The Daring Gourmet

Grappling Each Dish By The Horns

Sign up for our newsletter!
No SPAM. Ever.Check out our privacy policy
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Home & Garden
  • Travel
  • Work With Me
  • Contact
  • Shop

Home » Food » By Course » Side Dishes » Southern-style Green Beans with Caramelized Onions and Bacon

Southern-style Green Beans with Caramelized Onions and Bacon

November 27, 2013 by Kimberly Killebrew · 4 Comments

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. See my disclosure policy.

98 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email

Green Beans with Bacon 1 sm

Green beans, depending on how they’re prepared, can be either just “tolerable” or they can be something that are actually enjoyable to eat.  This recipe makes eating green beans a pleasure.  You won’t find yourself gulping them down just so you can clear your plate and pat yourself on the back for the accomplishment – you’ll be asking for seconds.  A delicious side dish that’s quick and easy to prepare.

These beans are made “Southern style.”  And that means bacon!  Our family took a week-long trip to the Deep South a couple of months ago.  Among all the sites we wanted to see, one thing I was looking forward to in particular was enjoy traditional Southern food – and lots of it!  And I did.  And I gained weight.  5 pounds to be exact.  In just one week!  But that was okay, I fully anticipated the consequences and dieted every last pound off as soon as we got back.  Oh so worth it!

One of the many places we visited was the cute little town of Dahlonega.  We were there just in time to see a neat collection of scarecrows placed throughout the town center in celebration of the upcoming Dahlonega Scarecrow Stomp.

Green Beans prep 28 Green Beans prep 26

Green Beans prep 20 Green Beans prep 23

The Dahlonega Gold Museum was built in 1836 and originally served as the seat of the Lumpkin (!) county courthouse, the oldest existing courthouse in the State of Georgia.  It was made with local brick containing trace amounts of gold.  It’s one of the most visited historic sites in the State.

Green Beans prep 21

We stopped in the Dahlonega General Store.  They had a bucket of coonskin hats and I really wanted to get one for our 3 year old.  As you can see, he wasn’t having it.  It stayed on all of about 2 seconds.

Green Beans prep 27 Green Beans prep 22

What did however interest him were these:

Green Beans prep 29

We went ahead and bought him one…but he won’t be getting it until he’s at least five, er six…maybe seven…22?

Fortunately we were able to redirect his interest to these and he left the store a happy little boy with a big bag full of them:

Dahlonega Georgia

One of the reasons we visited Dahlonega was to eat at the Smith House.  And that’s where we headed next to enjoy some traditional Southern fare.

Smith House Dahlonega Georgia

The food was served “family style” as is the custom at the Smith House.  They bring the food out, including bowls of practically every kind of traditional Southern side you can think of, and on busy days you share the table with strangers and pass the food around – like one big happy family.

The food tasted great.  Everything had a lot of flavor.  Even the collard greens tasted good – and it quickly became apparent why.  Everything had one ingredient in common:  Bacon grease!  Everything from the creamed corn to the collard greens to the black-eyed peas was cooked with bacon grease and boy oh boy was it ever good!  (The creamed corn was to die for.  I could have eaten the entire bowl myself and then asked for seconds).  Yes, the Southerners really have discovered the secret to making food taste great!

The Smith House Dahlonega Georgia The Smith House Dahlonega Georgia

It was a nice experience and we’ll definitely be paying the Smith House another visit the next time we go to Georgia.

Smith House Dining & Inn on Urbanspoon

So today we’re having some green beans made Southern style:  Let’s hear it for BACON!

And let’s get started!

You’ll need about a pound of fresh green beans for four people.  Bring a pot of water to a boil and boil the beans for 5 minutes.  Immediately drain the beans and dump them into a bowl of ice water.  Let them sit for a minute or two and then thoroughly drain and pat dry. This will keep them from continuing to cook and will give you that nice semi-crunchy end result.

Green Beans prep 1

Dice the bacon.  Tip:  Frozen bacon is much, much easier to dice.

Green Beans prep 2

Fry the bacon until crispy.  Transfer to a plate.

Green Beans prep 3

Melt the butter in the skillet along with the remaining bacon grease and fry the onions until they begin to caramelize, about 7-8 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Green Beans prep 4

Add the green beans along with the salt and pepper and fry for about 5 minutes.  You want them crispy but not crunchy hard.

Green Beans prep 5

Return the bacon to the skillet.

Green Beans prep 6

Stir to combine.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately.

Green Beans prep 9

Say it with me:  “Because everything is better with bacon.”

Southern Style Green Beans with Caramelized Onions and Bacon

5.0 from 3 reviews
Southern-style Green Beans with Caramelized Onions and Bacon
 
Print
: The Daring Gourmet, www.daringgourmet.com
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 pound fresh green beans, washed and trimmed
  • ⅓ pound bacon, diced
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 1 large clove garlic, minced
  • Salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch the green beans for 5 minutes. Immediately drain and dump them into a large bowl of ice water to cool for a couple of minutes. Drain and pat dry.
  2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, fry the bacon until crispy. Transfer to a plate.
  3. Melt the butter in the skillet with the remaining bacon grease and cook the onions until beginning to caramelize, about 7-8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
  4. Add the beans along with about 1 teaspoon salt, and a little pepper, and cook for 5-6 minutes. You want them crisp but not crunchy hard. Return the bacon to the skillet and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
3.2.2158

 

98 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email

4 Comments →

« Jalapeno Apple Pie
Italian Beef Braciole Recipe »

4 Responses

  1. Laura Cartier says

    April 15, 2019 at 9:24 am

    Made these last night with your great recipe for cornish game hens. Absolutely delicious! I foresee making these over and over and ……..

    Reply
    • Laura Cartier says

      April 15, 2019 at 9:26 am

      Almost forgot! The tip to freeze the bacon was a life changer! Wish I had known that tip years ago!

      Reply
    • Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says

      April 15, 2019 at 10:21 am

      I’m so glad, Laura, thank you for the feedback!

      Reply
  2. Anonymous says

    January 28, 2019 at 4:23 pm

    This is delicious!!! Took this dish to a gathering & there were NO left overs to bring back home.
    I will definitely make this again! Yum!

    Reply

Add your Response Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Rate this recipe:  

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

kimberly killebrew the daring gourmet

Welcome!  I’m Kimberly and I share delicious originals, revitalized classics and authentic dishes from around the world.  Come travel the world through your taste buds!

Sign up for our newsletter!

Receive the latest from The Daring Gourmet!

No SPAM. Ever.Check out our privacy policy
  • About
  • Request
  • Contact
  • Privacy

Copyright © 2023 · The Daring Gourmet · All Rights Reserved

  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Home & Garden
  • Travel
  • Work With Me
  • Contact
  • Shop