Green beans are by far my favourite side dish. We hardly go a day without having green beans as a side dish for dinner at my house and I’m always looking for ways to make them new, exciting and interesting. There’s nothing terribly groundbreaking about adding garlic butter to green beans, but it’s a very delicious combination that’s worth sharing here. I can’t think of anything better – in fact I’d eat a bowl of these beans on their own with no issues.
This recipe is really easy to throw together and only uses a few ingredients, making it the perfect side dish that you can turn out pretty much any time. It’s also a quick recipe, so if you’re trying to put dinner on the table in a hurry, then this is the side dish you’ll want to make. I’ve specified cooking them in boiling water for 10 minutes because I like them slightly soft, but still having a little bite to them. If you prefer them a bit more crunchy, you can boil the beans for about 4 to 5 minutes and make the whole process faster. However, if you like them really soft, boil them for 15 to 20 minutes. It’s your choice.
I’ve purposely done this recipe for 2 servings because if you’re on your own or it’s just the two of you at home, it’s the perfect amount, but you could absolutely multiply the quantities to feed 4, 6, 8 or more to suit your larger dinners like Thanksgiving or Christmas.
To get the flavours right, you want to ensure you’re using the right ingredients. Fresh garlic, minced with a garlic press or chopped very finely is a necessity. This is not the time to use the minced garlic in a jar. As for the butter, the better the quality of the butter you use, the better these beans will taste and you want to make sure it’s unsalted. Finally, sea salt flakes are essential. You can use fine salt if you must, but it won’t be the same and there’s nothing better than flaky sea salt on green beans – something like Maldon Salt is perfect. Let’s get started!
Serves 2
Ingredients
- 200g fine green beans, trimmed
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt flakes, plus more for serving
- 25g unsalted butter
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled & minced
Method
- Put the beans into a saucepan with plenty of water and 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt flakes over high heat and bring to the boil. Once the water comes to a rolling boil, continue cooking them for about 10 minutes.
- Strain the beans and rinse them with cold water. Set aside.
- In the same pan you used to boil the beans, melt the butter over medium heat. When it’s fully melted and starting to sizzle a bit, add the garlic and cook it while stirring for a minute or two until softened.
- Add the beans back to the pan and toss in the garlicky butter for a few minutes until the beans are warmed through and piping hot.
- To serve, transfer the beans to a serving dish or divide them between two plates, drizzle any of the garlic butter left in the pan over the beans and sprinkle with some sea salt flakes.
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