Easy Skillet Green Beans Recipe | How to Cook Green Beans on the Stove (2024)

FAQs

How many minutes does it take to cook green beans? ›

The key to the best beans is to master how long to boil green beans. Cook the green beans, covered, in a small amount of boiling salted water until crisp-tender: 10 to 15 minutes for whole or cut green beans. 5 to 10 minutes for french-cut green beans.

Brighten with citrus: As soon as the green beans are cooked and seasoned, squeeze over a bit of fresh lemon, lime or even orange juice. The citrus will brighten the overall taste beautifully. You could also grate the citrus and sprinkle the zest in with your seasonings.

Unless the recipe tells you to keep the canned beans in their liquid, you should drain your can and give the beans a good rinse before using. This will improve the flavor and texture of your finished dish. Open your cans of beans using a can opener. There may be sharp edges from opening the can.

Stovetop Instructions

Place soaked beans in a large pot; cover with fresh water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer gently until beans are tender but firm. Most beans will cook in 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on the variety.

Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook until bright green and crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and transfer immediately to the ice water to stop the cooking. Let sit until cooled, 1 to 2 minutes.

Honey + Grainy Mustard. For a flavorful side dish with a classy twist, blanch the green beans and, when they're still hot, toss them with your favorite honey and a spoonful of grainy mustard.

The only part of the bean that always needs to be removed is the tip of the stem end (this is sometimes called "topping" the bean), where the pod was once attached to the rest of the plant. There is no practical need to remove the tail end of a green bean—the choice to do so is aesthetic.

Rinsing Canned Beans, From a Nutrition Perspective

My reasoning was (and mostly still is) that canned beans (not low-sodium or salt-free), can be high in sodium. If you're a relatively healthy person though, enjoying canned beans without draining or rinsing them first is fine.

Can you overcook green beans? ›

Don't overcook them!

Nothing is worse than a mushy, overcooked green bean. Crisp and slightly tender beans is the goal. To achieve this, taste a bean or two during the cooking process. If it is too crispy for you, keep cooking, testing another green bean in a minute or two.

"If you rinse your beans thoroughly, you will have a consistently flavored product, but if you do not rinse them, different amounts of salt will remain in the dish each time you cook it, and it will be hard to cook consistently," he says.

Pour the cans of green beans into a pot liquid and all. Add the beef bouillon, bacon bits, dried minced onion, salt and pepper. Stir everything together, bring to a simmer and let cook for 10-15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Steaming is a simple way to cook vegetables, and it leaves the flavor and much of the nutrients intact. It's slightly healthier than boiling since fewer nutrients end up in the water. Plus, steaming requires little time and attention. A steamer basket is a great kitchen tool to have on hand.

Stovetop Method

Stir them gently and occasionally, never letting them hit a strong boil; this can burst their skins and make them mushy or unevenly cooked. Depending upon the variety, dried beans will cook quickly (about 15 minutes for red lentils) or slowly (up to 3 to 4 hours for unsoaked chickpeas or lima beans).

For the best-tasting and nutrient-rich green beans, we recommend steaming the beans in the microwave. That way, flavor and nutrients stay packed into the beans, instead of leaching out into the cooking water. Boiling is a fine method to cook green beans, but dilutes flavor and takes up more space on the stovetop.