Simple Skillet Green Beans (The Best Fresh Green Beans of Your Life)
by Melanie Gunnell
This recipe proves that
side dishes for dinner don’t have to be fussy or fancy or
complicated. You are only three-ish ingredients and 12 or so minutes
away from fresh green bean heaven. I’m so lazy I don’t
even trim the ends of the beans all the time (or very thoroughly) in
my haste to get this delectable side dish on the table and they are
still wonderful. Untrimming green beaners unite.
What started out a
couple years ago as an
I-Have-Green-Beans-What-Shall-I-Do-With-Them-That-Doesn’t-Involve-Pressure-Canning
conundrum has turned into our absolute favorite way to eat fresh
green beans as a side dish.
With green beans in
season and more widely available right now than, say, in mid-January
(jealous if you are actually getting them from your own garden!),
this recipe just plain makes me happy.
It’s not a
stretch to say we eat these with any variety
of main dishes several times a week and sometimes I
whip them up for lunch because…well, it feels weird to say I
crave green beans but I guess just really like them and think
about them all the time…you know, because that’s not a
strange thing to confess at all.
Plus, no better way to
justify carrying around pockets full of dark chocolate chips the rest
of the day for instant indulgence than eating a skillet loaded with
green beans for lunch.
These simple green
beans are definitely not cutting edge or rocket science but that’s
ok, because squid and chia seed smoothies are pretty highly overrated
or so I hear. And if you love fresh green beans, you must (absolutely
must) at some point in your life try this Balsamic
Fresh Green Bean Salad. Ah, green beans. I’m so
glad you are in season.
Simple Skillet Green Beans Yield: Serves 4-6
After trimming the ends
of the green beans, you can cut them into 1- or 2-inch lengths, but I
usually leave them long so I can maybe, hopefully teach my kids the
importance of cutting up food on their plate before shoveling it into
their mouths.
Ingredients
1 teaspoon oil or butter
1 pound fresh green beans, ends trimmed
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
In a large 12-inch nonstick
skillet, heat the oil or butter over medium heat. Add the green
beans and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often, to crisp up the
edges of the beans just slightly.
Pour in the broth and bring the
beans/broth to a simmer. Cover the skillet and cook anywhere from
6-10 minutes, depending on how tender you like your green beans.
Keep an eye on the skillet. If it is simmering too vigorously and
the liquid evaporates out, add a bit more as needed.
Season with salt and pepper to
taste and serve immediately.
Melanie Gunnell is a food-loving, chocolate-obsessed mom who has a desperate need to share
her favorite tried-and-true recipes with the world. In a past life she graduated from Brigham
Young University with a degree in public health, but for the past ten years, stay-at-home
motherhood has been her job along with blogging-from-home for the past five.
She resides in the brilliantly cold tundra of Northern Minnesota with her husband and their brood
of five children: four boys and one tiny, bossy girl. Dark chocolate (particularly the act of
shoving chocolate chips in her mouth whilst hiding in the pantry) is her coping skill of choice for
both the never-ending winters and the never-ending wrestling matches in her front room.