Southern Green Beans and Potatoes with Bacon
Southern green beans and potatoes with bacon is an easy summer recipe to use up your garden fresh green beans. Learn how to cook this classic on the stovetop or the slow cooker. This tasty Southern comfort food is simple to make ahead for your next potluck.
Servings: 10 servings
Calories: 138kcal
Ingredients
- 5 slices smoked bacon
- 1 tablespoon bacon fat rendered from bacon
- 1 heaping cup yellow onion chopped
- 2 tablespoon garlic cloves minced
- 4 cups fresh green beans cut into 1 ½ inch lengths
- 4½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 pounds small to medium red potatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Cook the meat in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp. Flip each slice over halfway through the cooking. Transfer it to a paper towel-lined plate and blot off the excess grease, then let it cool and cut into ¼-inch pieces.
- Drain all the grease from the pot into a small bowl. Add one tablespoon back into the Dutch oven, and put the extra grease in the fridge to harden and dispose of later.
- Turn the heat to medium-high and saute the onion in the grease until soft, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in the green beans, chicken stock, and ¼ teaspoon of black pepper, then cover. Bring to a boil, and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
- While the green beans cook, prep the potatoes by scrubbing them and cutting them into quarters or eighths for larger ones, or halves for smaller ones. Make sure the potato pieces are similar in size.
- Add the potatoes to the pot. If they aren't fully covered with liquid, pour in 1½ cups of filtered water. Sprinkle the salt and red pepper flakes on top. Cover the pot, and let simmer for another 20 minutes or until they are fork tender.
- Transfer to a serving bowl and stir in ½ cup of the crumbled bacon. Garnish with the remaining bacon and a few grinds of black pepper. Serve warm.
Notes
- Use good quality, organic frozen green beans if fresh beans aren't available.
- Choose between red, Yukon gold or yellow. You'll have mushy potatoes if you use russet or baking potatoes.
- For slow cooker instructions: Cook the bacon, onions, and garlic on the stovetop, then transfer to the slow cooker. Finish by adding the remaining ingredients and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours.
- Peel the center strip off a new baby red potato before cooking for a fancier look.
- If you don't want to be wasteful, keep the pot liquor for another batch of green beans or for using in vegetable soup.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 138kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 419mg | Potassium: 677mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 318IU | Vitamin C: 15mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 2mg
