by Elise Bauer

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Green Beans with Almonds and Thyme

Name: Green Beans with Almonds and Thyme
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: Serves 8
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 lbs of (fresh or frozen) green beans, trimmed; 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter; 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard; 1 teaspoon garlic salt; 2 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme; 1/3 cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted

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Thanksgiving Low Carb Vegetarian Green Bean

EASY Green Beans, blanched then sautéed in butter with thyme and toasted almonds, SO GOOD! Perfect holiday side

Photography Credit: Elise Bauer

Green beans are the labradors of the vegetable world, they just seem to get along with everyone! Which is why you will usually find some incarnation of green beans on a holiday dinner menu.

This simple preparation of green beans, with butter, thyme, and toasted almonds, comes from my friend Heidi in Carlisle Mass, and over the years has become one of my favorites.

More Great Recipes for Green Beans!

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Green Beans with Almonds and Thyme Recipe

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Yield: Serves 8

Ingredients

2 lbs of (fresh or frozen) green beans, trimmed
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1/3 cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted

Method

1 Boil the green beans: Cook the green beans in a large pot of boiling salted water (1 1/2 teaspoons of salt for every quart of water) until just crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

2 Shock the green beans in ice water: Drain the beans and transfer them to a large bowl of ice water, cooling them completely. (The ice water will shock the beans into a vibrant green color.)

Drain the beans well. At this point you can make the beans a day ahead and store in refrigerator.

Alternatively you can steam the beans for 5 minutes and proceed directly to the skillet.

3 Sauté beans with butter and thyme: Melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium high heat. Whisk in half of the fresh thyme (1 Tbsp), the Dijon mustard and garlic salt into the butter.

Add the beans to the skillet and toss until heated through, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl.

4 Sprinkle with toasted almonds and the remaining 1 Tbsp of thyme.

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Elise Bauer

Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.

32 Comments / Reviews

Green Beans with Almonds and Thyme Cancel reply

Leah

Making this for the first time for Thanksgiving. Can I make it 24 hours in advance?? Can’t wait to try it…it looks just like what I’m hoping to add to the table this year, but I’m short on time. Any advice would be appreciated!
- November 25, 2019
- · Reply
Show Replies (1)
- Summer Miller
  
  Hi, Leah — Go ahead and boil then shock the green beans (through Step 2) and chop the thyme the day before. Then right before you want to serve it finish the dish (Step 3 and 4).
  - November 26, 2019
  - · Reply
Deb P

These green bean literally disappeared… even with the kids!

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- · Reply
Brian

I have made these for years. They’re fabulous!

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- · Reply
Show Replies (1)
- Elise Bauer
  
  I’m so glad you like them Brian!
  - · Reply
Cathy Tomasiewicz

My husband goes not eat Green Beans, but I made this and he loved them, and so did I… Yummy.

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- · Reply
Linda

I would like to make these for an open house but wondered how they are when they are no longer warm. They will be made about 3pm and will be out for several hours. I can put them in the microwave if needed, but just thought maybe someone made these for a potluck type event and tasted them when at room temp? Thanks!
- · Reply
Show Replies (1)
- Elise Bauer
  
  Hi Linda, since they are made with butter, they should be served warm. If you want to serve them at room temp, I would make them with olive oil. Not as tasty as butter (of course) but at least you won’t have congealed butter on your beans.
  - · Reply

Girl

I have a real competition…his mom
But he said these were the best green beans he’d ever had! Thanks for the recipe:)

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- · Reply
Kelly Byerly

Going to try this recipe for Christmas, but my husband insists that there is bacon in the green beans. Think I might try your recipe with some crumbled bacon.
- · Reply
- Elise Bauer
  
  We have a couple versions of green beans with bacon. Here is one, and here is another. Both are great!
  - · Reply
erin

I made these tonight and really liked them. I used mostly olive oil with a little bit of butter for flavour. The Dijon complements the green beans really well, and I especially liked the toasted almonds.

Thanks for another great recipe!
- · Reply
Gina

I just tried this recipe tonight and WOW! Everyone loved these beans! My son does not even like green beans but he loved this recipe. The only thing I did differently was use a spicy dijon mustard. This is a keeper!!
- · Reply
Leigh

Just thought I should comment to say I’ve been using this green bean recipe for quite awhile and now it is the only way I make green beans! So good for a side dish with any meal any time! We make these a lot when we grill chicken or steaks. Thank you so much!

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- · Reply
Melissa

So simple and elegant! Made these for a post-holiday gathering, I blanched the beans the night before to make it easier on myself…the vegetarian loved them and the meat and potato people asked for the recipe! :)

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- · Reply
Sara

Every year I try a different green bean recipe and they always seem plain and not quite savory enough to blend with the rest of the offerings. None-the-less, my children (teenagers) insist they are essential (ie–don’t substitute Brussels sprouts!) I’d like to try this recipe this year but I am a little worried about the Dijon–can you reassure me it is not overpowering?

I don’t find the mustard overpowering at all. But if you think you might, I would recommend starting out with a smaller amount. ~Elise
- · Reply
Violet Pan

Wonderful green bean recipe. I used to cook this one while I was living in Bankok :)
- · Reply
Miriam

Can I use Spice brown mustard instead? I don’t have dijon mustard. But I really want to make this dish!

Sure, should work fine. ~Elise
- · Reply
Estela @ Weekly Bite

I love how you compare green bean to labradors. So true!

I love this dish! Green beans and almonds is one of my favorites!
- · Reply
Christine Miller

I was wondering, if I use a bag of frozen green beans can I omit the blanching. Don’t they do that prior to freezing them?

Good question. I think they do blanch before freezing. I usually cook fresh green beans (available most of the year here in California), so don’t know what to tell you about the frozen ones. ~Elise
- · Reply
Janice

I was in the process of making green beans tonight. I slowly sauteed garlic slivers in olive oil with red pepper flakes. After reading this recipe, I added the thyme, mustard and silvered
almonds. Great recipe.. the mustard gives a nice flavor to the beans.
- · Reply
camille washington

I don’t have any mustard, can I still make this dish. Thank you!

Yes, though it won’t be as good. If you don’t have mustard, you might want to sprinkle the beans with a little vinegar when they are done. ~Elise
- · Reply
Mike

Thanks for this recipe! This, like all of the recipes I’ve tried from your site was wonderful.I made this last night and it was great. I did modify the recipe a bit. I cooked the butter until it was the slightest bit caramelized, used minced garlic and at the last minute, I threw in a little Pinot Grigio. I’ll definitely be making this again!

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- · Reply
Marie

This recipe also works very well if you substitute olive oil for the butter. We love it, even the kids! Made them originally for Thanksgiving with the butter and they were a hit. Made them again later with the olive oil and no one even noticed the difference.
- · Reply

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Green Beans with Almonds and Thyme

EASY Green Beans, blanched then sautéed in butter with thyme and toasted almonds, SO GOOD! Perfect holiday side

More Great Recipes for Green Beans!