I know what you might be thinking… really? The best green beans ever? How and why do these constitute as to being the best green beans ever? Well first off they are cooked in glorious bacon fat. Then once the bacon fat heats to a liquid state I then throw in the trimmed green beans, diced bell peppers, onions, and salt and pepper. I mix it around and then add in a little chicken broth, place the lid on the skillet and let them cook for 10 glorious minutes. To ensure they won’t burn I mix them a few times and add a little more stock if necessary.
I’m not one to like “soft” fresh vegetables. I.e., being cooked to death; however, this is one recipe where I love it. And the good thing is that you don’t really have to cook them to death if you don’t want too! Now you might be wondering how I created this recipe. It all started last fall when I was frying pork chops. I didn’t feel like cleaning out the pan to sauté the green beans so I just dumped them into the pan–pork chop breading bits and all still in the pan. I almost always have diced bell peppers and onions on hand. I like to chop them at the beginning of the week and then use them throughout the week as I cook various breakfasts’, lunches, and dinners. So I threw in a handful of the mix into the pan. Sautéed it a little and then to prevent the beans from burning I added in a little chicken broth (I always have a box open in my fridge). After a few minutes my green beans were done. As we started to eat dinner my husband, Jon, was amazed by how delicious the green beans tasted. He asked if it was a new recipe. My response was “kinda”… I had never made it before, but it wasn’t anything I was planning to blog about. Jon immediately said that the world needed to know about these green beans. They were the best green beans ever.
So I started working on the recipe for them. Since I always have rendered bacon fat on hand sitting in a jar in my refrigerator that’s where I started. And the rest I just replicated and started measuring and doing all my test that I normally do when testing a recipe. Over the holidays we had lots of family in town. That’s when I started confidently making these green beans for family members and each and every time they all exclaimed the same thing “these are the best green beans I’ve ever had”. That’s when I knew I had a winner. My husband asks for these green beans at least once a week. They are so easy to make and packed full of flavor. That’s what makes these green beans the best ever! So whether you just need a new side dish for dinner or want to make these for a holiday dinner–either one will warrant the same responses from the ones you love “these are the best green beans ever”.
The Best Green Beans Ever
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp bacon fat
- 1 lb. green beans ends trimmed
- 1 cup mixed bell peppers and onion diced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup chicken broth more if needed
Instructions
- In a large skillet melt the rendered bacon fat on high heat.
- Then place the trimmed green beans into the skillet, give it a good mix so that the bacon fat is coated on the green beans. Reduce the heat to medium-high then mix in the bell pepper/onion mix (see notes below), salt, and black pepper. Mix well and then add the 1/2 cup of chicken broth. Place a lid on the skillet and let cook for 10 minutes. Mix half way through the cooking process and place the lid back on the skillet (add more chicken broth if it's starting to get dry and looks like the green beans could burn).
- Remove the lid from the skillet and the pan from the heat as soon as the green beans are done cooking. Mix the green beans one last time and then serve.
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