Sautéed Frozen Green Beans with Bacon and Almonds

Frozen green beans are sautéed in bacon grease and garlic then topped with crispy bacon and almond slivers. An easy side dish that looks and tastes amazing! It’s easy to make as a delicious side dish for week night dinners but fancy enough for a Holiday celebration like Thanksgiving or Christmas. 

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Sautéed Frozen Green Beans with Bacon and Almonds

Want to bring the BEST green beans to Thanksgiving? The ones that people can’t stop talking about and definitely ask for the recipe. I’ve got you covered. These skillet green beans can be made with fresh or frozen green beans. They’re sautéed in bacon grease and finished off with bacon bits, garlic, and slivered almonds. Honestly, green beans never tasted so good.

These green beans are cooked on the stove top which makes them great for Thanksgiving. There’s only so much food you can stuff in the oven and still get everything cooked in time. That’s why recipes I can cook on the stove top are a must. Our easy homemade cranberry sauce is another stove top recipe you’ll love. Bonus, you can make them the day before the festivities.

Thanksgiving aside, sautéed frozen green beans are a great side dish all year round. They go really well with lots of main dishes. You don’t always have to use bacon. I’ll make these as a side dish using butter to sauté the green beans in. When you use frozen green beans they’re easy to always have on hand and cook up fast.

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Frozen Green Beans vs Fresh Green Beans

Are frozen green beans as good as fresh green beans? That’s a great question that people often ask. Vegetables that are being frozen are usually pick at their peak so they have the most nutrients.

They are then blanched and frozen quickly after harvest which allows them to keep their nutritional value. Blanching does get rid of some vitamins but let’s be honest, it’s not much and we’re going to cook the green beans anyway.

Frozen green beans keep their nice green color. They also retain most of the same texture so you still get a bit of the snap you want in your cooked green beans.

Fresh green beans are also picked at their freshest point but they spend days being transported to stores which contributes to a loss of nutrition. They lose more nutritional value as they sit at the store waiting to be bought and then more while sitting in the fridge at home. By the time fresh green beans are cooked they usually aren’t as healthy for you as their frozen friends. 

I have used both fresh and frozen green beans to make this recipe and they both taste amazing. Frozen green beans do cook faster than fresh which is another big reason to use them. I wouldn’t stress over the choice though. Be happy you have two great options when making green beans. Just make sure to leave the canned stuff at the store. 

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Ingredients Needed to Make Frozen Green Beans with Bacon and Almonds

• 12 oz Frozen or Fresh Green Beans – the thinner the better
• 1/2  lb Bacon
• 1/4 cup Slivered Almonds
• 2 cloves Fresh Garlic – minced

We’ve already talked about fresh vs frozen green beans now let’s talk garlic for a second. Fresh garlic is one of the best things on earth, in my opinion. You can use jarred, minced garlic if you want but using fresh garlic will take this recipe to the next level. It will take all recipes to the next level. The jar stuff just doesn’t give the same flavor as the fresh stuff.  

When choosing your green beans, look for the thinnest you can find. This helps them cook faster. I prefer French cut green beans which means julienne or thin sliced. The French cut gives these sautéed green beans a whole new texture with extra crispy and buttery ends. I can’t always find French cut green beans in the frozen section so I’ll go for the thinnest I can find. 

This recipe will serve about 4 people which is great for weeknight dinners but not so much for a Thanksgiving gathering. Just double or triple the recipe for larger crowds. If the green beans are too crowded in the skillet then they won’t cook as fast so make sure to use a big pan or cook in batches.

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How to make Sautéed Frozen Green Beans

1. Start by cooking bacon in a large skillet or frying pan on medium heat.

2. Place cooked bacon on paper towels and set aside.

3. Add green beans to the pan with all that glorious bacon grease. Stir to coat all the green beans. 

4. Continue to stir every couple of minutes or so. This will insure all the green beans are cooking evenly and are all coated in grease. 

5. Mince fresh garlic while waiting on green beans to cook. You can also break up the cooked bacon into crumbles when it’s cool enough to touch.

6. Cook green beans for 5-10 minutes for frozen green beans and 15-20 for fresh, until green beans are soft but have a slight bite and are a bit charred in places. 

7. Add in the minced garlic and cook for one minute. I like to push the green beans aside before throwing the garlic in. This allows the garlic to cook on the pan surface instead of being stuck on top of green beans.

8. Throw the slivered almonds and bacon crumbles in with the garlic and continue to sauté for another 2 minutes. Make sure the garlic and almonds don’t burn.

9. Lightly Salt and then give everything a good last minute stir so that the bacon, garlic, and almonds get distributed.

10. Serve and enjoy!

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Frequently asked questions about Sautéed Frozen Green Beans

Is this recipe Keto friendly? Yes. Keto refers to the ketogenic diet, which is a high-fat, low-carb diet. Green beans are low in carbs making them a great vegetable to eat on the Keto diet. Bacon is also low in carbs but can be high in sodium so keeping it to one or two days a week is best. Almonds are a staple in Keto diets.

Do you need to thaw frozen green beans before you cook them for this recipe? No, you don’t have to thaw them. You can take them straight out of the freezer and dump them into the skillet. Those frosty beans in the picture below will cook up perfectly. However, I like to take the frozen green beans out of the freezer right before I start cooking the bacon. They won’t completely defrost but they will thaw a bit which speeds up the cooking process.

Do you need to trim and cut fresh green beans? You really only need to trim the stem end by about 1/4″ but some people prefer to trim both ends for an even look. If the green beans are rather large then you can also cut them in half for this recipe. It makes them easier to eat. If you want to try French cut you can use the slicing blade on your food processor. Stack green beans horizontally and gently press them down through the blade. It’s pretty quick and is perfect for the sautéed beans in this recipe.

Do you need to blanch fresh green beans for this recipe? I never do. I’m too lazy for it. It will take green beans a bit longer to cook but I’d rather do that than use two cooking methods. Blanched requires you to cook vegetables in boiling salted water for a couple minutes and then drop them in ice water to quickly stop the cooking. That’s too much work when you’re worried about everything else you’re cooking. Just another reason to use frozen green beans because they’re already blanched.

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I really need to make this Sautéed Frozen Green Bean recipe more often. I kind of forget about it until Thanksgiving time. It’s alway a crowd-pleaser at the Thanksgiving table but it’s easy enough to make on week nights as well. 

Do you ever cook with frozen green beans? How do you prepare them?

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