Use Up Onions and Bacon Grease for Country Style Green Beans
- Heidi
- Mar 23
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 30
Because our whole family loves these simple Country Style Green Beans, I almost always prepare green beans this way. Cooked in a heap of bacon grease with minced onion cubes, then cooked al dente. So scrumptious!
Do you have green beans to eat up? Simply cook them in bacon grease and onions for some super delicious flavor. Fresh are best, but use what you've got!
A Sad Green Bean Story
I ate few fresh vegetables as a child. Not because I didn’t like them, but because we couldn’t afford them. Sad, I know. I do remember however, occasionally eating canned “green” beans. More gray, really. Better than nothing, but not something I desire at all today (nope, not even in green bean casserole) nor choose to feed to my family.
Confession: there was a short time that I do recall buying baby food that was once “green beans” before I started making almost all our kids' baby food. Truly, I can’t imagine that much nutrients remains after the intense heat of the industrial canning process. Hence the gray color of the beans once poured from the tin can.
A Good Green Bean Story
One sweet memory of my daughter, when she was a tiny toddler riding in the seat of the grocery cart, she always asked for raw green beans as a snack while we shopped. No joke! I called her my little bunny rabbit because she loved raw vegetables. She still does!
Today, I actually really enjoy green beans, especially smothered in onions and bacon. Mmm! They are on our regular side dish meal rotation. We like to serve them beside homemade burgers, meatballs, spaghetti, and so on. They are savory and satisfying, especially with a bit of crunch left when cooked til they're bright green and just barely tender; al dente. Yes, please!
We don’t grow them here on the homestead, not since they failed in our first garden in '22, but I gladly accept my mom-in-law’s surplus, and anyone else who wants to share. I definitely load up at the farmer’s market. Once those are eaten up, I buy frozen organic. (They are frozen when they are in peak and plentiful, so they still have great flavor.) Yep, we eat Country Style Green Beans year round!
Ideally, you cook the bacon fresh. Pull the bacon from the pan, leaving a couple tablespoons of bacon grease. Then sauté the onions a few minutes. Next, toss in the beautiful GREEN beans. That’s all there is to it. Super easy and delicious every time!
Here's the List of Ingredients
2-3 slices of raw bacon, if none is on hand, use 2 Tbl bacon grease from reserve
1 lb green beans, fresh or frozen (no need to thaw)
2 minced onion cubes, or 1/2 cup fresh
1/2 tsp sea salt (we love Redmond Real). Add more to taste.
Instructions
Brown bacon in cast iron skillet, or frying pan. Pull cooked bacon from pan and set aside on a napkin or paper towel. Keep about two tablespoons of beautiful golden bacon grease in the pan. If you've got more than that, pour it very carefully into a mason jar for later use.
Then, place the onion in the bacon grease and cook several minutes until browned and fragrant.
Add green beans to the saute'd onion and stir. Cook 5-10 minutes, until just tender and have a bit of crunch to them. If using frozen, as I am here, you can place a lid onto your pan for them to steam a few minutes, until thawed through. They will likely need drained a bit after they thaw.
After draining any excess water, add your glorious salt. More to taste. Mmm.
Grab that cooked, cooled bacon, and crumble it on top of the cooked green beans and set it on the table. Enjoy a heaping pile of these Country Style Green Beans. Hope you love them as much as we do!
Yield: this feeds 4-5. Double it for a bigger group around your table.
Blessings, y'all! ~Heidi
"So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
1 Corinthians 10:31
