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!
I am a northern girl who has always had a so-so relationship with green beans… don’t hate them but don’t love them either. Until I tried some green beans with my dinner at a restaurant in Murrells Inlet South Carolina. I LOVED them and wanted to learn how to make them. I searched online for a recipe for Southern Green Beans and several recipes popped up. Yours sounded like the ones I had at that SC restaurant so decided to try your recipe. So glad I did as it ended up tasting exactly like the green beans I ate in SC! When I try a new recipe, I normally try to follow the instructions exactly as stated in the recipe. This can be challenging as I live by myself and a lot of recipes make at least 4 servings. So this time, I reduced the amount of green beans to 10 oz. (I bought very freshly picked green beans from my Farmers Market and they were wonderful in this recipe). But decided to use 2 full cups of unsalted chicken broth and am so glad I did as I had enough green beans to eat with four meals and there was plenty of broth for all four meals. I substituted a red onion for the white onion because I didn’t have any white onions and didn’t want to wait another day to make this recipe until I could buy white onions. The red onion tasted great in this recipe. The smoked sausage I used was smoked Polish sausage from a local Polish deli and it was wonderful in this recipe. And I omitted the red pepper flakes as that would have made this too spicy for me. I absolutely LOVED this recipe and now love green beans (as long as they are made with your recipe!). Next time I’ll make them with one pound of green beans so I can freeze some for a later day!
I looooove these beans! Bacon and a little spice- so delishhhhh!!!
I feel like a true cook in the kitchen following these recipes! Thank youuuuu!!!! My every day go to option!
Made these last night and my wife could not stop eating them, I will be making these for years to come and am adding diced potatoes next time Thank you.
Hi! How many does this recipe serve? May I use canned beans? And, has anyone ever tried this recipe using a slow cooker?
A Very Nice Recipe. I tried it just as it read. My turned out just great. I love these kinds of recipes
Hello Monique,I added diced potatoes to mine,TUVM for the instructions,I’ll b back for more!
Oh I bet that was delicious!
I just want to thank you for sharing this awesome recipe. I’ve been searching for years for one that tastes exactly like this. My Granny Annie isn’t around to get them from anymore . It tastes great, my family loves it, and I make ZERO changes.
Thank you so much for your recipes you know black women are expected to cook a certain type of way and I didn’t have anyone to teach me so your collard greens and these green bean recipes have helped me to live up to those expectations, it all tastes so good.
How long or when did you add the potatoes to the pot may I ask. I have used this recipe before with bacon. This time I had some anduille sausage ..thought potatoes sounded awesome. Made hot water corn bread to go with it.
Thinking about using beef broth instead for something different.
Beef broth tastes good in it, too. I use whichever I have on hand. I use Better Than Bouillon and once you try it, you’ll never go back to liquid or powder.
These turned out amazing!! I added 1tbsp of brown sugar for sweetness.
These were great! I didn’t have 1 1/2 hours so I partially steamed the beans in the microwave first. I had bacon, no smoked ham (we are socially distancing for COVID so making do), so I chopped and cooked that first, removed the bacon lardons, then quickly sautéed the onion and garlic in the bacon grease. Added in 2 c. of chicken broth, brought to a boil, and the beans. Covered and simmered for 35 minutes. I’m out of red pepper, so omitted. Salt and freshly cracked black pepper at the end along with the bacon. They were excellent! Soft and flavorful but not mushy. I’m looking forward to my leftovers 🙂
I used canned green beans as the fresh did not look good. Oh my goodness, they are delicious. My family love these green beans and it’s a great change from your cabbage that I prepare often. Thanks.
What cooking time did you use with the canned beans?
These turned out GREAT! Such an easy fool proof recipe that went great with my baked ham.
Whats the measurements for the seasonings?
Until your ancestors tell you to stop . Haha
Best. Reply. Ever! (These are delicious, btw. Thanks!)
I work in the culinary world, and so many “say” they do southern food…you definately got this right!
I’m a white girl, but I grew up on collards, fried chicken, etc. My grandmother learned how to cook from her maid (white priveledge, yes I am not proud of this) but it was passed down and now I can cook with “soul”. I acknowledge it’s not the same, but it sure tasted good. Thank you for sharing, I’m going to follow your other recipes!
For someone who doesn’t like the smoke taste, what can be substituted?
Leave out the smoked meats.
Pancetta is just like bacon (cured pork belly) except that it is not smoked. I would think that it would make a great substitute for anyone not fond of smoky tastes.
Any kind of meat works, i think. I am using ham hocks. My mom always used these and our green beans tasted amazing.
How do you know if you need 1 or 2 cups of chicken broth?
Start with 1 1/2 cups add a little as needed
This recipe is soooooo good! I have Never made such perfect green beans!! My toddler loves the sausage in them! Thank you for the recipe!
Hello. So if i make 4lbs of fresh greenbeans will the cooking time still be 1 to 1 1/2 hours? Or 4 hours of simmering?
I know this is probably blasphemy, but I used canned green beans. (I didn’t like the way the fresh ones at the store were looking today.)
But, even with canned…oh my goodness! They were sooooo good! I can only imagine how great they’d taste with fresh beans.
So glad you posted this because I was gonna ask . The beans in our store did not look the greatest either! Gonna try it tonight!
I rarely have white onions. Will yellow work as well?
My family literally ate the entire pot! Great recipe!!!
When I worked in Detroit I used to frequent the awesome Steve’s Soul Food where I always ordered these beans. Today I finally tried my hand using your recipe. They came out perfectly! I used applewood smoked bacon. Five stars! (Couldn’t get the star button to work.)
I love green beans! I bought some the otjer day and cooked them today only I udrd smoked jowls for more flavor they were really tasty! Love your recipes as I am a southern girl! I always put my on spin on it. Thanks a lot!!!!
Can’t wait to make these tonight.
My boyfriend is from the South and he LOVED my green beans! I felt so proud. 🙂 Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Thank you so much for sharing i will be making this for Christmas
Love this recipe. Plenty of flavor with a nice kick.
I mad these healthy with turkey bacon and no salt chicken broth. was so good and was my first time cooking fresh green beans.
I’ve never made southern style green beans before but I took a chance and made these for a NYE party… Huge hit!!! So flavorful, received many compliments! Wonderful recipe and so easy to follow. Thank you!!!
This recipe is amazing. I made them with jowl bacon all time best meat to cook anything green with. The chicken broth garlic and onion gave them an amazing flavor. My kids at them all. They have never ate my beans like this before. I am so appreciative for this recipe. It takes like someone’s grandma ma them from Alabama. Amazing. Divas can cook!
I made these for Thanksgiving & they were delicious! It is very hard to find a good recipe online at times, but this recipe has changed my mind! I also made them again for dinner one day b/c my husband kept talking about how good they are. I will always use fresh green beans & this recipe from here on out! Thanks for this great recipe! 🙂
Wow! These sound delicious, going to have to try these. Thank you for the delicious looking recipe!
Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I made it as a side dish for this Easter weekend and my hubby and in-laws enjoyed it to the fullest! I thank God for people like you that post yummy recipes! Keep up the God-Great work!
If you ask any one who knows me they will all say the say thing. Ambra can not cook. My mom got sick in November of 2008 and not one holiday has been the same since. I found myself realizing that she was the common denominator in regards to the family coming together and getting a home cooked meal. I have gone these past few holidays without a home cooked meal or sweet potato pie and that is pure torture and depressing. No one I know cooks anymore or just never really cooked in the first place. I decided just a week ago while realizing Thanksgiving was a flop and christmas is is drawing near, that this is going to change I said to myself I am about to get in this kitchen and transform. I thought one dish at a time and I will cook through out the year to be ready for next christmas but after I tried your recipe for southern green beans I will be headed to the grocery store with my list to complete a christmas meal from your menu this year. Thank you and yes absolutely Divas can cook. I can’t wait to try out your peach cobbler recipe. looking at the ingredients and watching the video, I think it’s exactly how my mom made hers.
Girl I made these greens beans for Thanksgiving and they were the bomb.com!! The family loved them. Keep up the good work Mrs. Diva 🙂
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!!
wow! my kids ate these green beans up! barely gave me any to taste. The aroma smelled soo good. thanks for his recipe. I’m becoming a better cook with your help. thanks and god blesss.
I wanna make these beans for Christmas, and I cooked ur greens recipe already and they were sooooo good and meaty!…just how I like my greens! could I use ham hocks or smoked turkey legs instead of the sausage in this recipe?
yep that will work just fine
Monique you got it going on with these green beans girl.
Didn’t have to cook them an hour though. They were tender before that!
I made it with frozen green beans, it was delish! Was that wrong?
Thanks, I love your site 🙂
I tried this recipe today to go with my homemade scallop potatoes and it was BOMB! My family loved it.
Will this work with frozen green beans? Also what flavor Goya do you use with the canned green beans?
Thanks!