Baked Garlic Green Beans with a Recipe Video (2024)

FAQs

What can you add to baked beans to make them tastier? ›

So, how do you tell when green beans are done? Bite into a bean a minute or two before the end of the suggested time listed above for boiling green beans. The bean should give a bit but still have a slight crunch.

Should I Soak Green Beans Before Cooking? Fresh green beans do not need to be soaked. To help tenderize the beans, blanch them in a large pot of salted water.

Caramelized Onion + Bacon + Espresso Powder

Slowly caramelize a chopped onion in a bit of oil, then add bacon and cook until crispy. Add the can of beans and stir, making sure to scrape up any tasty bits that have stuck to the pan. To finish, toss in a pinch of espresso powder for an extra hit of earthy flavor.

Those aromatics in the pot will revolutionize the beans' final flavor. The aromatics I tend to use are onions, carrots, garlic, and celery, and then heartier, woodsy herbs, like rosemary, sage, and thyme, which marry beautifully with the earthy-sweet flavor of beans.

Your Beans Will Cook Faster

Well, creating an alkaline (or basic) environment by adding a small amount (about 1 teaspoon per cup of dry beans) of baking soda to your soaking/cooking water can actually help your beans cook faster.

Then, I toss the blanched beans with olive oil, lemon juice and zest, garlic, and salt to pep up their flavor. Serve them just like that, or dress them up more with toasted almonds or pine nuts, grated Parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, or fresh herbs like basil, parsley, or thyme.

Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook until bright green and crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and transfer immediately to the ice water to stop the cooking. Let sit until cooled, 1 to 2 minutes.

Cook low and slow—patience is key. To cook on the stove, bring the pot of beans (soaked or unsoaked, with olive oil, salt, and any seasonings plus 2 to 3 inches of liquid covering them) to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat so that your beans are barely but steadily simmering and cover with the lid.

Can you overcook green beans? ›

Don't overcook them!

Nothing is worse than a mushy, overcooked green bean. Crisp and slightly tender beans is the goal. To achieve this, taste a bean or two during the cooking process. If it is too crispy for you, keep cooking, testing another green bean in a minute or two.

The vegetable helps fight inflammation and is a good source of folate and potassium, which helps regulate blood pressure. Green beans also are a good source of protein and fiber, which helps lower cholesterol, Vadiveloo said. "Fiber is underconsumed by U.S. adults and children, and it's good for gut health," she said.

"If you rinse your beans thoroughly, you will have a consistently flavored product, but if you do not rinse them, different amounts of salt will remain in the dish each time you cook it, and it will be hard to cook consistently," he says.

The only part of the bean that always needs to be removed is the tip of the stem end (this is sometimes called "topping" the bean), where the pod was once attached to the rest of the plant. There is no practical need to remove the tail end of a green bean—the choice to do so is aesthetic.

Add the garlic, oregano, chili powder, and cumin and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add in the drained beans, bay leaves, and broth or water. Cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the beans are warmed through, then remove the bay leaves.

Extra protein: Add diced ham, cooked ground beef, or shredded chicken to the baked beans for an extra boost of protein. Additional vegetables: Include diced green bell pepper, onions, or mushrooms to the recipe for added texture and flavor. Tangy: Replace yellow mustard with Dijon, whole-grain mustard, or dry mustard.

The one tried and true method she taught me to reduce the gassy effect of beans, is this: add a tiny amount of baking soda to the pot half an hour or so before you're ready to serve them to “release” the gasses from them. Be set to stir down the violent reaction. This works no matter how you've seasoned them.

In addition to the usual things like garlic, onion, celery and peppers, a few unexpected additions will add a bit of flavor. Seasonings, such as chili powder (I like ancho which adds flavor more than heat.) And as most always, salt is essential. Fresh pepper is always welcome.