Description
Steam-sautéed green beans are my go-to vegetable side dish.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pound green beans, stem ends trimmed
- ½ cup water
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt (or fine sea salt)
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil (optional, but pretty plain without it)
- Zest of one lemon (optional)
- Juice of one lemon (optional)
Instructions
- Steam the Green Beans: Put the beans in a medium to large sauce pan with a lid, and add the water. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper, and then put the butter on top. Cover the pan and heat the pot over medium-high heat. Wait for the water to come to a boil (when steam starts to escape around the lid), then cook, covered, for 6 minutes.
- Sauté the Green Beans: Remove the lid and continue to cook, stirring and tossing the beans occasionally, until all the remaining water boils away and the beans are sizzling and just starting to brown in the remaining butter, about 1 minute. (Normally the water is gone when I remove the lid, but if there is any left, and I don't hear sizzling, I'll cook the beans until the water boils away and the beans start sizzling.) The beans will be cooked through, but still firm; I check by biting a bean to make sure it is cooked through.
- Top with Lemon juice and lemon zest: Pour the lemon juice over the beans (I use a lemon squeezer and squeeze it over the pot), and toss to coat the beans with lemon juice and the butter in the pot. Pour the beans, butter and lemon juice onto a serving platter. Sprinkle with the lemon zest, serve, and enjoy!
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
Simplest version: skip the lemon juice and lemon zest for simple salt and pepper beans.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Steam-Saute
- Cuisine: American
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Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 ounces of beans
- Calories: 75
- Sugar: 5.2 g
- Sodium: 164 mg
- Fat: 3.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 12.3 g
- Fiber: 3.3 g
- Protein: 2.3 g
- Cholesterol: 7.6 mg