Last Updated on February 24, 2025

Green beans with bacon and onions is a special, Holiday style side dish. There are just four ingredients needed to make this delicious treat.

If you need a recipe that will knock your socks off…this is it. Perfectly cooked fresh green beans along with smoky, salty bacon and flavorful onions.

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The combination is dreamy. Plain green beans just won’t do once you taste this. Worthy of your Christmas meal, New Years Eve, or any other celebratory occasion.

What Does This Side Dish Go With?

MaryJo and I just had an early Christmas dinner with friends. We’ll be in Minnesota, (brrrr), for Christmas and these folks have to spend the holiday in 75 degree Florida! I made prime rib, creamy mashed potatoes, and green beans with bacon and onions. It was so good. A perfect balance of Yummy.

This would be perfect with fried chicken, grilled pork chops, or a nice steak. Or you could fry up some salmon steaks, like this recipe, Skillet Seared Salmon. Or maybe make a tasty meatloaf like My Favorite Meatloaf Recipe. Just about anytime you need a savory, tasty side dish.

Easy Steps to Make Green Beans with Bacon and Onions

Just 4 ingredients are needed to make this: fresh green beans with the stems end pinched off, 4 slabs of thick-cut smoky bacon, chopped into 1/2″ pieces, 1/2 cup of diced onions, or half of a medium yellow onion, and 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter.

First, start a large pot of water with a bit of salt…bring it to a boil and add the beans and blanch for 4 minutes. This will soften the beans and keep the beans a nice green color. Use a kitchen spider/strainer to transfer the beans to an ice bath to stop the cooking, (photo 3).

After a couple of minutes in the ice bath, place the beans on some paper towels to dry them, (photo 2). Let them rest until needed. You can blanch the beans up to 6 hours in advance. Just dry them well and place in a plastic bag and refrigerate.

Next, brown the bacon bits in a high-sided skillet on medium heat. Stir the bacon occasionally to brown and release it’s fat. Remove the bacon from the skillet and place on paper towels. Spoon out all but 2 tablespoons of the grease. My stainless steel skillet ended up with lots of fond…the brown bits in the bottom of the skillet. Don’t worry about that. It will get scraped up and add flavor to the beans.

Add the butter to the pan and cook the onions for about 4 minutes to soften, (photo 4). Add the beans to the skillet and toss with the onions and to coat them with the oils.

To scrape up the fond, add a tablespoon of water and use a wooden spoon or small spatula to easily break up the brown bits. After 6 minutes of cooking, throw in the reserved bacon and toss to combine. Let the bacon heat up for another minute or so and you are ready to place the beans into a serving dish, (photo 5).

Serve the green beans right away or they can be kept warm in a heated oven while you finish preparing the rest of your meal.

Green Beans with Bacon and Onions

Side dish that is easy to make and tastes great.

4.50 from 2 votes

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Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: green beans with bacon and onions

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 25

Total Time: 45

Servings: servings

Calories: 287kcal

Author: Joe Boyle

Ingredients

1 lbs fresh green beans, stems pinched off
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely chopped, 1/2 medium onion
4 slabs thick cut bacon, chopped to 1/2" pieces 6 to 7 ounces
1 1/2 tbsp butter
2 tsp salt, for blanching water

Instructions

Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, (4 or 5 quarts), add 2 tsp salt and place the beans in to blanch. Boil for 4 minutes. Strain the water and place the beans in the ice bath, or use a kitchen spider to transfer the beans to the ice water. Let cool for 2 minutes, then remove them from the water and place on paper towels to dry.
Heat a tall sided skillet on medium heat and cook the bacon pieces until nicely browned and the fat has rendered, 8 minutes. Remove the bacon from the skillet and place on paper towels to drain.
Spoon out all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease, add the butter and saute the onions on medium heat, 4 minutes. Next, put the beans in the skillet and toss to combine. Scrape up any brown bits from the pan by adding 1 tablespoon water and scraping the pan with a wooden spoon. Cook, stirring occasionally for 6 minutes.
Add the bacon to the skillet and fold in. Allow to warm, 1 or 2 minutes. Place the beans in a serving dish and serve hot.

Notes

The beans can be reheated in a microwave but the beans tend to get overdone and kind of wilt and don't look as nice.
The beans can be blanched up to 6 hours in advance. Dry them well and place in a plastic bag and refrigerate.
If you use a non-stick skillet, you probably won't get the fond in the skillet so you can skip adding the tablespoon of water.
Recipe adapted from a Food.com recipe.

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