This easy recipe is straight from Grandmother's kitchen! It's old fashioned comfort food the whole family will love.
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❤️ Why you'll love it
- Make them on top of the stove or in the crockpot.
- Made with simple ingredients.
- Even picky eaters will love this recipe.
- They are delicious!
Southern style green beans and potatoes is a perfect side dish everyone should have in their recipe box! Those snap beans get so tender and just soak up the flavor from the bacon fat and onions until they are mouthwateringly perfect.
The wonderful aromas that waft through the house when they are cooking is enough to make you want to gnaw on the door frame - seriously delish!
🧾 Ingredients
You can leave the sugar out for sure but there's not a lot and it really wakes up the flavor of the green beans and potatoes!
I use the baby potatoes - either red or Yukon Gold. If you are lucky enough to be close to the farmers market look for "new potatoes".
🔪 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.
Always start with the freshest vegetables possible for this southern green beans recipe. There will be a huge difference in flavor.
Step one
- Wash the beans by putting them in a large dishpan filled with cold water. Remove any stems.
- "Snap" them into smaller pieces.
- Wash the potatoes and rub them gently with your fingers. Be sure to get the dirt out of the little indentations. If there are any small sprouts break them off but don't peel the potatoes.
Step two
- Saute the bacon in a heavy dutch oven.
- Remove the bacon to a plate and set aside.
- Add the onions to the dutch oven and saute in the bacon grease until tender.
Step three
- Add the potatoes, beans, sugar, salt, and pepper to the large saucepan and then add water to cover.
- Bring to a boil on medium high heat.
- Turn the heat down to keep the water at a simmer.
- Simmer for 45 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated.
- Stir in the cooked bacon before serving. Add a little butter if you like.
Slow Cooker Instructions
It's easy to make slow cooker green beans and potatoes!
- Saute the bacon as directed. Remove to a plate, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
- Saute the onions in the bacon grease until soft. Transfer the onions to a slow cooker.
- Add the green beans, potatoes, salt, pepper, and sugar.
- Add enough water to the slow cooker to come to the level of the top of the vegetables or slightly cover them
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4.
- Remove to a large bowl with a slotted spoon and stir in the bacon before serving.
🎥 Video
Click on the image to watch me make this recipe from start to finish with extra tips! (Video opens in a new tab).
🥫 Storage
Store the cooked green beans and potatoes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days.
This dish does not freeze well because of the potatoes. You can pick the potatoes out and freeze the green beans if you wish.
📖 Variations
- You can use canned beans if you like but they are not nearly as good. Use about 60 ounces that have been well drained.
- You can use chunks of ham or a ham bone instead of bacon but you'll need to cut back on the salt.
- Try chicken stock or vegetable stock instead of water for even more flavor.
- A couple of cloves of garlic are good, too.
- Make this a main dish by slicing up some smoked sausage in it.
- Add a few red pepper flakes.
💭 Things to know
Expert Tip: Choose bright green string beans that feel firm and break with a "snap". Avoid any that have bruises or discoloration. Good beans will snap easily and cleanly when fresh.
- For the best results always use fresh ingredients.
- If some of the potatoes are much larger than others cut them in half so they will cook evenly.
- Don't use russet potatoes - they break down during the long cooking time. Use either the little red potatoes (new potatoes) or the baby Yukon Gold potatoes.
Try this slow cooker green beans with ham. It has similar flavors but it's the perfect way to use up leftover ham.
👩🍳 FAQs
Here are the questions I am most frequently asked about this recipe. It's one of our favorite side dishes!
Ham, ham hock, bacon, onion, garlic, cook them in chicken broth - or any combination! Be sure to add butter since fat carries and intensifies flavor.
Garlic, onions, seasoning salt, thyme, or crushed red peppers are some of my favorite seasonings for green beans.
Nothing. Those are all words for the same basic vegetable.
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You'll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
- Large pot or dutch oven
- Cutting board
- fresh green beans
- new potatoes or fingerling potatoes
- cracked pepper
- bacon
- onion
- sugar
📞 The last word
- My mom grew yellow "wax" beans as well as the string beans. She'd mix them together in the pot and, let me tell you, the color combination was beautiful. If you can find both give it a try.
- If the beans have big, swollen spots it means they have started to produce big seeds and they're not going to be very good.
- If they seem to be leathery they're old and dried out. Toss them.
- Add a little squeeze of lemon juice to brighten them up.
Mom always said many hands make light work. Snapping fresh green beans was something we did together.
We'd sit out on the porch, drink sweet tea, and talk while we snapped the big tub of string beans she'd collected from the garden. I'll tell ya, I got more out of those casual conversations than all of the "instruction" in the world.
Those casual moments are the times we learn the most about our kids, when we have the opportunity to listen and the opportunity to be heard.
One of my favorite meals (so comforting!) is meatloaf, these green beans and potatoes, and a dish of maple roasted carrots!
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Green Beans and Potatoes
Print Pin Recipe SaveEquipment Needed
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon
- 2 pounds green beans
- 1 pound new potatoes
- 2 cups onion
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
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Instructions
Step one
- Wash the green beans and remove any stems.
- "Snap" them into smaller pieces.
- Wash the potatoes but don't peel them.
Step two
- Saute the bacon in a heavy dutch oven.
- Remove the bacon to a plate and set aside.
- Add the onions to the dutch oven and saute in the bacon grease until tender.
Step three
- Add the potatoes, green beans, sugar, salt, and pepper to the big pot and then add water to cover.
- Bring to a boil on medium-high heat then turn heat down and simmer for 45 minutes or until most of the liquid evaporates.
- Stir in bacon before serving. Add butter if you like.
Slow cooker instructions
- Follow step one and two above.
- Add the potatoes, onions, green beans, salt, pepper, and sugar to the slow cooker.
- Add water until it just covers the beans.
- Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4.
- Remove the green beans and potatoes to a serving bowl with a slotted spoon and stir in the bacon before serving.
Notes
- Choose bright green string beans that feel firm and break with a "snap". Avoid any that have bruises or discoloration. Good beans will snap easily and cleanly when fresh.
- You can use canned beans if you like but they are not nearly as good. Use about 60 ounces that have been drained.
- For the best results always use fresh ingredients.
- If some of the potatoes are much larger than others cut them in half so they will cook evenly.
- Don't use russet potatoes - they break down during the long cooking time. Use either the little red potatoes (new potatoes) or the baby Yukon Gold potatoes
- My mom grew yellow "wax" beans as well as the string beans. She'd mix them together in the pot and, let me tell you, the color combination was beautiful. If you can find both give it a try.
- If the beans have big, swollen spots it means they have started to produce big seeds and they're not going to be good.
- If they seem to be leathery they're old and dried out. Toss them.
- Add a little squeeze of lemon juice to brighten them up.
Nutrition Facts
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We'll never share your email or send you spam. Pinkie swear.First published May 3, 2021. Last updated December 5, 2022 for editorial content.
Barb
Love this recipe. Have made several times and they are always a hit.
Lisa
We put fresh parsley in ours. Use a little water and a beef bone for flavor. No salt as it is a no, no for my husband. Still good.
June Chandler
This looks really good and easy. Will have to try it out
Deborah
I grew up eating these. Always good. We still eat them. I do sometimes add a bit of chopped onion as well. So so good!