Do you love green beans? If so, you're going to love this garlic green beans recipe. These Spicy Garlic Green Beans are fresh, healthy, and delicious. They're perfect for a quick snack, light meal, or a Thanksgiving Dinner side. Best of all, they're easy to make. So grab your skillet and let's get cooking!
This green beans recipe is so good they basically taste like candy! Doused with garlic, lemon zest, shallots and a decent amount of spice (optional if you don't like spice), you'll get anyone to love them!
Table of Contents
Why I Love This Recipe
There's no denying it - I'm hooked. I know I say I'm obsessed with just about everything I make (I mean can you blame me?) but these green beans really stand out. They are doused with garlic, lemon zest, shallots and a decent amount of spice. And they are so good it's basically like eating candy. Or french fries. That's basically how I eat them. One by one, until all of a sudden the entire plate of Spicy Garlic Green Beans disappears.
Just as good as the decadent stuff, but not nearly as bad for you!
I am a believer that even my brussels sprouts will win over any picky vegetable eater for SURE! But if you have doubts, these should definitely be a welcome addition for everyone on the table!! The little extra spicy garlic infused olive oil makes for an excellent bread dip. Throw them on your ever growing Thanksgiving menu and you can thank me later.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Haricot verts or green beans
- Olive oil
- Garlic cloves
- Shallot
- Red pepper flakes
- Flaky salt and lemon zest to garnish
*For a full list of ingredients and instructions please see recipe card below
How to Make Spicy Garlic Green Beans
Step 1: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the green beans and cook for 3 minutes. Drain the green beans and set aside.
Step 2: In a large heavy bottom skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallot, garlic, and red pepper flakes and sauté until the garlic becomes fragrant.
Step 3: Add the green beans and mix everything together, making sure the garlic and shallots are evenly distributed amongst the green beans.
Step 4: Season with salt and lemon zest and serve immediately.
How to Store Spicy Garlic Green Beans
Lucky you! You have more of these delish veggies for another day. To store this recipe, transfer the remaining green beans to an air-tight container and refrigerate for up to 3-5 days.
Tips & Tricks
- Whatever you fancy. I personally like Haricot Verts which are thinner, longer, and have a better taste in my opinion. If you opt to go with a green bean make sure to trim the ends off.
- Mild or Super Spicy. What I love about this recipe is that you get to control the spice level! If you prefer a milder heat, opt for a lighter hand when adding in the red pepper flakes. If you're all about the heat, shake in as much red pep. as you please!
FAQs
Can Green Beans Be Eaten Raw?
100% green beans can be eaten raw however I would not recommend it. Maybe with a dip, but I would stick to boiling or steaming them and then seasoning with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
Can this Green Beans Recipe be Frozen?
I would not freeze this dish after I made it. With this recipe, its easy enough to whip up a batch in under 10 min so I would suggest going the freshly made route.
Related Recipes
So there you have it, our secret tips for making my perfect spicy garlic green beans recipe. We hope you’ll give this recipe a try and let us know how it turns out. And if you’re looking for more Thanksgiving recipes that will blow everyone away, be sure to check out my full What’s Gaby Cooking menu here along with the master prep schedule to keep things organized and on track!
And if you need more Thanksgiving Ideas to go with this green beans recipe check out this roundup of 80+ Thanksgiving Recipes and Ideas
If you tried this recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting today
Garlic Green Beans Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound haricot verts or green beans ends trimmed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 shallot thinly sliced
- 1-2 teaspoons red pepper flakes depending on how spicy you like them
- flaky salt and lemon zest to garnish
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Add the green beans and cook for 3 minutes. Drain the green beans and set aside.
- In a large heavy bottom skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the shallot, garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté for 2 minutes until the garlic becomes fragrant. Add the green beans and mix everything together, making sure the garlic and shallots are evenly distributed amongst the green beans.
- Season with salt and the lemon zest and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Photo by Matt Armendariz / Food Styling by Adam Pearson / Recipe from What’s Gaby Cooking
I made these yesterday and served them cold again today. They were great!
Hi Gaby
Where did you buy your pink finishing salt.
Can't wait to try these for myself!
This recipe looks amazing! I love Himalayan sea salt and I think they make all veggies taste better so I eat them more often. I get mine from Sustainable Sourcing https://secure.sustainablesourcing.com since they have great products and they are an eco-friendly company. Well, thanks again for sharing this delicious recipe!!
Hi Gaby,
I got your secret santa pack yesterday and I was SO excited! It came as a surprise and... well, I loved it! I have already had some of the delicious chocolate you sent, and I'm trying the spices mix as soon as maybe, you can bet 🙂
Thank you!!
By the way, I'm a faithful reader of your blog, in spite of the fact that I was never brave enough to post a comment before today: I'm so glad you happened to be my secret santa! 🙂
Cheers,
Benny
I love how dark green these beans are! The organic ones I bought yesterday don't even match up anywhere near yours!
I love green beans! I could eat them all the live long day. Yet another dish that I am saving.
I need to get myself some of that finishing salt.
I love green beans! The might be one of my favorite vegetables, especially with garlic! I will have to try them with himalayan finishing salt
I am so with you on this one... you spend so much time on an entree and then have nothing to go with it. How does this happen? I am going to get on your bandwagon and try to pay more attention to my side dishes instead of my typical frozen steamed vegetables from Green Giant. This looks easy and delicious. Thanks!
I made green beans with lemon and shallots last week. YUM! I will have to kick them up with garlic next time. I hope you are having a good week!
Sometimes I get sick of making a complete meal for dinner, and I like to just eat a lot of veggies. This dish would be perfect... and I think I even have Pink Himalayan salt! I know I have some sort of pink salt.
Make your own 'pink' salt - just add a drop or two of beet juice to 1/2 cup of kosher or rock salt (it works with table salt, too). Spread it thinly on a plate to dry and enjoy! Experiment with other natural colourants to have a variety of colours.
I like how Americans have been "dressing up" French green beans. In France, you would put a little bit of butter and parsley and this is it! Here, anything from sliced almonds to sesame seeds or garlic top them up! I have started to do it this way for my family as well. I'll definitively try your recipe, making it a little bit less spicy for my children. Merci!
I absolutely love these green beans! Garlic makes everything better!
I will be planting lots of beans in my garden this summer so I can eat them like popcorn as well!
I just made a batch of TJ's green beans this week! It makes it so easy when they come all cleaned and ready to go! Love your use of the Pink Himalayan salt, its my fave!! 🙂