Southern Green Beans Recipe with Bacon

This Southern green beans recipe with bacon has been my tried and true recipe for many years. Got it from my mom, who is a fabulous Southern cook. So simple, yet so delicious! You only need a few ingredients to bring out the delicious flavor of your fresh green beans!

This recipe uses fresh green beans. If you prefer a green bean recipe that uses canned, a few of my favorites include these Cajun Green Beans and Texas Roadhouse Green Beans.

Southern green beans are great paired with most meats and side dishes. Some of my favorites are my Slow Cooker London Broil , Southern Cornbread, and Cheesy Mashed Potatoes.

💖 Why You'll Love These Green Beans

• Easy - As simple as breaking your fresh beans, rinsing them, cooking bacon, and following the rest of the steps below. You'll have a delicious vegetable side dish in about and hour from start to finish.
• Few ingredients - Only fresh green beans and bacon along with salt, black pepper, and water.
• Go with most entrees - Goes well for everyday meals or special occasions. Beef, turkey, chicken, pork - This southern green beans recipe is a great side dish any day of the week.

🥘 Ingredients for Southern Green Beans

Ingredient Notes:

• Bacon - I like to use fairly lean bacon, so that there's some substantial meat left after cooking down the fat. The fat is good also, as it adds lots of flavor.
• Green beans - Get the freshest beans possible or grow your own.

(See recipe card below for ingredient quantities and full recipe instructions)

📖 Substitutions / Variations

• Bacon: - You could use ham if you want. This is best if you have some ham broth to go along with it. The bacon fat left over after cooking the bacon really adds a lot of flavor, so if you can use bacon it would be best for this recipe.
• Canned green beans: If you don't have access to fresh beans, you can substitute for canned. Just make sure to drain the canned beans before adding to the pan. The cook time will be much shorter if using canned - about 15-20 minutes simmered.

🔪 Making Southern Style Green Beans

Step 1: Break green beans into bite-sized pieces and remove ends. Rinse with water in colander.

Step 2: Cut up bacon and fry in medium-sized pan until browned and crispy.

Step 3: To bacon and fat in pan, add green beans, water, salt, and pepper.

Step 4: Bring to a boil on high heat. Lower heat to low, cover, and cook 30-45 minutes or until beans are tender.

(Scroll down for full recipe and print capabilities)

💭 Expert Cooking Tips

• Make sure to remove any obvious strings while breaking your beans. I like to break them into small, bite-size pieces and remove the ends.
• Don't drain any of the bacon fat after cooking the bacon, as this has loads of flavor to your green beans.
• Add more salt if needed. Fresh green beans need a lot of salt, but you don't want to overdo it up front - better to add more as needed than to have too much.
• Your green beans are done when tender. Taste a bean after the recommended cook time for tenderness and salt level.

🧐 Recipe FAQs