Green beans cooked with lots of bacon and onion and coated in a sweet, salty, and sour sauce make one of the best side dishes ever. The kind of side dish where you don’t even care if there is a main dish.
My favorite way to cook green beans is this Southern-Style Green Bean recipe, but this is a close second. It’s kind of like a German potato salad only with green beans.
Type of Green Beans to Use
I like to use fresh green beans but you could certainly use canned or frozen. You can use either regular green beans or the thinner French-style.
The sweet and sour flavor primarily comes from sugar and apple cider vinegar. Bacon adds even more saltiness. Onions are cooked in the bacon grease to add even more bacon flavor.
Sweet and Sour Green Beans are so easy to make with ingredients you most likely already have on hand.
Even if you’re not typically a fan of green beans, this recipe is a must try. I don’t think there will be any leftovers.
Make Them Spicy
These green beans have lots of sweet and sour flavor. If you want to add some spice, add up to a half teaspoon of caynne pepper.
How To Store
Leftovers will keep for 4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat on the stovetop or in a microwave.
More Ways To Cook Green Beans
- Candied Green Beans
- Green Beans with Bacon Breadcrumbs
- Smothered Cajun Green Beans
- Maple-Glazed Green Beans
- Crispy Fried Green Beans
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Watch the short video below to see how easy this recipe is to make.
Sweet and Sour Green Beans
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 pounds fresh green beans,, ends trimmed
- 5 slices thick-cut bacon
- 1/2 medium sweet onion,, chopped
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Place green beans in a large pot of salted water. Bring to a boil. Simmer 12 to 15 minutes. Drain.
- Chop bacon into bite-sized pieces and cook until crisp in a large nonstick pan or cast iron skillet. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add onion to bacon drippings and cook until softened.
- Add remaining ingredients to pan and stir to mix.
- Add green beans to pan and toss to coat in the sauce. Continue to cook 1-2 minutes, stirring often so that the green beans pick up as much flavor as possible.
- Sprinkle bacon on top and serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Originally posted June 5, 2016
Tasty side dish!
I love this recipe. I have made it a few times and my brother even asked me for the recipe!! 😊. I keep bacon fat in a jar in my fridge to just use a little when I want it. I have fried bacon in fridge too so I can warm and crumble it on right before serving
Thanks
DELICIOUS! Absolutely wonderful. Not too sweet, and just the right amount of flavor. I added a couple TBS of ketchup to thicken up the sauce a bit. EVERYONE LOVED IT!
This was excellent! It is now my “go to” for beans. I added potatoes, as someone else suggested.
Really good, we didn’t exactly measure everything, and didn’t include the salt, but it’s really good and fairly easy to make.
If I use canned beans, how many cans would this call for?
OK, but nothing special. I was hoping for something quite tasty, and was disappointed. Will not make this again, but will try recipes from other sites.
Why in the world would you post something like this? No one likes all recipes for sure. It is a suggestion my friend. If you don’t care for it, pass on it. But to say you are going to other sites sounded mean spirited. There are other recipes for green beans here. However if you still don’t like them, then yes move on but please keep your snarky remarks to your lonely self.
Delicious and so southern….
Beautiful paired it with crispy fried potatoes and baked ham with pineapple casserole 👅
Can you use canned green beans???
Recipe says you can.
This may be a good recipe but the advertisements cover up the directions until you cannot read the directions. You cannot “x” them out. AAA is particularly egregious. I know you have to have advertisements but they should not be allowed to cover the directions.
I am so sorry. That is a glitch when that happens. You can try refreshing the page.
This was soooo good!
I’ve made it a few times,
I made it without the worcestershire sauce once, excellent, and I added mushrooms once..excellent
I’ve served it cold and hot, either way is excellent t….cold with cols Salmon or Cod and crusty bread and blistered cherry tomatoes was excellent!!