Southern Green Beans
See my updated Southern Green Beans recipe here!!
I was raised on string beans and this southern green beans recipe is a favorite with my family. I love that it’s so easy, yet full of flavor.
Now I won’t even lie, I usually only fix homemade, fresh green beans for holidays and special occasions. Normally I just crack open a can of green beans, throw them in the pot with some chicken broth, Goya seasoning and call it a day! I got a TON of fresh green beans from Aldi’s because they were on sale and I just couldn’t pass them up. I’m so glad I did! Canned green beans just can’t compare to a pot of homemade, savory green beans.
You can easily substitute the smoked turkey sausage with crispy bacon if you’d like or just leave the meat out altogether. That savory chicken broth, fresh onion, and garlic do quite the job with seasoning these southern green beans to perfection.
If adding bacon, fry it up separately and add it to the greens beans when done. That way you won’t have soggy, weird-tasting bacon.
Watch me make these southern green beans from start to finish!
Get the Recipe: Southern Green Beans
Ingredients
- 1 lb. fresh green beans
- 1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/2 cup chopped smoked sausage or smoked bacon
- 1-2 cups chicken broth
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes seasoning salt & black pepper to taste.
Instructions
- Wash the green beans.
- Snap off the ends of the greens beans and cut or snap the green beans into pieces. Set aside.
- Finely dice the onion, garlic, and smoked sausage. Set aside.
- In a pot, melt butter.
- Add in onion, garlic, smoked sausage and chicken broth.
- Bring to a boil and add in red pepper flakes.
- Add in green beans.
- Cover and simmer for 1- 1½ hours. Check the green beans every 5 minutes after the one-hour mark. You don't want to overcook them or they will be mushy!
- Season with seasoning salt & black pepper.
- Serve and enjoy!
can i use fresh green beans out of the can
If in a can they are not fresh but you can still use them
I made these last night for dinner. They were sooo good. My husband had about three plates. I am so grateful for your website. I’ve always wanted to learn to cook but was never really good at it because I had no one to teach me. It was a blessing to run across your sight.
This recipe wasn’t what I expected. It was okay but I ended up having to use extra season salt and black pepper. If you are sensitive to hot spices, work with 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. However the rest of your recipes Monique are the bomb!
I’ve been looking for my “grandma’s” southern green bean recipe for Christmas dinner. It’s been a while since I made these and could not remember if I put onion to them or not! This is basically her recipe. I skip the hot pepper flakes and add a very little bit of fresh ground black pepper and seasoned salt to taste. I’ve never used garlic, not sure if I would like it in this recipe. And to really make it a meal, grandma also added small white or red potatoes after the first hour of cooking. If you can’t find the smaller potatoes go ahead and add larger yellow potatoes that are cut into smaller pieces. Spoon the cooked beans and potatoes onto your plate, mash the potatoes with a fork, add butter and then use the pan broth as “gravy”! YUM!!!! You really need the chicken broth here (I use Swanson’s Chicken STOCK) for flavor so don’t use just water and I also use good bacon. TIP..Bake the bacon in your oven and save that good bacon grease. Add a bit of that when you add the bacon…delicious! The long cooking time is essential! You want some of the green beans to open and spill the beans inside into the stew.
Awesome!!!!
Made these last week- they were slamming!!