southern-style green Beans get their distinct, melt-in-your-mouth texture and flavor from being slow-cooked on the stove. Generally, you’ll want to simmer the beans on a low heat setting for about an hour for the most flavor-infused results. This cooking duration allows the ingredients, to be thoroughly cooked into the green beans, resulting in terrific flavor and great to serve with any main dish.
Commonly Asked Questions
A slow cooker is a great tool for making Southern Style Green Beans. You can follow the same recipe, setting your slow cooker on low for about 4-6 hours, or until the green beans are tender and flavorful.
If you don’t have bacon grease, season the beans with other fats like butter, olive oil, or even rendered sausage fat for a unique flavor. You can also use smoked turkey necks or ham hocks.
Any leftover seasoned green beans can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. They can be reheated on the stovetop or in the microwave.
More Of My Favorite Green Bean Recipes
What To Serve With Southern Green Beans
There’s nothing like a home-cooked meal with these green beans, baby red potatoes, and Crock Pot Chicken Thighs. They’re also perfect for a Sunday supper buffet with Slow-Cooker Beef Roast, Stuffed Baked Potatoes, Southern-Fried Corn, and Garlic Rolls.
More Classic Southern Recipes
If you tried this Southern Style Green Bean Recipe or any other recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks!
Ingredients
- 3 slices bacon – cut into ½″ pieces
- 1 ½ pounds green beans – washed, trimmed and snapped into about 2″ lengths
- 1 ½ cups vegetable or chicken stock
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Cook bacon pieces in a heavy bottom pan until done. Remove the bacon from the pan and place on a paper towel to drain. Set aside.
- Add green beans to the pan and cook on medium-high heat. Toss beans in bacon drippings to coat. Continue to cook until beans turn bright green.
- Carefully pour in the stock and add garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir to incorporate. Add bacon pieces back to the pot with beans.
- Turn burner to low, cover beans with lid – slightly off center, and cook for about 1 hour until beans are tender, stirring every 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- Store any leftover seasoned green beans in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
- A slow cooker is a great tool for making Southern Style Green Beans. You can follow the same recipe, setting your slow cooker on low for about 4-6 hours or until the green beans are tender and flavorful.
- If you don’t have bacon grease, you can season the beans with other fats like butter, olive oil, or even rendered sausage fat for a unique flavor. You can also use smoked turkey necks or ham hocks.
Nutrition
5 Days of Side Dishes Done Southern Style!
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Don Wood
I made this recipe for Thanksgiving this year (instead of roasted Brussels sprouts) and it was a BIG hit! It’s now going to be part of my regular rotation. I think next Thanksgiving I’ll need to double the recipe, though It was gobbled up way too quickly this year.
Thank you so much, Don! I’m thrilled this recipe was a hit and so happy you are cooking with me.
Merry Christmas,
~Donya
MALITA SPECIAL
Love it!! After years in NYC, LA, Europe & now The OC, This recipe really was a wonderful southern Reminder of home cooking with my grandma in the downhome kitchen, after picking fresh green beans in the garden & getting fresh bacon from a friend’s Hog farm in Arkansas! We always put Louisiana Gold Pepper sauce on the beans at the table to kick up the flavor just a touch! Thanks for your attention to so many details & giving options for lots of other ways to do this great side dish!
WOW!
Malita, this is the best comment. Thank you so much for taking time to share with me.
Best wishes,
~Donya
Sue
We have made beas very similar to this for ever. I’m 70 and it came from my mom’s family. We cook the bacon , remove it, and then cook diced onions in the fat drippings. We then add beans, raw or canned or frozen, and the broth, and cook until tender. In the last 10-15 minutes we add a 2-4 tablespoons of vinegar and then add the bacon just before serving.