These Parmesan Pecan Green Beans are ideal for an everyday side dish or a holiday dinner. Cooked on the stove-top, you can prepare part of this easy garlic parmesan green bean recipe ahead of time. Keto-friendly.
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!
Jump to:
❤️ Why this recipe works
Crunchy pecans, salty Parmesan cheese, hints of garlic and bright notes of lemon zest make this keto green bean recipe a memorable dish at a dinner party, but it's easy enough to make for a weeknight meal.
Even more importantly for those of you who love to be organized: you can make part of this easy green bean recipe well in advance!
Ready to make a shopping list? Here's your short list.
🛒 Ingredients for Parmesan green beans
- 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: add a crunchy texture and buttery flavour
- Parmesan cheese: freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano has the most flavour.
- garlic: a couple of cloves
- lemon zest: adds bright flavour to the dish
- dried red pepper flakes: to add a tiny bit of heat
🔪Step-by-Step Instructions
This is a great green bean recipe for a holiday dinner, as you can prepare part of it in advance.
- First, blanch the beans in boiling water until crisp-tender, drain, and cool in an ice bath. 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 until you need them.
- Otherwise, heat oil in a skillet, sauté a couple of cloves of minced garlic, then add the beans and stir. Next, add the chopped pecans, Parmesan cheese and chili flakes.
- When warmed through, transfer to a serving dish and garnish with lemon zest before serving.
1. Cook green beans in boiling water just until crisp-tender. 
2. Immediately transfer beans to a bowl of ice water to cool completely.
❓FAQ's
Yes! And this Parmesan green bean recipe is keto-friendly, too. Green beans contain only 2 grams of net carbs per ½ cup (60 gram)serving.
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 stir fry the ingredients in a skillet, garnish with lemon zest and serve piping hot!
🔁 Skillet Green Bean variations
This easy green bean recipe makes a healthy side dish that is also low-carb and keto -friendly. 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.
- Add bacon! If you like skillet green beans with bacon, sprinkle the finished dish with some crisply cooked, crumbled bacon bits before serving.
- 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 leftovers Parmesan green beans in the fridge for up to 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!
🗒Looking for more green bean recipes?
This post has been updated with new information to make it more helpful. The recipe remains the same.
📖 Recipe Card
Skillet Parmesan Pecan Green Beans
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
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 and chill in the refrigerator if not using right away.
- Otherwise, heat oil in a skillet, sauté the minced garlic lightly, add the beans and stir. Add the pecans, Parmesan cheese and chili flakes. When warmed through, 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!
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!