These roasted green beans prove they have a lot to offer beyond the usual holiday casserole. Roasting them concentrates and elevates their flavor, creating a quick side dish that complements almost any meal.
Easy Roasted Green Beans
Roasted green beans can be a real revelation if you usually only prepare them steamed or cooked into a rich holiday casserole. Roasted green beans in an oven stay vividly green rather than losing their color, and roasting concentrates their subtle flavors.
If you’re in a rut where green beans are concerned, give this recipe a try. (Seriously, you’ll thank us later.) There are plenty of other great recipes for green beans on this site, but roasted beans stand out for their simplicity, great flavor and versatility as a side dish.
Roasted Green Beans Recipe Ingredients
- Green beans: Fresh green beans are a less common choice as a roasted vegetable, but they’re flavorful and retain much of their bright color.
- Shallots: Shallots’ mild and slightly sweet onion flavor complements and enhances the flavor of the beans.
- Garlic cloves: The generous use of fresh garlic in this recipe flavors the beans boldly.
- Olive oil: The oil helps brown the green beans, and protects the shallots and garlic from scorching.
Directions
Step 1: Prepare the beans
Heat your oven to 425°F. In a large bowl, combine the green beans, shallots and garlic. Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil, sprinkle them with the salt and pepper, and toss them until they’re well coated. Divide the beans between two 15×10-inch baking pans, coating with cooking spray.
Step 2: Roast the beans
Roast the vegetables for 15 to 20 minutes, until they’re tender and lightly browned, stirring occasionally.
Roasted Green Beans Recipe Variations
- Tweak the flavor profile: Green beans lend themselves to a lot of different add-ins and flavor combinations, all of them equally tasty. Elevate the finished beans with a sprinkle of lemon zest and some toasted walnuts for an Instagram-worthy side dish. Beans with almonds is a classic combination, and you can roast them together on the same pan. Beans and sesame are also great together; try tossing sesame seeds in the oil with the beans. Serve them with tahini as a dip. Alternatively, go in an Asian direction by adding soy sauce and a smidge of honey or brown sugar to the bowl when you toss the beans, and finish them with a drizzle of sesame oil.
- Change the vegetable: Lots of other vegetables benefit from the same cooking method as these green beans. The obvious substitutions are fresh yellow beans or cut-up “yard-long” Asian beans, which are interchangeable with regular green beans. Brassicas are especially good this way, notably halved Brussels sprouts and broccoli or cauliflower florets. Florets cook in about the same time as beans, you can cook them together, but Brussels sprouts will need 5 to 10 minutes longer and should go on a sheet pan of their own.
How to Store Roasted Green Beans
Cover and refrigerate any leftover green beans after the meal.
Can I make roasted green beans ahead of time?
You can if you need to, though their texture and color are at their best and brightest when they’re freshly roasted. Make them up to a day ahead and reheat them in a low oven until they’re heated through. Alternatively, prep the beans ahead of time but leave them in their bowl with the oil, shallots and garlic until it’s almost mealtime. Your prep and cleanup will already be done, and you’ll just need to invest 15 or 20 minutes to roast the beans.
How long will oven-roasted green beans keep?
Most leftovers are good for three to four days in the fridge, but vegetable side dishes such as this one (without any perishable add-ins) can keep for up to five days.
Roasted Green Bean Tips
Should the beans be tender-crisp or completely cooked?
That’s a matter of personal preference. Some people like their beans tender-crisp, while others don’t enjoy veggies that squeak when they’re chewed and prefer them fully cooked and tender. There’s even a case to be made for cooking the beans past tender, to the point of being lightly charred, which brings out their natural sweetness. Try them a few different ways and see how you like them best. You may even opt to roast them differently from meal to meal, depending what else you’re serving.
What if I don’t have shallots?
Shallots are a very cool member of the allium family, with a mild, sweet onion flavor but a shape like big garlic cloves. They’re usually available in higher-end grocery stores, but the best place to get them is Asian markets where they’re less costly. If you don’t have shallots on hand, scallions (the white part of green onions) are a good substitute and so are sweet onions. You can also use ordinary yellow or red onion, which will sweeten and caramelize as they roast. You can tone down their onion flavor by rinsing or soaking them briefly in cold water and then draining them well.
What should I serve the beans with?
Roasted green beans are a light and versatile side dish. You can treat them as a bright and complementary side dish for low-fat, heart-healthy dinners. On the other hand, you can also use them to provide a light, clean-flavored contrast to rich comfort-food meals. They’ll work just fine either way. You can also fine-tune the beans’ flavors to match the rest of the meal with add-ins, toppings or garnishes.
Easy Roasted Green Beans
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
15 min
Yield
8 servings
Ingredients
- 2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed
- 2 shallots, thinly sliced
- 6 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425°. In a large bowl, combine green beans, shallots and garlic; drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Transfer to two 15x10x1-in. baking pans coated with cooking spray.
- Roast vegetables 15-20 minutes or until tender and lightly browned, stirring occasionally.
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