This is the BEST canned green bean recipe because it's cheap, easy, and pretty quick too! Perfect for a fast and simple side dish to complement any meal.
Canned veggies often get a bad reputation, but they're cheap, easy, and can be made very delicious. We eat them quite often, and I love to spice up canned green beans a bit with tasty seasonings.
This is one of our go-to recipes for all of the right reasons. I'm sure you're going to love them just as much as we do!
If you are a fan of canned veggies, make sure you check out my air fryer canned green beans or this awesome canned corn recipe too!
Why This Recipe Works
- It's really simple. All you need is just a can of veggies and some basic pantry staple seasonings.
- You can double or triple the recipe. Need to feed a lot of mouths or want bigger-sized portions? Just multiply the recipe as needed, and make sure to use a large skillet.
- It's customizable. You can adjust the seasonings as needed to suit your own tastes, add more spice, omit some spice, etc.
🎥 Video
Jump to:
🥘 Ingredients
Canned green beans- Use a can of your favorite green beans. I like to select the ones that have the least amount of sodium, as some can contain very little while others can contain a ton.
Olive oil- You only need a little bit of olive oil, but if desired, you can omit the butter and just use a little more oil.
Butter- You can use salted or unsalted butter, depending on what you have on hand. Margarine is also okay to use.
Seasonings- You will need onion powder, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and crushed red pepper flakes to give these green beans a lot of delicious flavors.
For specific quantities, see the recipe card below.
🍽 Equipment Needed
BeeyondCereal is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.
🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make The Best Canned Green Bean Recipe with these simple step-by-step instructions:
Drain the green beans and rinse them off with cold water in a colander. (This removes extra salt from the brine and helps to remove the "tin can taste."
Add the olive oil and butter to a large skillet and heat over medium heat until sizzling.
Add in the green beans and seasonings.
Cook, uncovered while stirring occasionally until fully heated through.
Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
Serve warm.
📖 Variations
Add Bacon!
A great way to add more flavor and deliciousness to these green beans would be to add cooked bacon bits. Leftover bacon (is there such a thing?) would be a great way to add more flavor, but if you add it in, you may want to wait until the very end before adding salt to these green beans, just in case it'd be too salty otherwise.
🍴 Recipe Tips
Here are some great tips on how to prepare canned green beans:
Reducing sodium
If you're trying to reduce some sodium in your diet, you'll want to make sure to double-check the backs of the cans of green beans at the store. Some brands are much higher in sodium content, and I have personally found the ones saying "organic" to be higher in sodium than regular.
Draining and rinsing the beans in water will help to remove some of the excess sodium since most of it is in the liquid anyways.
Be gentle
Make sure to be gentle as you stir the green beans because they are pretty easy to squish. I like the regular-cut green beans because they're a little more forgiving than french cut, but you can use whichever you have on hand.
🍳 Reheating
You can reheat these green beans in a skillet on the stove over medium heat, or on a microwave-safe plate for about 30 seconds in the microwave. I prefer the microwave if I'm heating 1-2 servings, but the skillet can be handy for a larger portion.
👩🏻🍳 Storage
Keep your green beans stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 or 5 days.
💭 FAQs
Green beans are full of great vitamins and nutrients like vitamin K, calcium, potassium, fiber, and folic acid. Canned veggies can be just as healthy and nutritious as fresh or frozen veggies because canning helps to preserve these qualities.
You don't "have to" rinse your green beans, but I recommend doing it whenever a recipe specifically asks for it (like this one does). This helps to improve the flavor and helps the green beans to retain shape when cooked.
By adding flavors! If you simply reheat a can of green beans without adding anything to it, there's a good chance no one will want to eat it as-is. But, if we add salt, pepper, and a few more spices to it, we can really have a delicious dish everyone will enjoy.
More great side dish recipes to check out soon
- Jalapeno Cheddar Biscuits
- Air Fryer Frozen Green Beans
- Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Carrots
- Browned Butter Garlic and Thyme Purple Mashed Potatoes
📖 Recipe
The Best Canned Green Bean Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 can (14-15oz) Green beans, drained ($0.58)
- 1 Tablespoon Olive oil ($0.13)
- 2 Tablespoons Butter ($0.18)
- ½ teaspoon Onion powder ($0.05)
- ¼ teaspoon Salt ($0.02)
- ¼ teaspoon Black pepper ($0.02)
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic powder ($0.02)
- ¼ teaspoon Crushed red pepper flakes ($0.02)
Instructions
- Drain the green beans and rinse them off with cold water in a colander. (This removes extra salt from the brine and helps to remove the "tin can taste."
- Add the olive oil and butter to a large skillet and heat over medium heat until sizzling.
- Add in the green beans and seasonings.
- Cook, uncovered while stirring occasionally until fully heated through.
- Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
Notes
Variations
- A great way to add more flavor and deliciousness to these green beans would be to add cooked bacon bits. Leftover bacon (is there such a thing?) would be a great way to add more flavor, but if you add it in, you may want to wait until the very end before adding salt to these green beans, just in case it'd be too salty otherwise.
Recipe Tips
- Reducing sodium. If you're trying to reduce some sodium in your diet, you'll want to make sure to double-check the backs of the cans of green beans at the store. Some brands are much higher in sodium content, and I have personally found the ones saying "organic" to be higher in sodium than regular. Draining and rinsing the beans in water will help to remove some of the excess sodium since most of it is in the liquid anyways.
- Be gentle. Make sure to be gentle as you stir the green beans because they are pretty easy to squish. I like the regular-cut green beans because they're a little more forgiving than french cut, but you can use whichever you have on hand.
Reheating
- You can reheat these green beans in a skillet on the stove over medium heat, or on a microwave-safe plate for about 30 seconds in the microwave. I prefer the microwave if I'm heating 1-2 servings, but the skillet can be handy for a larger portion.
Storage
- Keep your green beans stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 or 5 days.
Jill says
I made these but did not add bacon. I didn’t use a strainer. I just rinsed them while still in the can. They were delicious! I will definitely make them again. I will try them with bacon, but they don’t really need it!