This Texas Roadhouse green beans recipe is an excellent replica of the popular restaurant side dish - a great copycat that's full of bacon and flavor.
I love these green beans - so flavorful and tender - and so does my whole family. So I decided to try my hand at whipping up a batch at home.
Pretty close to the original and super easy to make. If you've got an hour for some delicious green beans, you definitely need to try these!
If you're not familiar with Texas Roadhouse (a steakhouse chain restaurant in the U.S.), don't worry. These green beans are made with simple ingredients to cook up fabulous Southern-style green beans.
A great Southern green bean recipe is flavorful and usually uses bacon and other ingredients that aren't usually included when on a diet.
So take fresh (or frozen) green beans and pair them with chopped onion, garlic, lots of bacon, and beef broth and you have a perfectly seasoned pot of tender green beans.
At my house, we are harvesting lots of beans in our garden this year (they are always prolific where I live), but none of the ones I'm growing this year are actually "green" (at least not before cooking).
Yet, after they cook, they turn either dark green or light green (depending on the variety). If you'll notice in the pictures, some of the beans are dark green while others are very light greenish yellow.
That's because I grew beans called Purple Podded Bush and Dragon Tongue Bush. They taste just like regular "green" beans, but I love the novelty of different kinds and colors of beans.
The Dragon Tongue beans are splotched with purple before cooking and the Purple Podded are dark purple. Unfortunately, they lose their pretty purple after cooking.
If you don't have specialty beans, don't worry. Just regular green beans will work perfectly for this recipe. If you'd like to try some specialty beans, you may be able to find some at your local farmer's market or natural foods grocery store.
Let me know in the comments what type of beans you use!
What You'll Need
- 6 slices bacon, cut into pieces
- ½ of a large onion (any type - I used yellow), chopped
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic (about 2 large cloves)
- 2 cups beef or chicken broth (I used beef)
- 6 heaping cups of green beans (or other string beans), washed and broken into bite-sized pieces
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
How to Make Southern Green Beans
Preheat Dutch oven or heavy pot on low-medium heat for 5 minutes.
Cut bacon into pieces. Add bacon to the pot and stir.
Cook for 10 minutes, then add the onion and garlic.
Cook uncovered for another 10 minutes (still on low-medium heat).
Add green beans, broth, salt, and black pepper and stir. Increase heat and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low-medium, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Uncover and test for doneness and salt level.
Add more salt if desired. Cook more if needed.
Tips for the Best Green Beans
Fresh or frozen beans are best. If using frozen beans, no need to thaw, but be aware that it will take a bit longer to reach boiling temperature if frozen.
If you need to use canned beans, make sure to drain beans before adding to the pot. Cooking time will be much shorter since the beans are already done. Cook long enough to heat through (10 minutes should be perfect).
For the bacon, I like to cut it up before adding it to the pan. This makes it easier to cook, avoiding the bubbling up of the long strips. Plus, you will want small pieces in the end for this recipe, so it's best to have them already cut up.
Don't use super thick bacon. I used just normal thickness bacon with an average amount of at. You want the bacon to cook up, but it doesn't need to be super crispy.
Your bacon will be simmering with the green beans, so it's going to give lots of flavor, but you don't want big wads of fat in your mouth with each bite.
For the onion, use whatever variety of onion you have on hand. I used half of a large yellow onion because that's what I had. You can use Vidalia, white, red - whatever you have.
Please let me know how you like this Texas Roadhouse green beans recipe in the comments below and what type of beans you used!
Other Green Bean Recipes you May Love:
Crockpot Green Bean Casserole with Bacon
Green Beans Almondine (also with Bacon!)
Other Delicious Side Dishes to Enjoy:
Cream of Peas (or Creamed Peas)
What to Serve with Southern Green Beans
📋 Recipe
Texas Roadhouse Green Beans Recipe (copycat)
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat Dutch oven or heavy pot on low-medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Cut bacon into pieces. Add bacon to the pot and stir.
- Cook for 10 minutes, then add the onion and garlic.
- Cook uncovered for another 10 minutes (still on low-medium heat).
- Add green beans, broth, salt, and black pepper and stir.
- Increase heat and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to low-medium, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Uncover and test for doneness and salt level. Add more salt if desired. Cook more if needed.
MM says
Can you make this a day in advance?
Sally says
I think it would work well ... just under cook it a little, as you will be reheating it and don't want it to over cook and make the beans mushy. Let me know how it turns out!
nancy k brown says
What else is in those green beans? Something sort of yellowish and rectangular shaped. Is it some sort of pasta? I don't think it's the onion because onion doesn't look that way.
Sally says
These green beans are a mixture of two different string beans I had in my garden this past year. I talk about what they are above in the post. I thought the color variations would be lovely in the dish. You can use whatever string beans you have available. Thanks for your question, Nancy!