Green beans amandine is a classic dish that’s incredibly simple to make. If you can turn on the stove and stir, you can make this dish. This version, in particular, is quite straightforward, doesn’t require much cooking expertise and will feed a number of people. We call that a win!
You’ll also see this recipe called both “green beans amandine” and “green beans almondine.” Amandine is a French cooking term that essentially means something has been cooked or topped with almonds. Almondine is the English-language version that’s commonly used in the United States. So call it amandine or almondine, whichever you prefer. In either case, the dish remains super enjoyable, and the recipe is perfect for those who want to get more vegetables into their meal rotation without having to do a lot more work in the kitchen.
Ingredients for Green Beans Amandine
- Fresh or frozen green beans: If you use frozen green beans, thaw them first before cooking. You want them to be soft enough to cut easily. Either place them in the refrigerator for a few hours, or run them under cool water for a few minutes.
- Slivered almonds: Slivered almonds can be a bit long, and you can either leave them like that or break them up into smaller segments.
- Butter: Cooking the almonds in butter creates a wonderful brown butter sauce.
- Lemon juice: Adding a little lemon juice brightens the flavor and prevents the dish from tasting too much like butter only. Buttery flavor is good, but it can be overbearing when it’s the only flavor.
- Seasoned salt: This is an optional garnish to give this green bean amandine recipe a little more savory flavor.
Directions
Step 1: Cook the beans
Add the beans and 1/2 cup of water to a large skillet or saucepan. Bring the water to a boil, then cover the pan and cook the beans until they’re crisp-tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain the beans and set them aside.
Step 2: Saute the almonds
In a large skillet, cook the almonds in the butter over low heat; the longer you cook them, the more brown they’ll turn. Stir in the lemon juice and, if desired, add the seasoned salt.
Step 3: Combine the beans and almonds
Add the beans to the skillet and heat the whole mix through.
Green Beans Amandine Variations
- Try adding other spices or sauces: If you want to amp up the flavor without using seasoning salt, try adding other spices and sauces. Cumin, pepper and even a dash of soy or Worcestershire sauce can work.
- Saute some garlic along with the almonds: Sliced or chopped garlic is an excellent addition; add the garlic just before the almonds are done. Or try this recipe for garlic-almond green beans.
How to Store Green Beans Amandine
Place any leftover green beans amandine in an airtight container, and store it in the refrigerator for two to four days.
Can you freeze green beans amandine?
Don’t freeze the leftovers from this green bean amandine dish. The butter sauce won’t freeze and thaw well, and chances are the sauce will separate into watery and fatty layers once it thaws.
Green Beans Amandine Tips
How do you avoid dull-looking green beans?
If you want vividly green beans, blanch the vegetables in already-boiling water instead of dropping them into cold water that you bring to a boil. In a large pan, boil enough water to cover the beans, and add salt. When the water is ready, drop in the green beans and let them boil until they’re crisp-tender, which could be as short as two minutes. Plunge the beans into ice water after that to stop them from cooking further. The blanching and salting (as well as the sudden halt to cooking) should help them stay a brighter green.
Can you use canned green beans?
You can (no pun intended). Canned green beans have a tangy taste compared with fresh beans, so the flavor of the finished green beans amandine recipe may be different. But adding a few more aromatic and umami ingredients can often balance that tangy taste to an extent. Garlic, Worcestershire sauce and other spices help.
Can you use haricots verts?
Yes! Haricots verts are a variety of green bean. They’re usually thinner and straighter, but in the end, they’re still green beans and work perfectly in green beans amandine, as well as in any of these other green bean recipes.
