Southern Green Beans
Southern green beans simmered in a savory, rich broth with onions, garlic, and smoked sausage until tender and infused with flavor. This is a classic down-home recipe that I’ve been making for many years. It’s straightforward and perfect for Sunday dinner, holidays, or even weeknight dinner.
Why You’ll Love These Southern Green Beans
- Tried & true family and fan favorite recipe for many years.
- Made with fresh ingredients and simple recipe steps.
- Slow-simmered for perfectly seasoned green beans every time.
Southern green beans are meant to be tender, hearty and good enough to eat as a meal! I have many fond memories of Grandma Barb pulling fresh green beans from her garden and creating one of my favorite side dishes!
How to Make Southern Green Beans
Mo’s Recipe Testing Tips
- Add the cooked meat last. If you want your meat to maintain a bit of crispiness, cook it and add it to the pot right before serving.
- Simmer, don’t boil. I used to boil my Southern green beans the entire cooking time, and yes, they would get done quicker, but the rich flavor of the broth didn’t have time to fully soak into the beans. A slow simmer is worth every minute.
- I originally added everything to the pot at once, but sautéing the onions and garlic in butter and meat renderings and blooming the red pepper flakes creates a richer, flavorful broth.
- I discovered that these cooked green beans taste even more flavorful the next day. For this reason, I usually make them the day before for holidays and special occasions.
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, in the past, I usually only fixed 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, smoked seasonings, and call it a day! But there is just something about a pot of homemade, savory Southern green beans that canned just can’t touch.
You can easily substitute the smoked turkey sausage with crispy bacon, smoked turkey legs, or even fatback if you’d like, or just leave the meat out altogether.
Make it a stand-alone meal!
These Southern green beans can stand as a meal all by themself! You can diced potatoes and serve them with this Honey Butter Cornbread. If you’re looking for another classic vegetable side to complete your meal, you can’t go wrong with my authentic Southern collard greens!
And for the ultimate soul food feast, don’t forget to add a big helping of my creamy, five-cheese Southern baked macaroni and cheese!
These savory, simmered beans are the ultimate side dish for a classic Sunday dinner featuring tender, slow cooker chicken and gravy.
Cooking method update: I have updated the order in which the ingredients are added and adjusted the amount of red pepper flakes and broth to balance the flavor. I realized that sauteeing the onions and garlic in the butter and sausage rendering and blooming the red pepper flakes created even more flavorful green beans.
Get the Recipe:
Southern Green Beans
Ingredients
- 1 lb. fresh green beans washed and dried
- ½ heaping cup smoked sausage (fully-cooked) chopped into small pieces (I used smoked turkey kielbasa sausage)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (Omit if you don't want heat. See note.)
- ½ cup white onion finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 2 cups chicken broth (I use Better-Than-Bouillon)
- seasoning salt or smoked salt & black pepper, to bring out the flavor (I use smoked salt)
Instructions
- Snap off the ends of the green beans. Cut or break the green beans into pieces. Set aside.1 lb. fresh green beans
- In a medium-sized skillet, on medium heat, cook the smoked sausage until charred around the edges. Remove from the pan and set aside, but leave any remaining bits and fat in the pan.½ heaping cup smoked sausage (fully-cooked)
- Add butter to the pan and allow it to melt.1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- Add red pepper flakes and cook for about 30 seconds to bloom them. (They will turn a brighter red)¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Add in onions and cook until tender.½ cup white onion
- Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant.1 garlic clove
- Add in green beans.
- Slowly stir in chicken broth (enough to cover green beans)2 cups chicken broth
- Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 1- 1½ hours. Depending on the thickness of your green beans, you may need more or less simmer time. When they are done, they should be tender, not mushy.
- Add the smoked turkey sausage back into the skillet.
- Taste and season with seasoning salt or smoked salt & coarse ground black pepper, if desiredseasoning salt or smoked salt & black pepper, to bring out the flavor
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Common Questions
- Can I use canned or frozen green beans? Yes, drain canned green beans well and shorten the simmer time. Frozen green beans may need less broth and a shorter cooking time as well. Check it after 30 minutes for tenderness and add more time until the green beans are tender.
- My green beans are still crunchy after simmering. Simmer them longer. Some green beans a much thicker and require longer simmering times.
- My green beans are too salty. If you prefer green beans with less salt, you can use a low-sodium chicken broth and skip adding salt to the finished dish.
If using regular bacon do you put it in the pot raw or do you cook it crispy and then add it to the pot
I should have posted this review a few years ago! We use this recipe for every holiday and whenever we are cooking green beans. Its delicious as are so many of her recipes. I hope you enjoy this as much as we do.
I found your recipe a few years ago and have been making these beans ever since. I go the bacon route and believe that these rival my Mother’s green beans. That’s saying a lot, because I didn’t think I’d ever eat beans as good as Mom’s. She didn’t put red pepper flakes in her beans, but I really like that addition. My husband and I love homemade, fresh green beans, and I just cooked a batch last night for dinner. Thanksgiving is next week, so I’ll cook a big pot full (gotta have leftovers!), and Hubby will be in hog heaven. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
I searched the internet looking for a southern green bean recipe using fresh beans and I needed one quickly. Nothing seemed to click and I was about to just try anything and hope for the best when I found your recipe. It looked perfect so I took a chance, even doubled the recipe, and these beans were fantastic! I added 1 T bacon fat in with the butter, used chopped thick-cut smoked bacon that I added at the 1 hour mark and halved the suggested amount of red pepper flakes. My beans were tender/perfect at about 1 hr 10 min. This one’s a keeper!
Which restaurant in Murrell’s Inlet? I’ll be going soon and would stop in there
This southern green bean recipe is delicious. Of course, you need to put more chicken broth in it than it calls for, and I like to put more sausage in it too. I also made mashed potatoes to make it a complete meal. I’ve made it twice in two weeks because it was so good. Yummy! You will love it!