These cast iron green beans are a delicious and flavorful side dish perfect for any meal. serve them up with dinner and watch how quickly they become an instant family favorite!
These pan seared green beans are packed with flavor in every soft and crisp bite. This green bean skillet recipe is a perfect blend of fresh green beans and garlic with a little tangy lemon for added freshness.
Cooking green beans in a cast iron skillet is the best way to get even cooking and wonderfully blistered green beans. it helps to bring out the wonderful flavor of the beans while adding a nice amount of color to your plates as well.
One of the best things about this recipe is that it uses very simple household ingredients, many of which you may already have on hand!
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🥘 Ingredients
- Butter
- Fresh green beans
- Soy sauce
- Red pepper flakes
- Garlic cloves
- Paprika
- Lemon juice
- Salt
- Pepper
For specific quantities, see the recipe card below.
🍽 Equipment Needed
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- 12-inch Cast iron skillet
- Measuring spoons
- Wooden spoon
🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make cast iron green beans with these simple step-by-step instructions:
- Heat your skillet over medium-high heat.
- Melt the butter in the skillet.
- Add in the fresh green beans and then cook until looking blistered and golden along the sides. This will take several minutes (about 10).
- Add in the soy sauce, red pepper flakes, garlic, and paprika. Toss well to combine.
- Now add in the lemon juice and stir to combine.
- Serve warm.
🧾 How to Prep Green Beans
Prepare your green beans by first rinsing them in a colander under cool running water to remove any dirt.
Place the green beans on a towel to dry as you prepare a cutting board and knife.
Place the green beans horizontally onto the cutting board and arrange them so that the ends are all even with each other. I like to place my knife at the base of them and scoot them slightly to the left (I'm right-handed) and make sure that they're all even that way.
Next, use a large knife to trim off the ends. Trimming off about ¼ of an inch is fine. The goal is to remove those hard ends. You may need to trim some green beans more than others.
Alternatively, you can pick up each green bean and use your fingers to snap off the ends but this will take much longer.
If needed, cut or snap green beans in half so that they are all relatively the same length.
🍴 Recipe Tips
This recipe goes great when served alongside simple main dishes like Crispy Sour Cream and Onion Chicken or Garlic and Brown Sugar Crusted Pork Roast.
You can cook this in another similar sized pan. You do not have to cook it in a cast iron pan.
Another great thing about cooking green beans in a skillet is that you can make these cast iron skillet green beans using a grill or campfire but you'll want direct heat at about 375 degrees F.
If you find that the green beans are blistering and turning golden but are still raw inside or still too crunchy for your liking, turn the heat down and place a piece of foil over the top to help steam the green beans a bit as they cook.
💭 FAQs
While you can wash the green beans and let them dry on a paper towel-lined colander in the fridge for a few hours I do not recommend cutting off the ends until ready to cook. This is because once those ends are cut you are exposing the insides to air that can dry out the veggies. We don't want the green beans to dry and shrivel up.
While this recipe can be doubled I would only recommend that if you are using a 14 or 16-inch skillet as a 12-inch skillet would be too small to hold in all of the green beans and not make a mess. The cooking time might extend a few minutes as well get all of the beans blistered and the liquid to cook out of the pan.
I recommend either cooking them on a skillet until warmed through or placing them into the oven at 350 degrees F for a few minutes. Either of these methods will help to regain some of the crispness of the green beans while heating them through. If you like your green beans softer then you may microwave a serving at a time for about 1-2 minutes.
More great green bean recipes to check out soon
- Italian Green Beans with Tomatoes
- How to Roast Frozen Green Beans
- Instant Pot Green Beans
- Pan Fried Tilapia and Green Beans
- Oven Roasted Green Beans with Garlic and Parmesan
📖 Recipe
Cast Iron Green Beans
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons butter ($0.18)
- 16 ounces fresh green beans, prepped ($1.68)
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce ($0.10)
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes ($0.02)
- 2 cloves minced garlic ($0.10)
- ¼ teaspoon paprika ($0.02)
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice ($0.10)
- salt and pepper to taste ($0.10)
Instructions
- Heat your skillet over medium-high heat.
- Melt the butter in the skillet.
- Add in the fresh green beans and then cook until looking blistered and golden along the sides. This will take several minutes (about 10).
- Add in the soy sauce, red pepper flakes, garlic, and paprika. Toss well to combine.
- Now add in the lemon juice and stir to combine.
- Serve warm.
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