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In this recipe, I will show you how to make crunchy and flavoursome sautéed green beans with crispy bacon, mushrooms, garlic, sage, and cranberries. This green bean recipe is a perfect side dish especially for a festive table on Thanksgiving, Christmas or Sunday Roast. It’s gluten-free, grain-free, low-carb and paleo-friendly (can be vegetarian, too). This recipe comes with step-by-step photos and video.
Sautéed Green Beans With Bacon & Mushrooms
While I don’t live in the US, I have quite a few friends who celebrate Thanksgiving and this year I decided to bring a lovely side dish of sauteed green beans with a few festive touches like crispy bacon, cranberries, sage, mushrooms and crushed almonds. It’s a wonderful ensemble of flavours that works just as well for Christmas or any potluck table.
I actually make a similar green bean recipe for a regular weeknight side but perhaps with fewer ingredients or whatever I happen to have in the fridge. Regardless of what occasion you have coming up, I recommend you to try this dish because it’s super quick and easy and will impress whoever you’re serving it to.
What You Need For This Green Bean Recipe
Good quality, fresh French green beans are a must for this dish. Frozen ones simply won’t work and will get too mushy and soft. You want to keep them slightly crispy/crunchy and green so they really stand out on the table.
The rest of the ingredients are about infusing this dish with lots of flavours: bacon for salt, mushrooms for umami, garlic for spices, sage for earthiness, cranberries for sweetness and almonds for that lovely nutty crunch.
This is sort of a template and you can absolutely swap things depending on your diet and tastebuds. I used some Asian fried shallots and extra toasted almonds as a garnish but that’s optional. Not pictured here are a little orange juice and Balsamic vinegar for acidity; you can also use a little lemon juice.
I recommend chopping the dried cranberries and almonds into smaller pieces as pictured below.
How To Make Sauteed Green Beans With Bacon & Mushrooms
You will find the full list of ingredients, instructions, nutritional breakdown and notes in the recipe card below. Here is a handy video showing you how to make sauteed green beans with all the yummy trimmings ready for a festive table.
Step 1. The first step is to pre-cook our flavouring agents. Cook bacon and mushrooms until browned, then add the garlic, bacon, cranberries, and sage and cook together until all browned and softened. Finish with a splash of Balsamic and transfer to a side dish.
Step 2. Return the empty pan to the stove and add a splash of oil. Follow with the green beans and stir. Cover with a lid and cook for about 2 minutes. This way you will be browning the bottom and steaming the beans at the same time. Uncover, stir and give them 1-2 more minutes.
Then season with salt and pepper and add a little orange juice; cook for 2 more minutes covered with a lid. This is a great way to steam green beans in a frying pan and not boil them in water, which would remove some of the nutrients.
Step 3. Now, we combine the two parts and finish the dish with some toasted almonds and fried shallots.
More Delicious Side Dishes
Full Recipe
Find the full list of ingredients, instructions, and nutritional breakdown. If you have questions or cook this recipe, please let me know in the comments, and make sure to rate this recipe so it’s easy for others to find.
Description
Crunchy and flavoursome sautéed green beans with crispy bacon, mushrooms, garlic, sage, and cranberries make for a perfect side dish especially on a festive table on Thanksgiving, Christmas or Sunday Roast. This green bean recipe is gluten-free, grain-free, low-carb and paleo-friendly.
- Cut the tail ends off the green beans, wash and set aside.
- Preheat a large, deep frying pan to medium-high heat and melt the butter (or another cooking fat of choice). Add the bacon and cook for 1 minute until it starts to brown slightly. Add the mushrooms, stir and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add a splash of olive oil as the cooking fat starts to absorb into the mushrooms. Cook for 2 more minutes or until the mushrooms start to brown up a little.
- Add chopped almonds, cranberries, garlic and sage and cook, stirring a few times, for 3-4 minutes until everything starts to brown slightly. Finish by adding a tablespoon of Balsamic vinegar, stir through and transfer to a bowl.
- Return the empty frying pan to the stove over medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and green beans; spread them around evenly. Cover with a lid and cook for 2 minutes. Uncover, stir and pop the lid back on for another 1-2 minutes. This method allows you to steam the green beans as well as browning them slightly on the bottom.
- Uncover again and now season with salt and pepper and add the orange juice. Stir and cover with a lid again for 2 more minutes. The green beans will continue to saute and steam with the orange juice reducing slightly.
- Finish the dish by removing the lid and stirring in the pre-cooked bacon and mushroom mixture. Season with another pinch of salt and pepper (taste to see if you need more). Serve with fried shallots and toasted almonds on top. You can serve as is as well.
Notes
Herbs: I opted for fresh sage leaves but you could use fresh rosemary or thyme; dried herbs could also be used here.
Bacon: you can use regular bacon, pancetta or replace it with a non-pork version; broken up sausage would also work well.
For a vegetarian version, swap bacon for extra mushrooms and I would also add some chopped sun-dried tomatoes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: A cup full
- Calories: 214
- Sugar: 10.7 g
- Sodium: 287.1 mg
- Fat: 15.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 17 g
- Fiber: 3.5 g
- Protein: 5.9 g
- Cholesterol: 12.8 mg
Keywords: Green beans, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Cranberries, Sage, Almonds, Bacon, Mushrooms, Paleo, Gluten-Free
