Southern Style Green Beans With Bacon - Life's Ambrosia

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Southern Style Green Beans with Bacon is a comfort food classic. Fresh green beans slow simmered with onions, chicken broth and bacon. Perfect for holidays and Sunday supper!

Are you looking for the perfect comfort food side dish to serve for your next holiday or Sunday dinner? Look no further than these Southern Style Green Beans with Bacon. They slow simmered in chicken broth with onions, crushed red pepper and finished with crispy bacon. Your entire family will love these!

Southern style green beans with bacon in a serving dish.

What ingredients do you need to make Southern Style Green Beans?

To make southern style green beans you’ll need just a handful of ingredients. Fresh Green Beans, bacon, yellow onion, chicken broth, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper.

Fresh green beans are the best beans to use in this recipe. This recipe requires that the beans cook for at least an hour, fresh green beans will hold up much better than canned or frozen green beans.

Southern Style Green Beans with Bacon is a comfort food classic. Fresh green beans slow simmered with onions, chicken broth and bacon. Perfect for holidays and Sunday supper! 

The crushed red pepper in this recipe is totally optional. I like the little bit of heat that they add, but if you’re cooking for people who are sensitive to heat you can leave them out.

How to clean and prepare fresh green beans:

Rinse fresh green beans under cool water. To trim them, you can simply snap the ends off of each bean. To speed up the process, I will often simply cut off the top 1/4 inch of the beans.

How to clean and prepare fresh green beans.

After they are cleaned, simply cut into 1 – 2 inch pieces.

How to make southern style green beans with bacon:

To make these green beans with bacon, you’ll start by cooking the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat. Once it’s browned, transfer it to a paper towel lined plate and keep warm or refrigerate until ready to use. I prefer to add the bacon at the end of cooking so that it is crispy instead of soft.

Bacon browning in a skillet

Next, add the onions and crushed red pepper to the pan drippings. Finally add the green beans and toss to coat.

Simmering green beans in chicken broth.

Pour in chicken broth and scrape any brown bits that have accumulated at the bottom of the pan. Cover and simmer on low for 1 – 1 1/2 hours or until beans are soft.

DES’ PRO TIP: The key to these beans is to cook them low and slow. Under cooked beans are rubbery, overcooked beans are mushy. Start checking the beans after 1 hour to ensure they are tender.

A spoonful of green beans with bacon.

What to serve with green beans with bacon?

These green beans are a comfort food classic so it only seems right to serve them along side some of our other comfort food favorites. I always serve them with brined fried chicken or even on Thanksgiving with roasted turkey thighs!

Overhead photograph of southern style green beans.

Looking for new vegetable side dishes? You’ve got to check these out!

Sauteed Broccoli

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Okra and Tomatoes

Homemade Mashed Potatoes Recipe

Southern Style Green Beans with Bacon is a comfort food classic. Fresh green beans slow simmered with onions, chicken broth and bacon. Perfect for holidays and Sunday supper! #greenbeans #comfortfood #sidedish #vegetables

Other Main Dish Recipes to serve with green beans:

Baked Chicken Legs

Meatloaf with Cream Sauce

Southern Fried Pork Chops

Southern Style Green Beans with Bacon is a comfort food classic. Fresh green beans slow simmered with onions, chicken broth and bacon. Perfect for holidays and Sunday supper! 

Southern Style Green Beans with Bacon

Southern Style Green Beans with Bacon is a comfort food classic. Fresh green beans slow simmered with onions, chicken broth and bacon. 4.6 from 5 votes Print Recipe Pin Recipe Prep Time 5 minutes Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes Course Side DishesCuisine Southern Servings 4 ServingsCalories 172 kcal

Ingredients 1x2x3x

Ingredients:

  • ▢ 4 slices bacon cut into 1 inch pieces
  • ▢ 1 1/2 pound green beans trimmed
  • ▢ 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
  • ▢ 1 cup chicken broth
  • ▢ 1/2 teaspoon crushed red peppers
  • ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • ▢ 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper

Instructions

  • ▢ In a large skillet cook bacon until browned.
  • ▢ Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Cover and keep warm or refrigerate until ready to use.
  • ▢ In the same skillet, add the onion and crushed red pepper. Cook 1 - 2 minutes. Add in green beans and toss to coat. Pour in chicken broth. Cover and turn heat to low. Simmer for 1 - 1 1/2 hours or until beans are tender. Sprinkle with bacon and cook just until bacon is warmed through.
  • ▢ Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Notes

Nutrition facts are for estimation purposes only.

Nutrition

Calories: 172kcalCarbohydrates: 14.3gProtein: 11.6gFat: 8.5gSaturated Fat: 2.8gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 931mgFiber: 6.2gSugar: 3.2g Tried this recipe?Mention @lifesambrosia or tag #lifesambrosia!
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  • Reply
    Ron Buckridge
    December 6, 2023 at 3:23 pm

    5 stars These were great. Thinking of adding some new red potatoes to cook with them. How much more broth would it take to cook them but not overwhelm the taste of the bacon?

  • Reply
    Christine McSorley
    October 21, 2023 at 9:41 am

    AWESOME!!!

  • Reply
    J. M.
    November 23, 2022 at 7:04 pm

    3 stars Keep worm? I think I’ll leave out the worm!

    • Reply
      Deseree
      November 24, 2022 at 9:41 am

      Hah! Woops!

  • Reply
    Kayla
    August 4, 2022 at 7:27 am

    Hey do I leave bacon grease in pan after I cook that bacon and start to put onions and chicken broth in or do I leave bacon grease in the pan? Thanks

  • Reply
    Krystal
    November 22, 2021 at 7:06 am

    Could this be made in a crock pot? How long would the cook time be? I will be tripling this recipe.

    • Reply
      Deseree
      November 22, 2021 at 9:20 am

      Hi Krystal! I’ve actually never made them in a slow cooker so I can’t be sure how long the cook time will be. I’m sorry!

  • Reply
    Barb
    November 13, 2021 at 8:22 pm

    Can I make these a day ahead and just warm the next day?

    • Reply
      Deseree
      November 14, 2021 at 12:05 pm

      You can! I’ve done it before. Since they are already pretty soft you won’t have to worry about the texture like you would with other green beans. I eat these leftovers :)

  • Reply
    Debbie Hatch
    October 28, 2021 at 11:59 pm

    5 stars If I double the recipe, how long should I cook the beans?

    • Reply
      Deseree
      October 29, 2021 at 10:25 pm

      I don’t think that you’ll need to cook them that much longer if you double the recipe. I’d start checking at the 1 1/2 hour mark and just keep cooking until they are the desired tenderness. You may need 10 – 15 more minutes but I don’t think you’d need to double the time because you double the beans.

  • Reply
    Elice Shelton
    March 25, 2021 at 10:11 am

    5 stars Can this recipe be prepared ahead of time and put in the deep freeze satisfactorily? Thanks

    • Reply
      Deseree
      March 26, 2021 at 9:37 pm

      Hi Elice! I don’t have any experience deep freezing these so I cannot recommend. Sorry!

  • Reply
    Sandra Shaffer
    September 15, 2020 at 8:45 pm

    5 stars This is the best way to eat beans….with bacon! Delicious with chicken as well as steak.

    • Tag » How To Cook Fresh Green Beans Southern Style