Smothered Green Beans

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Your new favorite side dish is here! These green beans are smothered in a simple sweet and sour sauce with plenty of crumbled bacon.

        This simple side dish is popular enough to be welcomed at your holiday table and easy enough to make it for a regular family meal. The green beans get a ton of flavor from brown sugar, soy sauce, butter and a bit of garlic. Of course the crispy bits of bacon don’t hurt either.

         These green beans might be one of the more popular side dishes I’ve ever made.  The first time I made them 4 of us (including one six year old) ate the whole batch.

         That is almost a whole can of green beans a piece! And there was plenty of other food to go around, so it’s not like we were starving.

        The next time I threw them together thinking it would be just us for dinner. But we had a turkey on the grill, so it seemed a shame not to invite some people to enjoy it with us.

        I immediately regretted not doubling the recipe. The pan was practically licked clean!

       Side dishes are usually a bit hard for me to decide on. It’s hard to get inspired or creative.

        So when I saw a local food facebook star, The Farm Stand, post her famous green beans I was inspired. She caters large events, so her recipe was scaled up quite a bit.

       I scaled it down to a family dinner size and lightened it up just a bit. Going whole hog on the holidays is one thing, but I knew I was making these for just because.

         The vegetable section of my dinner plate is usually something I want to feel good about. So I dialed back the butter and brown sugar a bit.

        Having never had the all in version, we didn’t know we were missing anything.  So we were very happy with the results.

        This recipe is already on repeat at our house and I don’t see that changing any time soon!  You are going to have to give them a try so you can see why we love them so much.

These green beans would go great with:

MiMi’s Baked BBQ Chicken is a great way to have the taste we love off the grill indoors. You can have your bbq chicken no matter the weather, it is an easy and delicious recipe. 

Julie’s Big Batch Sloppy Joes are perfect for a party. They make a roaster full of meat for sandwiches, but the extras freeze well. Just make a huge batch of these green beans and the whole group will be well fed. 

The Best Maid Rite Sandwiches are a fabulous quick and easy meal.  Some people call them tavern burgers or loose meat sandwiches, but here in the midwest we all know them as maid rites.

Honey Mustard Grilled Pork Chops are another great entree.  They cook so quickly that they will likely be done before you can get the side dishes ready!

More fabulous green bean recipes:

If you have fresh beans, try roasting them!  Roasted green beans are super simple, but really tasty. That tender crisp finish is easy to get this way, but you can also cook them even longer for something really special. 

For a more umami finish, try garlic soy green beans in the instant pot.  The pressure cooker helps them get done super quickly!

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