Green Beans Almondine
Green Beans Almondine is the perfect side dish to serve up for a holiday dinner or to bring to a potluck. This recipe is quick and easy to make and will elevate your green beans to the next level!
Green beans with slivered almonds
With the holidays quickly approaching it’s time to start thinking about side dishes to serve up for your holiday dinners!
While I do love indulging in delicious holiday mains like this vegan lentil loaf, what I get the most excited about when it comes to holiday dinners is the side dishes!
Whether you cooking for the holidays, a family dinner, dinner with friends or even just a low-key weeknight dinner at home, having a great side dish can elevate your meal and make it feel like you’re eating in a restaurant.
That’s what is so great about this Green Beans Almondine recipe. It takes basic green beans and makes them into something a little more special, with minimal work.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Easy to make. While this dish might look impressive, it couldn’t be easier to make! The recipe comes together in less than 20 minutes and is made with 6 simple ingredients.
- Great for the holidays. When you want a healthy holiday side with some greens in it, this is the dish for you. It’s the perfect compliment to serve alongside Turkey, Lentil Loaf or whatever you may be serving.
- Gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options. This recipe is a great one that most diet types will be able to enjoy. To make this recipe vegan just replace the butter with oil.
Green Beans Almondine ingredients
- Green beans: it’s important to use fresh green beans in this recipe for the best taste! These are also sometimes referred to as french beans and string beans, which are the same thing.
- Shallots: compared to onions, shallots have a more delicate and sweet flavour and aren’t overpowering in this recipe.
- Garlic: make sure to use fresh garlic in this recipe.
- Almonds: when it comes to almonds, you can use sliced almonds, slivered almonds or even just roughly chop some whole almonds.
- Lemon zest: just a hint of lemon zest adds brightness to the dish.
- Butter and/or olive oil: I like to use a combination of butter and olive oil, but you can also use just one or the other. If making this recipe vegan, just use olive oil.
What is blanching?
Blanching is a cooking technique where food (usually vegetables) is cooked in hot or boiling water for a short period of time and then placed in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.
Blanching is usually done to slightly “pre-cook” and soften the vegetable before continuing with a recipe.
Fun fact: the process of blanching green beans also helps to preserve their bright green colour and will make the final dish look even better!
For Greens Beans Almondine, we blanch the green beans to help slightly soften them before sauteing them in the pan.
If the green beans are added to the pan raw, they won’t cook through well. If the green beans are added to the pan after fully boiling and cooking, they’ll end up soft and mushy.
How do you blanch green beans?
To blanch green beans, boil water in a large pot then add the green beans and cook for 3 minutes. While the green beans are cooking, prepare a large bowl with ice water.
Once the beans are cooked, drain them and transfer the beans to the bowl of ice water for 2 minutes to stop the cooking process. After 2 minutes drain the beans.
How to make Green Beans Almondine
Step 1
Once the green beans are blanched, set them aside and heat the butter and oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add the shallots, garlic and almonds and saute until the almonds toast and become lightly brown.
Step 2
Add the green beans and lemon zest and saute for 3-4 minutes until the green beans are tender. The beans should be tender and soft, but slightly crisp. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.
How to prepare this recipe ahead of it
If you want to prepare this recipe ahead of time to speed things up at dinner time, cook and blanch the green beans and then store them in the fridge. When it’s time to eat, prepare the rest of the ingredients.
(*I’ve also tested this recipe by fully preparing it from start to finish and reheating it at dinner time in a large pan. If you do this, cook the beans in the pan initially for 2 minutes, then cook again for another 2-3 minutes when it’s time to serve them.)
Serving suggestions
There are so many great recipes that green beans almondine can be served with. Here are some suggestions.
- Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole
- Quinoa Kale Salad With Sweet Potato
- Vegetarian Pot Pie
- Lentil Moussaka
- Lentil Burgers
- Vegetarian Stuffed Acorn Squash
- Stuffed Pepper Soup
How to store and reheat green beans
Store any leftover green beans in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat the green beans in a skillet on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Tips for making this recipe perfectly
- Don’t skip blanching. Blanching is an important step for this recipe that will slightly pre-cook the green beans so they are they saute easily in the pan. If you skip this step the green beans won’t cook properly when sauteeing.
- Use fresh green beans. While you can technically use frozen green beans for this recipe, they definitely won’t taste as good. If you can, try and use fresh green beans.
- Add any seasoning you like. If there are any spices or seasonings you enjoy feel free to add them to the green beans! If you like some spice try adding a few chili flakes.
Green Beans Almondine FAQ
Almondine and Amandine are the same dishes, just with different spellings. It is common in North America to call the dish Green Beans Almondine.
Green beans can be purchased up to 7 days in advance and can be stored in the crisper in the fridge. Though the fresher the green beans the better they will be!
Yes. This recipe can be prepped ahead of time. I recommend slightly undercooking the beans if prepping in advance and then finishing the cooking process right before serving.
For this recipe, I highly recommend blanching the green beans for best results.
Yes, but if using toasted almonds you won’t need to toast them in the pan. Instead, saute the shallots and garlic together and then add the almonds in with the green beans.
More side dishes to enjoy
If you tried this Green Beans Almondine or any other recipe on the blog let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment/rating below! Be sure to follow along on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook for even more deliciousness!
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Green Beans Almondine
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Side
- Method: Saute
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 pound green beans
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
- 1 medium shallot, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil and add the green beans. Cook for 3 minutes then drain and transfer the green beans to a large bowl of ice water for 1-2 minutes then drain. (This will stop the cooking process and help keep the beans bright green.)
- Heat the butter and olive oil in a large pan on medium heat, then add the sliced almonds, shallots and garlic and let cook for 3 minutes or until the almonds start to brown.
- Add the green beans and lemon zest and saute for 3-4 minutes until the beans are tender.
- Season with salt and pepper and then transfer to a serving dish.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6th of the recipe
- Calories: 75
- Sugar: 1g
- Fat: 5g
- Carbohydrates: 6.5g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 2.5g
