fbpx

Quick Sautéed Green Beans Recipe

Chef Danielle Miele , On March 12, 2023

Mealpro

Quick Sautéed Green Beans Recipe

Sometimes after you’ve cooked a really complicated entree like a braised pork chops recipe, or you’ve had a hard day but want to eat a somewhat civilized meal, you need something like this sautéed green beans recipe; a side dish that tastes and looks impressive, but is made in a short amount of time with simple ingredients. There’s no shame in cooking with frozen veggies, especially if you can’t find them fresh and in season. In fact, keeping a stash of your frozen favorites on hand is a wonderful way to store organic produce affordably. Frozen veggies are also most often processed with the least amount of added ingredients, including the unhealthy amount of sodium in most canned vegetables. Not only is this Sautéed green beans recipe a delectable side dish, but green beans also go great in soups or as the star ingredient in a midweek omelette, frozen vegetables are perfect in a pinch. Especially in a quick sauté with minced onions, garlic, shallots, herbs and butter, as in this Sautéed green beans recipe, with frozen vegetables you can’t go wrong!

Ingredients for Quick Sautéed Green Beans:

Sautéed String Beans

Sautéed green beans recipe ingredients.

  • 1 small bag of frozen green beans

  • Salt and pepper

  • 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

  • 1/2 medium sized onion diced (apx. 1/2 C)

  • 1 tablespoon of dried oregano

  • 1 tablespoon of cold butter

Instructions for Quick Gourmet Green Beans:

  1. Chop the onion into a small dice.

  2. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a sauté pan or skillet and heat over medium.

    Sautéed String Beans

    Heat a layer of oil in the pan.

  3. Add the onion and sprinkle generously with salt. Stir and cook for 3-5 minutes, until the onion starts to turn brown.

  4. Add the dried oregano to the pan and stir into the remaining oil and onions. As the oregano infuses with the oil and warms, it will become fragrant. This is called ‘blooming’ or toasting your spice, which brings out more natural oils of the herb.

    Sautéed String Beans

    Bloom the spices by adding the oregano to the oil.

  5. Add the frozen green beans to the pan. Stir well. Cover and cook for up to 10 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes.

    Sautéed String Beans

    Stir continuously until browned.

  6. To finish, uncover and add the tablespoon of butter. Stir over the residual heat from your burner (you can turn off the stove at this point). The cold butter will emulsify into the warm liquid given off by the onions and beans and create a pan sauce.

Blanch Your Green Beans Before Sauteing

Green Beans can also be blanched. Blanching is scalding vegetables in boiling water or steam for a short time. It is typically followed by quick, thorough cooling in very cold or ice water. Blanching stops enzyme actions which otherwise cause loss of flavor, color and texture. The time-saving strategy is to blanch — boil very briefly — the veggies before sautéing. You can do this several days in advance, blanching a week’s worth of chopped veggies ahead of time and just sauteeing them in minutes before dinner.

@mealpro.com

#Organic Green Beans. To maintain their quality, we briefly place the string beans in boiling water and then plunging it into ice cold water. This cooking technique is also known as blanching. 🧑‍🍳🧑‍🍳 #mealprep #fooddelivery #dietplan

♬ Upbeat Energetic Uplifting Pop – Renzo La Vista

When the green beans are cooked, serve them as a perfectly quick and simple but elevated side dish to your favorite entree. This goes great with pork chops, or skirt steak.

Chef Danielle Miele

Chef Miele started in the industry as a chef's assistant back in the early 1990s at a New England style seafood shack. After several stints in the industry she earned a formal chef's degree with honors from Le Cordon Bleu. When she is not cooking for her husband and teenage son, she enjoys researching techniques and ingredients from different cultures, with a focus on enhanced flavor and nutrition.