Skillet Green Beans with Bacon and Brown Sugar
Skillet Green Beans with Bacon and Brown Sugar is a shortcut version of the popular bacon-wrapped green bean bundles. It’s an easy, fresh green bean recipe that’s perfect for Thanksgiving or Christmas side dish served with prime rib with a southern flavor twist.
Servings: 5 people
Calories: 1fifth
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh green beans, stem ends trimmed
- 2-3 slices uncooked bacon, chopped
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Dale’s Seasoning, Moore’s Marinade or Soy Sauce
- ¼ teaspoon garlic paste (or ½ teaspoon minced garlic)
Instructions
- Steam, blanch or boil the green beans 3 to 7 minutes or until almost tender or until how soft you like fresh green beans. Then, drain well. (They will continue to cook just a little when added to the skillet.)
- Tip: If you like your green beans a bit more on the soft side, cook them longer during the first step.
- Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until crisp. Remove bacon from the skillet and reserve 1 tablespoon of the drippings in the skillet.
- Add the butter and brown sugar to the bacon drippings. Cook, stirring often, until the butter melts and mixture starts to bubble. Add the marinade seasoning and garlic, stirring well.
- Add the drained green beans and bacon back to the skillet, stirring gently to coat. I use tongs. Cover and simmer over medium heat, stirring often, until the brown sugar mixture is slightly thickened.
- You can continue to cook the green beans, covered, in the skillet but watch closely that your sauce doesn't evaporate (reduce).
Notes
For canned green beans, drain the canned green beans and eliminate the step to cook the blanched fresh green beans. Basically stir them into the cooked bacon and sauce and stir until thoroughly heated and well coated.
For frozen green beans, thaw and drain them, first. You may want to cook them in the skillet, but slightly less than the blanched fresh green beans. It depends on how tender you want the beans.
How to boil fresh green beans: Bring a pot of water up to a boil. Wash and snap off the stem ends and add the washed green beans to the boiling water. Boil 5 to 7 minutes for crisp-tender beans or 5 more minutes if you prefer them softer. Your Southern grandma may tell you to boil them for 30 minutes or more and that's ok, too!Blanching vegetables is a process of quickly cooking them in boiling water (about 30 seconds to as much as 7 minutes), then shocking them by plunging them into ice water to stop the cooking process. Blanching is often used to partially cook vegetables to get them ready for freezing. By cooking them as little as 1 minute, it brings out the bright green color.
How to steam fresh green beans: Pour enough water in a pot to come up to about 1 inch. Add fresh green beans and put the lid on it. Bring the water up to a boil and cook 2 to 4 minutes or just until the green beans are crisp-tender or as cooked as tender as you like them.
How to blanch green beans: Blanching vegetables is a process of quickly cooking them in boiling water (about 30 seconds to as much as 7 minutes), then shocking them by plunging them into ice water to stop the cooking process. Blanching is often used to partially cook vegetables to get them ready for freezing. By cooking them as little as 1 minute, it brings out the bright green color and prevents them from shrinking or wilting when frozen or cooked fresh.
