These sautéed Garlic Parmesan Green Beans are flavoured with garlic and parmesan cheese and topped with crunchy pecans. Cooked on the stovetop, you can prepare part of this easy green bean recipe ahead of time. A delicious side dish for a family meal or for a special holiday dinner.
These Parmesan green beans with toasted pecans make an ideal side dish for any meal. A bowl of garlic green beans is a classic side, but this recipe adds a new flavour profile with cheesy goodness and hints of lemon!
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❤️ Why this recipe works
Crunchy pecans, salty Parmesan cheese, hints of garlic and bright notes of lemon zest make this easy skillet green bean recipe a memorable dish at a dinner party. It's easy enough to make for a family dinner, too.
Even more importantly for those of you who love to be organized: you can make part of this recipe for green beans with parmesan well in advance!
This easy side dish is a fresh alternative to green bean casserole for a Thanksgiving recipe.
🛒 Ingredients for garlic green beans with parmesan
Ready to make a shopping list? You'll only need a handful of ingredients to make this garlicky green bean recipe!
- fresh green beans: look for the freshest beans you can find. Beans should snap, not bend, when you break them in two and should be bright green. Choose those without any blemishes or dark spots.
- pecans: Pecans add a crunchy texture and buttery flavour.
- Parmesan cheese: freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano has the most flavour.
- garlic: a couple of cloves of fresh garlic will add amazing flavour.
- lemon zest: adds bright flavour to the dish
- dried red pepper flakes: to add a tiny bit of heat (optional)
🔪Step-by-Step Instructions
This is a perfect green bean recipe to add to your holiday table, as you can prepare part of it in advance.
- First, blanch the beans in a large pot of salted boiling water until crisp-tender, drain, and cool in an ice bath in a large bowl. You'll find complete instructions for how to blanch beans in the recipe card below. At this point, you can pat them dry and refrigerate them in an airtight container until you need them.
- Otherwise, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, sauté a couple of cloves of minced garlic, then add the beans and stir. Next, add the chopped pecans, and stir to allow them to become lightly toasted. Add the parmesan cheese and chili flakes just before removing the beans from the pan.
- Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with lemon zest before serving.
❓FAQ's
You can make most of it ahead of time. I'd suggest blanching the beans, as described above, then storing them in the fridge. You can prepare the other ingredients ahead, as well.
Grate the Parmesan, chop the pecans, grate the lemon zest and mince the garlic. Then just before serving, you can quickly sauté the ingredients in a skillet, garnish with lemon zest and serve piping hot!
🔁 Variations for sautéed green beans
This easy green bean recipe makes a healthy side dish. It's also easy to customize it to what you like or what you have in your pantry!
- Swap nutritional yeast for the Parmesan cheese to keep this recipe dairy-free.
- To make green beans with almonds, sprinkle in some sliced or slivered almonds instead of pecans.
- Substitute pine nuts for pecans.
- Add bacon! If you like skillet green beans with bacon, sprinkle the finished dish with some crisply cooked, crumbled bacon bits before serving.
- Toss in a small handful of dried cranberries for a sweet contrast to salty parmesan.
- Use haricots verts for a fancy presentation for your Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas dinner.
- Serving a large group? Double the recipe. Garlic parmesan green beans make a popular side dish for holiday dinners and they disappear quickly!
🕑 Storage Instructions
Store leftover parmesan green beans in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days. To reheat, you can make crispy green beans by sautéing them in a skillet with a little oil for a few minutes until heated through.
Add a splash or two of balsamic vinegar for a burst of flavour!
🌟 Did you make this garlic parmesan green bean recipe?
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This post has been updated with new information to make it more helpful.
🗒 More delicious side dish recipes
- 32 Holiday Side Dish Recipes - Gluten-Free
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Maple Sweet Potatoes with Pecans and Cranberries
- Air Fryer Acorn Squash with Maple and Cinnamon
- How to Cut an Acorn Squash Safely
📖 Recipe
Sautéed Garlic Parmesan Green Beans with Pecans
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb green beans, stems trimmed
- ⅓ cup pecans, chopped
- ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, extra virgin
- 1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes, optional
Instructions
- Wash the beans in cool water and drain in a colander. Snap off the stem end and either leave whole or cut into desired lengths.
- Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil. While the water is heating, set up a large bowl of ice water. Add the beans to the boiling water and blanch for 4 - 5 minutes or until crisp tender.
- Remove from the water and transfer to the ice bath. Let sit in the ice water for 4-5 minutes or until completely cool. Remove and drain in the colander. Alternatively, you can steam the beans just until crisp tender then transfer to the ice bath, cool and drain.
- Pat dry on a clean kitchen towel or paper towel and chill in the refrigerator if not using right away.
- Otherwise, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat, sauté the minced garlic lightly, add the beans and stir until almost tender. Add the pecans and stir to allow them to become lightly toasted. Just before removing the bean from the skillet, add the parmesan cheese and optional chili flakes. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with lemon zest. Serve right away.
Notes
Grate the Parmesan, chop the pecans, grate the lemon zest and mince the garlic. Then just before serving, you can quickly stir fry the ingredients in a skillet, garnish with lemon zest and serve piping hot!
Leila
I made these for Thanksgiving last year and will make them again this year!
Denise
I made these last week for a dinner party and got lots of compliments! A great recipe and a nice change from plain green beans!