Ever been to an authentic Southern and/or BBQ restaurant and ordered a side of green beans? If not, you should next time. They’re always swimming in a delicious liquid laden with bacon, sometimes onion and, I could be wrong here, a little dash of magic. They are SO good. All these years I just assumed since the beans weren’t crispy, that they were canned and the deliciousness of the broth was no doubt the result of crazy concoction of Crisco grease, MSG and who knows what else. I didn’t want to know. Until recently.
Oh, I was so WRONG!
A simple Pinterest search and my mind=blown. How simple! How, dare I say, healthy? OK, “healthy” may be a stretch, but compared to what I had been imagining, this isn’t bad at all for an occasional dinner time treat.
It’s clear to me now that plenty of people have used this method of cooking green beans for years and years. Their parents did it. Their parent’s parents did it too! I’m not giving my parents a knock here, but I certainly never had home cooked Southern Green Beans growing up! *pout* I had no idea something this delicious could be made at home and in only a few simple steps!
When preparing the green beans, it’s important to dry them off completely. You toss them in bacon grease and we all know WATER + GREASE= OUCH! We don’t want you getting popped so dry those beans!
These are great paired with BBQ (duh), Ribs, Pork Chops… anything really? A perfect companion to any comforting, Southern dinner.
Toss in the beans and give them a good coating
Add chicken stock
Cover but leave it a bit vented to let out some of the steam
Good ol’ fashioned Southern meal
Southern Style Green Beans
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Fresh Green Beans- trimmed and snapped in half
- 4 slices of Bacon, chopped
- 1/2 small white onion, chopped
- 2 cups of Chicken Stock
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Pepper
Directions
- Rinse the Green Beans and wrap in a clean kitchen towel to dry thoroughly.
- Find a large saucepan/skillet (with fitting lid) and heat over Medium heat.
- Add bacon and cook until crisp.
- Reduce heat to Medium Low and add chopped onion.
- Cook for 5 minutes to soften.
- Add Green Beans and toss in the grease, onions and bacon to completely coat. Do this for about 3 minutes and beans are bright green in color.
- Slowly add the Chicken Stock, salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.
- Reduce heat to Low and simmer with the lid on but slightly ajar to allow some steam to escape for 30-45 minutes depending on how firm/soft you like your Green Beans stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat and season more to taste, if desired. Enjoy!
Adapted from a recipe from gonnawantseconds.com– thanks for the great recipe!
Let me know if you try them! How they turn out?!
Cook and Kick It 
