Please say hello to my new favorite way of making green beans! Caramelized Onions Sautéed Green Beans is everything you can ever hope for in green beans.
Slightly charred green beans with sweet and flavorful caramelized onions, along with fresh garlic, a little bit of butter and sea salt, and topped with shaved almonds.
I also call this green beans, the sophisticated way…
Because it has that classy look, and taste, to it. And yes I realized I am talking about green beans here.
Why you need this
Green beans, like a lot of veggies, are way underrated. It is often misunderstood. Never really a kid favorite. And quite frankly, isn’t cooked very well most of the time.
But I believe in green beans. I also believe green beans don’t have to be smothered in cream to be yummy.
Don’t get me wrong, I do like them smothered in cream (and cheese, and condensed mushroom soup), so don’t deprive me of creamy yummy green beans, please….
But what I’m saying is, green beans has so much more potential than that. Way more than a smothered-in-cream kinda veggie.
This Caramelized Onions Green Beans bring about a fresh new way to prepare green beans. When I finished photographing this, I stood on my kitchen counter munching away these green beans, and I could not stop.
Could not STOP. Eating green beans. Oh, you better believe it.
That’s how I know it’s legit.
With the holiday season around the corner, this is the perfect side for your holiday dinner table. But it is not limited to the holidays.
We will also eat this any day, multiple times a day. It is a great side to serve with any protein main dish.
Caramelized Onions
This is truly the secret ingredient to this dish. One of my favorite things about onions is that when cooked, it transforms from being pungent and spicy to sweet and flavorful.
Also, have you sautéed onions and smell the lovely aroma of caramelized onions on a skillet?
Omg. I love the way my kitchen smells whenever I make caramelized onions. I live for my kitchen smelling like caramelized onions…
No words. No words to describe the gorgeous flavors and textures these caramelized onions bring to the green beans.
All you need to do is sauté the sliced onions in butter under medium to medium high heat. Once it turns soft and slightly brown, sprinkle some salt, and viola – caramelized onions!
Check out the before and after pics. Notice that after the onions are caramelized, it will turn brown, shrink, and become crazy delicious.
The process will take at least 5 minutes (or maybe more), so be patient!
It’s worth it I promise.
Tips and Tricks
The truth is, It is such a simple recipe, but one that produces so much great flavors, and definitely not simplistic. Here are some tips!
- Use a large skillet (the largest one you have!) that retains heat really well.
- At the beginning, We are sautéing the onions and green beans separately because both cook at different rate and we want to make sure we cook them before bringing them together. This also prevents the skillet from being overcrowded and subsequently cooking the ingredients unevenly.
- If you are feeding a lot of people and want to double or triple the recipe, make sure you are not crowding the skillet when you sauté the green beans. Sauté green beans in batches if necessary!
- I like my green beans slightly charred (see pictures for the beautiful char-ness), but if you don’t like the slight char, simply lower the heat, cook the green beans slower, and remove them promptly once they look done.
If eating veggies has been a chore for you, make eating veggies fun again (or for the first time) with these fabulous Green Beans with Caramelized Onions.
If there is any dish that can accomplish that, I suspect this is it…
Make this today! And be sure to tell me what you think in the comment box below! If you are on Instagram, share pictures of your creations by tagging #joyousapron! And while you are there, don’t forget to follow me!
Other veggie dishes
- Lemon Garlic Roasted Broccoli
- Honey Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Bacon
- Easy Garlic Parmesan Asparagus
- Greek Cucumber Salad
- Oven Roasted Corn on the Cob with Parmesan Herb Butter
- Sautéed Garlic Brussel Sprouts and Carrots
- Garlic Roasted Cheesy Green Beans (by Mireille at The Tortilla Channel)
Enjoy! Hope you are having fun prepping for the holidays!
If you make this recipe, comment below and let me know what you think! Also, don’t forget to take a picture and tag me on Instagram, because I WANNA SEE!!
Caramelized Onions Sautéed Green Beans
Ingredients
- 1 white onion or yellow onion
- 2 tbsp salted butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp vegetable oil or more
- 16 oz fresh green beans
- 1-2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/8 cup almonds
Instructions
- Slice onions into thin slices and chop garlic. Wash green beans and if desire, remove ends.
- Heat 2 tbsp of salted butter in a large skillet under medium heat. Once skillet is heated and butter is melted (not browned or burned), add sliced onions
- Cook onions under medium heat for a few minutes (it takes a while!) or until it is soft and slightly brown on the edges. Stir continuously. Add 1/2 tsp salt, stir for a few seconds to mix well, then remove onions and set aside.
- Add vegetable oil to skillet. Once oil is heated, add green beans. Saute under medium high heat for a few minutes until green beans are cooked and turn darker green. If you want to char your green beans, cook under high heat and add more vegetable oil. Add more butter or other forms of oil if needed at any point to fully cook the green beans. Cover if necessary.
- Add garlic and caramelized onions to skillet, and stir to combine. Add the other 1/2 tsp of salt (or more to taste). Mix well.
- Remove from heat once green beans is fully cooked. Garnish with almonds.
- Serve and enjoy!
When do you recommend adding the garlic? As you caramelize the onions or when you cook the beans?
Add them when you cook the green beans. I just added it to the instructions – thanks for reaching out and asking! 🙂 Let me know how it goes!
You had me at caramelized onions, I am with your husband, not a huge fan, strange as that is, but these look so delicious!
Haha! You gotta try it! Seriously caramelized onions make EVERYTHING better!