Southern Style Green Beans with Bacon

Southern Style Green Beans with Bacon is a comfort food classic. Fresh green beans slow simmered with onions, chicken broth and bacon. Perfect for holidays and Sunday supper! 

Are you looking for the perfect comfort food side dish to serve for your next holiday or Sunday dinner? Look no further than these Southern Style Green Beans with Bacon. They slow simmered in chicken broth with onions, crushed red pepper and finished with crispy bacon. Your entire family will love these!

What ingredients do you need to make Southern Style Green Beans?

To make southern style green beans you’ll need just a handful of ingredients. Fresh Green Beans, bacon, yellow onion, chicken broth, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper.

Fresh green beans are the best beans to use in this recipe. This recipe requires that the beans cook for at least an hour, fresh green beans will hold up much better than canned or frozen green beans.

The crushed red pepper in this recipe is totally optional. I like the little bit of heat that they add, but if you’re cooking for people who are sensitive to heat you can leave them out.

How to clean and prepare fresh green beans:

Rinse fresh green beans under cool water. To trim them, you can simply snap the ends off of each bean. To speed up the process, I will often simply cut off the top 1/4 inch of the beans.

After they are cleaned, simply cut into 1 – 2 inch pieces.

How to make southern style green beans with bacon:

To make these green beans with bacon, you’ll start by cooking the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat. Once it’s browned, transfer it to a paper towel lined plate and keep warm or refrigerate until ready to use. I prefer to add the bacon at the end of cooking so that it is crispy instead of soft.

Next, add the onions and crushed red pepper to the pan drippings. Finally add the green beans and toss to coat.

Pour in chicken broth and scrape any brown bits that have accumulated at the bottom of the pan. Cover and simmer on low for 1 – 1 1/2 hours or until beans are soft.

DES’ PRO TIP: The key to these beans is to cook them low and slow. Under cooked beans are rubbery, overcooked beans are mushy. Start checking the beans after 1 hour to ensure they are tender. 

What to serve with green beans with bacon?

These green beans are a comfort food classic so it only seems right to serve them along side some of our other comfort food favorites. I always serve them with brined fried chicken or even on Thanksgiving with roasted turkey thighs!

Looking for new vegetable side dishes? You’ve got to check these out!

Sauteed Broccoli 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts 

Okra and Tomatoes

Other Main Dish Recipes to serve with green beans:

Baked Chicken Legs

Meatloaf with Cream Sauce 

Southern Fried Pork Chops