Caramelized Green Beans with Bacon (2024)

If you haven’t tried these caramelized green beans, your life is about to change. They are sweet, salty, smoky, perfection! Fresh green beans, caramelized onions, and crispy bacon are coated in a sweet and savory glaze. This is one of the rare green bean recipes that all my kids eat like candy. This recipe comes from Ohana at the Polynesian Resort in Disneyworld, so you know it’s going to be good.

Ingredient Notes

• Soy sauce – You can use regular or reduced sodium soy sauce. I prefer Aloha brand, personally.I think it has the best flavor, far and away!
  
• Green beans – Use fresh beans from the produce section here.My favorite are the “french” style, which are thinner than standard green beans and require less trimming. Costco often sells bags of these in their refrigerated produce section.
  
• Bacon – Grab your favorite bacon. Regular or thick cut will work great.
  
• Onion – Red onion is preferred but you could use yellow or white if you need to.
  
• Garlic – you’ll want to use fresh garlic cloves in this recipe.
  

How to Make Caramelized Green Beans

1. Begin by frying the bacon in a large skillet. You will eventually cook all the green beans in this pan so choose accordingly. Then start boiling a large pot of water. Place beans in a colander and rinse them well. Then snap the ends off and snap them in half.

2. Prepare the sauce by mixing sugar and soy sauce in a small bowl.

3. Make sure your onions are sliced, garlic is pressed or minced, and everything is ready to go.

4. Remove bacon from pan and drain on a paper towel. Remove all but 2-3 tablespoons bacon drippings from the pan (You may not need to remove any if it didn’t render more than that).

5. Add beans to boiling water. Place colander in a clean sink. Boil for one minute; you’re not cooking them until they’re done, just blanching them to take the edge off. Meanwhile, add the onions and garlic into the pan with the bacon drippings.

6. Add the drained green beans to the skillet. Stir fry 2-3 more minutes until onions are soft.

7. Give your sauce a quick stir and then pour on top of the beans. Keep stir-frying until the beans look shiny and glazed. If you have liquid in the pan keep simmering to evaporate until it turns into a thicker, glossy sauce.

8. Add crumbled bacon and lots of freshly-ground pepper to the beans. Keep stir frying until the sauce sticks to the beans and the bacon. Season with additional salt if necessary. Transfer to a serving dish and allow to stand a few minutes.

FAQs

Can I make these ahead of time?These beans are best made fresh. If you need to prep ahead, feel free to blanch the beans, cook your bacon (don’t forget to reserve some drippings!), and even prep your onions and garlic. That way, everything is ready to pop in the frying pan right before serving time.

Related Recipes

Looking for more great holiday sides? Check out these other Our Best Bites favorites:

• Bacon-Wrapped Green Bean Bundles
• Stuffed Bleu Cheese Potatoes
• Candied Coconut Sweet Potatoes
• Bacon, Apple, Pecan Salad with Maple Dijon Vinaigrette

Did You Make This?

I’d love to hear from you! Snap a picture on tag me onInstagram, then come back and give this recipe a rating!

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