My Southern Style Green Beans with Bacon will become a family favorite in your house too!
This Southern Style Green Beans recipe is easy-peasy to put together and it makes a pot of beans that’s meltingly tender and super delicious.
The beans are cooked slowly for a long time with a bit of bacon and come out of the pot tasting, honestly, better than any veggie I’ve ever tried! Even kids love them.
My family loves, loves, loves green beans. It’s been one of our family staples for forever.
The first thing I ever taught my daughter to do in the kitchen was to snap and clean green beans. We sat at her little toddler table and chatted like girlfriends do and had the best times! How I wish a had a photo of that!
I serve these tender Southern Style Green Beans at least once every other week or whenever I’m in the market and the green beans look good.
Recipe Notes For Southern Style Green Beans:
After rinsing off the beans, it’s important to dry them off fairly well, this way, when you cook them in the hot bacon dripping there’s no excess water to splatter. I just roll them up in a clean dish towel and let them dry while the bacon is cooking.
Some people like a little onion cooked with their green beans. While they’re delicious made that way, it’s just not how it was done in my house. If you’d like to try this recipe with a bit of onion, chop up 1/2 to 3/4 cup of yellow onion and saute it in the bacon drippings for about 5 minutes, with the heat on medium-low, before adding the green beans. Cook the rest of the recipe as directed.
Whatever you do, don’t drain the bacon drippings from the pan. The drippings are what make these beans amazingly tender and crazy, crazy delish!!! If you drain off the drippings you’ll have some kind of cooked green beans, but they certainly aren’t Southern Style Green Beans!!!
Use fresh green beans, please! Those of you who read this blog regularly know I love using convenience foods when the time is right. This is NOT one of those time friends. The thought of this recipe being made with frozen makes me shudder! Really, it just does……..
Southern Style Green Beans
My Southern Style Green Beans with Bacon will become a family favorite in your house too!
Ingredients
- 4 Slices Bacon Cut Into Small Pieces
- 2 Pounds Fresh Green Beans Ends Trimmed and Snaped in Half
- 2 Cups Chicken Broth
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
Instructions
Rinse beans in a colander, then wrap up in a clean dish towel to dry.
- Cook bacon pieces in a large saucepan until crisp. Add green beans to the pan and continue to cook on medium heat, tossing beans well to coat in bacon dripping, until beans turn bright green about 3 minutes. Slowly add the chicken broth, then the salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.
Simmer on low, covered with the lid cracked just a bit, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender, about 1 hour. Drain if desired (I don't. I serve them with a splash of the cooking liquid on the top) and check and adjust seasoning, then serve.
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Nutritional Information
Nutrition information will vary based on the specific products. To be safe, check the nutrition facts labels of your products. Optional object listed above have been left out of nutritional data.
More Vegetable Side Dishes:
- Scalloped Corn – Golden corn cradled in a rich homemade custard with just the right amount of smokey bacon topped with a crunchy breadcrumb topping!
- Sauteed Asparagus – Perfectly tender and flavored asparagus!
- Roasted Garlic Asparagus with Feta – Tender asparagus infused with garlic and perfectly coated with feta!
More Southern Dishes…
- Jambalaya– Take a trip down the bayou with the best Jambalaya recipe for busy cooks! This smoky, meaty entrée will conjure warm evenings with a zydeco beat.
- Hoppin John Recipe –Break out a batch of our sassy bacon infused Hoppin John Recipe. The “Cajun holy trinity” ramps up the flavor, with an assist from the black-eyed peas!
More 5-Ingredient Recipes…
- Bisquick Sausage Balls – assemble in mere minutes to form bite-sized snacks that are full of flavor & perfect for dipping! Moist, meaty, & of course- delish
Source: Gonna Want Seconds
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Welcome to Gonna Want Seconds! I’m a home cook and my favorite place to be is in my kitchen cooking up a storm. I’m also a wife, mother, Bernese Mountain dog lover, friend, daughter, sister, and reluctant exerciser. 
Hi Kathleen! I’m so excited to try your recipe as I’ve been searching for a green bean recipe that resembles my grandmother’s green beans. I noticed in the recipe it says that it serves 4-6 people but in one of the comments, you shared with someone that it serves 8-10 people. Just wanted to clarify if you think that the recipe as it is written (i.e. 2 lbs of green beans, etc.) would serve 8-10 people. Thanks!
Hey Jessica. You’re absolutely right, 2 pounds serves 8-10! Updating the servings now <3
Omg just finished with fine 1m ago and they look lovely ! Thanks ! Pic looks just like yours!
So happy to hear it, Ash!
This recipe has been one of our favorite dishes to do lately. The bacon grease and chicken broth bring awesome flavor. It’s the perfect side with mashed potatoes. Thanks for sharing!
Jaymie, so happy to hear you like the green beans!
Is it ok to prep the green beans the day before Thanksgiving? The part where I have to trim and halve them?
Hi Karina. Yes, absolutely. I’d store them in an airtight container 🙂
I made this recipe over the weekend and everyone loved them. I’d say cooking time was about 45 min but the hour didn’t have any affect either. I kept them warm in the oven until served. Very easy recipe to follow. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Lizla. You are so welcome! I’m really happy you found the instructions easy to follow and appreciate you telling me so. I really work on that! I want everyone to be successful when they try one of my recipes. <3
I pressure can my garden green beans…has anyone tried? They are not mushy like store bought, but not crisp like fresh.
Anyone ever make these and then just heat them up? Want to make for thanksgiving but it is a 2 hour drive so they would need to be reheated.
Tylo, I reheat these all the time. Obviously, after they’ve been cooked completely, then reheated, they get a bit softer. But there’s no flavor loss! You could always cook them 3/4’s of the way through, then finish them when you arrive at your destination. Hope that helps! Happy Thanksgiving <3
Anyone have any luck reheating these? Want to make them for thanksgiving but have a 2 hour drive. Would be much easier if I could make in the morning and just heat up when we get there!
Exactly the recipe I’ve been looking for!! Made these for a crowd last night and they were a hit. The green beans of my youth! Thanks for sharing!
Oh, Becky, that makes my day!!! So happy they were a hit <3
Do you ever add new potatoes?
Hi Penny. I don’t because my Grandma didn’t. I know a lot of people love them that way! I bet its a delicious combo <3
My mom always added small whole potatoes. When the potatoes were done the beans were done.
Thank you for sharing that Dorothy. I love that she used the potatoes as a kind of vegetable thermometer! <3
have you ever cooked these and then frozen them? I need to make way ahead!
Hi, no I haven’t. I think if I was to need to do so, I’d only partially cook them-maybe halfway through. The process of freezing them will break down the green beans. You don’t want them to get mushy. Then when you’re reheating them, plan a little extra time in case they need more simmering. Hope that helps. Let us know if you give it a try <3
How many people would you say this serves?
Hi Sarah. It will serve 8-10 🙂 Enjoy!
Eeeek I forgot to snap my green beans in half. Don’t think it’ll be too much of a problem just maybe a little more time? What do you think?
Yes, I think you’re exactly right 🙂
hmmm…do you think I could follow the recipe through step 2, then put them in a slow cooker?
Hey Jen, I haven’t tried it but sounds like a smart idea! Lmk if you try it and how it works out!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I have never seen a printed recipe before now but I have been cooking green beans this way for nearly 50 years. I’m not even sure where I first experienced the taste and texture but it was probably in Louisiana where I spent summers as a child.
My wife and her family, all yankees, love pole beans cooked this way!
I’m happy to hear that’s how you make your beans too! Thanks for sharing that, Mike 🙂
Can I do this with Brussel sprouts
Hey Joyce, I’ve never tried this with Brussel sprouts. Sounds interesting!
Thank you for the recipe, made this tonight and tastes really good!
By the way, I hardly see your page, the right side of your page has ads keeps popping up, and there’s no way to turn it off, clicked it once and opened a page for me.
Hi Evangeline. I’m sorry those ads are popping up.They are not from this site. What I’ve been told by my tech people is that another site you visited planted a cookie. If you update your OS (operating system) the other site will not be able to exploit this glitch. I hope this helps. I hate that people are having that experience on my site!!!
Hi Kathleen I’m new to your blog but I must say your green beans sure look & sounds great can’t wait to try! I have some fresh canned greens will they work ?
Hey Teresa. I only use fresh green beans in this recipe 🙂
I thought southern style green beans have the addition of some brown sugar? I would eat dinner occasionally at a southern lady’s home and she had the most amazing green beans. She had in them bacon, butter and brown sugar.
Hey Laura. Well, I’m sure many cooks do include the sugar, this is the way I was taught to make them 🙂
I’m allergic to chicken can you substitute beef bullion and water for the chicken broth? Any other suggestions?
Hi Damian. Yes, beef bouillon would work out really well. You can also use vegetable bouillon 🙂
These were absolutely delicious. But you don’t have to cook them for an hour. I cooked mine for half an hour and they were perfect. Just my two cents. 🙂
Thanks Chery! I love hearing your two cents! So glad you enjoyed them 🙂
I am going to try this today for the Mother’s Dinner I’m cooking this afternoon. Thank you for sharing. It looks so good.
Hi Tonia! Loooove this recipe! Enjoy 🙂
I make my green beans this way but I have been using beef broth or a beef bouillon cube when I don’t have the broth. My daughter’s mil from Roanoke gave me the idea several years ago. Also, when I can’t find fresh I drain the canned beans and use them. They are almost as good as the fresh!
Hi Trish. Thanks so much for sharing. I’ll have to try out the beef broth!
These remind me of my Mom’s. I can almost hear her saying, “don’t touch my bacon grease!” Everything is better with a lil bacon. Great post!
Thank you, Jess! I totally agree-everything is better with a little bacon!
Thank you for this recipe. My ex mother in law introduced it to me about 20 years ago. I’ve tried to duplicate it from Internet recipes, but somehow none of them are really right. This one is. Thank you.
Hi Diana! So glad to hear it!
I made these this year for Thanksgiving. They were so delicious and so easy to make! Great recipe.
Thanks so much Amy 🙂
How would you make this if you couldn’t get your hands on fresh green beans?
Hi Sara. Honestly, I only make this with fresh green beans!
Just made these and loved them! So tender and full of flavor…sharing with everyone I know! Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Hey Lori.So very glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks so much for sharing my recipe. I really appreciate it!!!
this recipe looks delicious. How many times would I have to double this to make enough for 50 people?
Hey Lisa. I’d probably make make 8-9 times the recipe.
ilike green beans
recipe of green beans so yummy
Thank you Sunita!
My favorite way to have green beans and I am not even from the south!
Hi Marigene. This is my all time favorite way to eat green beans, too. I crave these all the time!
They sure do look good.I will try this,thanks for the recipe.
Hey Dana! I sure hope you enjoy!!!
the word you were looking for is shudder, not shutter which is a window covering. FYI only.
Oh Sharon, thank you. I hate when I do that. The older I get, the more it seems to happen LOL. Going back and correcting it now 😉
Hi, Great recipe foe So. style greenbeans!! If in a hurry try KFC string beans. They ROCK!!!
Hey Kelly. Good to know!
I could see even the pickiest eaters eating a whole plate of these!!
Thanks Joanne 🙂
i made a big pot of southern-style Limas today, then I saw this on Facebook. The recipe is almost identical and I had to chuckle at our similar taste in food. I’ve tried quite a few of your recipes and they were all keepers.
Hey Marianne. Isn’t funny how food can connect us! Your Lima Beans sound delicious!
I love Southern style green beans. I love your addition of chicken broth and the way you sauteed them in the bacon fat. Will have to try it Kathleen.
Hi Penny! Hope you try them and enjoy them as much as we do 😉