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Katie's Cucina » Recipes » Side Dish

Southern Green Beans

Published: May 24, 2021 · Modified: Oct 4, 2022 by Katie · This post may contain affiliate links

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Two photos divided by recipe title text; top of a white bowl with green beans, bottom of green beans cooking in a pot.
White plate filled with green beans and pulled pork sandwich with recipe title text on image.
Top view of a white bowl filled with green beans and bacon.
Two photos divided by recipe title text. Top of green beans on a white plate. Bottom is a close up of cooked green beans.
White bowl filled with green beans and bacon with recipe title text on image.
Barbecue Style Green Beans
White bowl filled with cooked green beans and bacon with recipe title text on image.

Love the barbecue restaurant style soft meaty green beans? Try my recipe for Southern Green Beans–made with bacon and onions and done in less than 30 minutes time. This classic southern side dish will become a new family favorite.

White bowl with chopped green beans, bacon, and onions.

At a young age, I enjoyed vegetables. But my favorite vegetable growing up was green beans, and even better if we happened to be at a restaurant that served the barbecue style green beans. You know the green beans that are soft and full of bacon and onion flavor. They’ve been cooking for hours and fall apart in your mouth. To me, there is nothing better than those coveted green beans. I know–some might call me crazy. Especially being such a “foodie” but sometimes we have to go back to the basics!

Please take note, that at that time, I had never went to a Southern restaurant. My parents have never enjoyed eating southern food, and frankly, I grew up in the North as did my parents.

Years ago, when my son was a toddler. We went to Southern restaurant that served both barbecue like ribs, smoked turkey breast, and my favorite shrimp and grits. Of course as soon as I saw that they had Southern Green Beans on the menu I had to order them. Any time my son was with us I always put vegetables on his plate. I honestly never expected him to eat them because he was a meat and potato boy. To my surprise, he devoured the green beans. Great taste-buds think alike. So in my attempt to get my son to eat more vegetables I started to recipe test and recreate the Barbecue Style Green Beans you get at the barbecue restaurants.

Just as I suspected, he devoured these green beans making me one happy mama. So whenever we are eating barbecue and I have the hankering for those soft flavorful green beans, I find myself making southern style green beans. Six years later and he is still eating these green beans!

Table of contents

  • Ingredients
  • How to cook fresh green beans Southern style
  • FAQs
  • Tips & Tricks
  • Barbecue Side Dish Recipes
    • Still craving green beans? Try these other recipes…

Ingredients

Ingredients on counter, bacon, green beans, salt, onions, liquid smoke, and water.
  • String beans – I like to use traditional string beans also known as green beans for this recipe. Some prefer Romano beans which are an Italian flat bean that is also in the same family.
  • Bacon – I first developed this recipe just using bacon fat; however, I have found that true southern green beans have some form of meat in them. So I like to cook a few strips of bacon in the same pot I plan to boil the green beans in.
  • Onion – For this recipe I love to use dried minced onions. This means I have very little prep to do.
  • Liquid Smoke – This is my secret ingredient for this recipe. A little liquid smoke goes a long way.

How to cook fresh green beans Southern style

Top view of a brown pot with chopped bacon cooking.

Place the diced bacon in a large sauce pot. Saute for 5 minutes until bacon fat starts to render and bacon crisps.

While bacon is cooking, trim and rinse green beans.

Top view of a brown pot with green beans, onions, and water.

Place green beans in with the bacon and bacon fat. Fill with 3 cups of water. Add the salt, dried minced onions, and bacon fat to the pot. Place a lid on the pot and bring to a boil. Then, reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes until soft. Divide evenly among plates and enjoy immediately.

FAQs

White bowl filled with green beans, onions, and bacon on a wood cutting board.

Here are all the frequently asked questions readers have asked when making this recipe.

How many people does this southern green bean recipe feed?

My recipe feeds about 4-5 adults depending on how many other side dishes are made with the green beans. You can easily double or triple this recipe.

How do you make fresh green beans soft?

To make fresh green beans soft you just need to boil them for at least 20 minutes. This will soften them to be fork-tender similar consistency to canned green beans.

How do you add flavor to green beans?

The easiest way to add flavor to green beans is by adding a spice like onion powder, minced onion flakes, garlic powder, seasoning salt or even chili powder. However, you should not add all of these seasonings in one pot, but they are all suggestions. I also love to add either bacon that I’ll crisp up in the pot prior to cooking or bacon fat. Another great option is adding diced ham to the pot of green beans. Depending on the flavors of the ham the green beans will take on additional flavor from the ham.

Tips & Tricks

Top view of green beans with bacon and onions on a wood cutting board.

Here are a few of my favorite tips and tricks I’ve learned when making this recipe.

  • Bacon Fat – If you don’t have bacon on hand, but happen to have bacon fat in your refrigerator. You can use 1 tablespoon of bacon fat in place of the strips of bacon.
  • Meat – If you have ham on hand you can dice the ham and add that to the green beans instead of the fresh bacon.
  • Lower Sodium – If you are trying to lower your sodium and/or don’t like salty food I suggest you only using 1 teaspoon of kosher salt at first, then taste and add additional if needed.
  • Double – Love this recipe so much or maybe trying to feed a crowd? You can easily double the ingredients in this recipe to make more. Trust me–always make more of these barbecue green beans. They are so good!
  • Canned Green Beans – If you choose to make these with canned green beans I suggest using a lower-sodium green bean and omitting all salt.

Barbecue Side Dish Recipes

White dotted plate with green beans and bacon with a pulled pork sandwich sandwich in the background.

If you are looking for more barbecue side dishes I have listed a few below. Of course, I love to serve these barbecue style green beans with loaded mashed potatoes and Grilled Barbecue Turkey Breast.

  • Potato Salad without Mayo
  • Mandarin Orange Coleslaw
  • Instant Pot Baked Beans
  • Creamy Cucumber Salad

Still craving green beans? Try these other recipes…

  • Green Beans with Caramelized Pearl Onions
  • The Best Green Beans Ever
  • Barbecue Style Green Beans
  • Instant Pot Garlic & Onion Green Beans

If you make this Southern Green Beans recipe, I would be honored and love for you to take the time to leave a star rating and comment! I spend hours developing and testing these recipes, and always love to hear feedback and user experience!

Don’t forget to FOLLOW ME on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram, and subscribe to my email list!

Top view of green beans with bacon and onions on a wood cutting board.

Southern Green Beans

Love the barbecue restaurant style soft meaty green beans? Try my recipe for Southern Green Beans–made with bacon and onions and done in less than 30 minutes time. This classic southern side dish will become a new family favorite.
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Diet: Gluten Free, Low Lactose
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 85kcal
Author: Katie

Equipment

  • Stove Top

Ingredients

  • 2 Bacon Slices diced
  • 1 lb. fresh green beans trimmed
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
  • 1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke

Instructions

  • Place the diced bacon in a large sauce pot. Saute for 5 minutes until bacon fat starts to render and bacon crisps.
  • While bacon is cooking, trim and rinse green beans.
  • Place green beans in with the bacon and bacon fat. Fill with 3 cups of water.
  • Add the salt, dried minced onions, and bacon fat to the pot. Place a lid on the pot and bring to a boil. Then, reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes until soft. Once the green beans are almost done mix in the liquid smoke.
  • Divide evenly among plates and enjoy immediately.

Notes

  • Bacon Fat – If you don’t have bacon on hand, but happen to have bacon fat in your refrigerator. You can use 1 tablespoon of bacon fat in place of the strips of bacon.
  • Lower Sodium – If you are trying to lower your sodium and/or don’t like salty food I suggest you only using 1 teaspoon of kosher salt at first, then taste and add additional if needed.
  • Double – Love this recipe so much or maybe trying to feed a crowd? You can easily double the ingredients in this recipe to make more. Trust me–always make more of these barbecue green beans. They are so good!
  • Canned Green Beans – If you choose to make these with canned green beans I suggest using a lower-sodium green bean and omitting all salt.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.5c | Calories: 85kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 7mg | Sodium: 1254mg | Potassium: 282mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 787IU | Vitamin C: 15mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @KatieJasiewicz or tag #katiescucina!
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Disclosure: There are affiliate links present in this post. That means if you click on a link and purchase something. I will receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your continuous support of Katie’s Cucina!

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About Katie

Katie is a busy mom of 2 children who loves to feed her family delicious meals that don't take hours to cook! She started her blog 10 years ago as a way to help others get cooking in the kitchen.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Vanessa

    December 01, 2021 at 10:55 pm

    When are you adding the liquid smoke? So sorry if I missed that secret ingredient in the instructions.

    Reply
    • Katie

      December 06, 2021 at 2:10 pm

      Hi Vanessa, I apologize for the delayed response. I must have missed writing that in the recipe card. I just updated it. I like to add the liquid smoke in right at the end. You can add it while the green beans boil. I haven’t seen a difference either way.

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I'm Katie Jasiewicz: home cook, food blogger, and recipe developer. A busy mom of two children who loves to feed her family delicious meals that don’t take hours to cook! My mission is to create easy-to-make modern comfort food for the busy family. (more)

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