Sauteed Green Beans with Bacon, Onions, & Mushrooms
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Fresh sauteed green beans with bacon, onions, and mushrooms is an easy to prepare green bean side dish cooked on the stove top with just 4 simple fresh ingredients and a dash of salt and pepper. Crisp tender, perfectly seasoned green beans are a great dinner side dish, or make a lovely Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner recipe.
As soon as fresh green beans hit the market, I’m buying them by the pound. My family devours them in all forms, but this particular recipe for perfectly cooked sauteed green beans with crisp bacon, soft flavorful onions, and earthy tender mushrooms is a family favorite. We love it for casual dinners and as a holiday side.
They’ve made a regular appearance on our Thanksgiving and Christmas tables ever since I created it. We skip the casserole and serve these crisp tender skillet green beans instead, giving them their rightful place of glory alongside garlic thyme mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, garlic bread rolls, and honey roasted carrots.
The Ingredients
This is what I call a whole food recipe. There is nothing but fresh ingredients, seasonings, and bacon that come together to make this the best green bean side dish ever.
- Fresh Green Beans – the key is fresh, firm and smooth green beans. Look for bright green color free of wrinkles, yellowing, bumps, or limpness.
- Thick Cut Bacon – Avoid the thin, cheap diner-style bacon. Spring for the thick-cut stuff with a good meat-to-fat ratio (a balance of white fat and pink meaty bits). The butcher counter at your grocery is a safe bet.
- Yellow Onion – Yellow onions have more sugars, so they caramelize beautifully and add a mellow sweetness to the dish. You can use shallots or sweet onions instead.
- Fresh Mushrooms – We prefer shiitakes or portobellos. They’re both meaty and pack that umami punch you’re looking for, but if you can’t find either, go for cremini or baby bellas in a pinch.
- Salt & Pepper – I recommend coarse kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper.
Tips for Perfect Green Beans
Start to finish this recipe takes about 50 minutes to an hour, prep included, and its mostly just stirring ingredients together so pretty easy! This serves 6, but depending on how hungry you are…at least 4.
Below you’ll find the complete recipe card and instructions, but here are my best tips for making your sauteed green beans with bacon perfect every single time.
- I prefer to make this in one pan – by first blanching the green beans in the same saute pan I cook everything else in. It comes to a boil faster in a shallow wide pan, and less dishes!
- IF however, you prefer a quicker cook time, start a separate pot of water to boil and blanch you green beans then start the bacon in a saute pan. This shaves about 10 minutes off your cook time!
- Prep, prep, prep! I like to have everything ready to go before I begin cooking.
- For Shiitakes – Remove the stems, they’re tough and woody, then slice caps.
- For Portobellos – Remove the stems and use a spoon to gently scrape the dark brown gills from the under side of the cap. Slice.
- For Cremini – Slice them whole, but check the bottom of the stem and cut off any dry ends.
- It’s so important to cook in stages. Let the bacon crisp almost completely before adding the onions. Then let the onions soften and brown before you add the mushrooms. This allows them to caramelize, instead of just steam and get soft.
- Don’t skip the blanch. I know it’s tempting, but blanching and shocking the green beans helps them achieve tenderness without shriveling.
FAQ’s
No, at least not in the many, many, many times I’ve made this have I ever needed to. It may seem like a lot, but as you add the onions, then the mushrooms, then the green beans, it gets used up. If you have particularly greasy bacon and after you saute your mushrooms the pan is still swimming in it, go ahead and drain off all but 1 tablespoon or so before adding the green beans.
If you can’t use fresh, I’d go for frozen over canned green beans which are too soft. Skip the blanching step for frozen green beans.
As with any pre-cooked vegetable, if you freeze it the green beans and sauteed mushrooms will probably lose their texture. If that doesn’t bother you, it is perfectly safe to freeze.
Yes. I’ve definitely made this several hours ahead when prepping it for Thanksgiving dinner. Once finished cooking, for best results place in an oven safe dish and cover it. Then place in the fridge. When ready, place in a low oven until heated through and serve.
Of course! If you’re not into mushrooms or onions, go ahead and leave out what you don’t like. It will affect the overall flavor, so I recommend making it as listed first.
Whatever you decide to to serve this with, it’s going to be delicious! We enjoy it with orange and ginger pork chops, Dr. Pepper braised short ribs, and or roast chicken when I whip this up for dinner. Or, pair it with Asiago bread, creamed corn, and scalloped potatoes to make your holiday table shine.
Love this recipe? Please consider leaving a 5 star rating in the recipe card below, or a comment to share your experience with fellow home cooks. I hope you enjoy and as always, Happy Eating!
Sauteed Green Beans with Bacon
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb fresh green beans
- 1 lb bacon thick cut
- 1 1/2 cups mushrooms
- 1 1/2 cup onion, yellow diced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil while you trim green beans, dice onions and bacon, and slice mushrooms.
- Place a large wide skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and stir occasionally until bacon comes to a crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with water and ice and set near the stove. When water comes to a boil drop in green beans and blanch for 3 minutes. Remove green beans from water and place immediately into ice water to shock them and stop the cooking.
- Add the onions in with the bacon and saute until softened, about 5 minutes, then add the mushrooms and saute another 5 minutes.
- Remove green beans from water and gently blot dry to remove excess water. Add to the bacon, mushroom, onion mixture and cook another 5 to 10 minutes or until green beans are desired tenderness. Add salt and pepper, adjust to liking.
- Serve immediately, and enjoy!
One Pan Instructions
- To cook all in one pan, use a large, wide skillet with sides and begin by boiling the water in it. Once the green beans are blanched and in the ice water, dump out the water and return the pan to the heat. The remaining water will evaporate quickly and you can begin cooking the bacon.
Notes
Nutrition
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Nutrition information and cooking times are provided as a best estimate. Values may vary based upon ingredients and equipment.
I made this recipe exactly as it was written and it was beyond expectations WONDERFUL! This recipe has been added to the regular dinner rotation because it’s just too good to only have it on holidays! Thank you so much for posting it!
Melanie, what a wonderful compliment. Thank you and I’m so happy you love it so much!!
I have been looking for an alternative to the classic green bean casserole, which I do love but my boyfriend does not. I was wondering if I could use caramelized pearl onions to this in place of the sliced onions or shallots and using a little balsamic vinegar or balsamic glaze and what mushrooms would support my idea the best?
Hi Krista, this recipe is really flexible. Absolutely use the pearl onions! I personally prefer a balsamic glaze for recipes like this, it just clings to things a bit better, but balsamic can definitely be sprinkled on it too. Mushrooms can be anything you like! I wouldn’t want them to absorb too much vinegar (unless you like that), so I’d use a denser mushroom, not the spongy kind. Shitake comes to mind, or a sliced portobello! I hope your boyfriend likes it!
This looks so fantastic, thanks for sharing! I can’t wait to make it for thanksgiving this year instead of the typical green bean casserole (that can sometimes be a little too filling on its own.)
Hi Emily, I hope you love it! We’ve been making it for our holiday green bean side for years now and it’s always a hit. Let me know how it goes!
This is a great recipe with lots of good flavor combinations. I can’t wait to make it!
I hope you give the recipe a try soon, thanks Tina 🙂
Love the recipe, added a little soy in lieu of salt and everyone loved it!
However, the numerous ads for the “Museum” of the bible, were offensive and irrelevant.
Hi Joan, I’m very glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe, soy sauce sounds like a lovely addition. I’m sorry you experienced ads that you didn’t enjoy, but unfortunately that doesn’t actually have anything to do with my site. The ads that are shown to visitors are based upon their browsing history and habits, not me. All it takes is looking at one ‘bible’ or ‘museum related’ thing and google will assume you would like to see more related ads. Thanks again for trying the recipe!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! We will definitely be having this again! It’s really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!
SO glad you liked it, this is one of my faves! Thanks for sharing how it went!
I made this tonight and added water chestnuts. It was delicious! Served it over rice and my husband loved it!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for reviewing Susan, I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂