Southern Green Beans and Potatoes

ByTanya
54 Comments
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These Southern Green Beans and Potatoes are the perfect combination of flavors. Green beans and potatoes are cooked until tender in a flavorful broth. Have them on the side of your favorite Southern entree. 

green beans and potatoes in white plate

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One thing that the South is known for is flavorful cooked vegetables. I'm not talking about just steaming or boiling the veggies either. I'm talking about cooking the vegetables in a flavorful broth until nice and tender. 

This broth sometimes referred to as "pot liquor," comes from cooking either greens, like collard greens , or green beans in a broth that is seasoned with smoked meats. Typically, the smoked meats are whole smoked pieces, like ham hocks. When the vegetables are served, their usually smothered with the broth and some people drink the broth all on its own. 

For this green beans recipe, I chose to season the green beans with chicken broth and smoked bacon. I also added red potatoes. Red potatoes won't always be found in a pot of green beans. But for one thing, it doesn't hurt to add it. Serve this dish with Southern favorites like cornbread and meatloaf.

How to make Green Beans and Potatoes

First, gather all your ingredients. Make sure you trim your green beans and wash your produce.

ingredients for green beans and potatoes

Then in a heavy-bottomed pot, add bacon pieces and sauté over medium heat until the bacon starts to cook and curl, about 5 minutes.

Then add chopped onion and sauté until the onions have softened, about 3 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for an additional minute. 

bacon and onions cooking in heavy bottomed pot

Add the trimmed green beans, chicken broth, and butter to the pot and stir. Cover and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cooked covered for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

green beans, chicken broth and other ingredeints in pot

After 20 minutes, add the cut red potatoes and stir. Cover and continue cooking for an additional 15 minutes, until the red potatoes and green beans have softened. 

red potatoes added to the green beans and potatoes in pot

Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper. Serve and enjoy. 

cooked green beans and potato in pot

Substitutions for Green Beans and Potatoes

For this recipe, I opted to use smoked bacon but other smoked meats will do. Try using smoked ham pieces or smoked turkey.

You can also keep this recipe Vegan by eliminating the meat and subbing vegetable broth for the chicken broth.

Can I make this recipe in an Instant Pot?

Yes. For the pressure cooker version, I recommended reducing the amount of broth to 1 cup. Then simply add the ingredients to your Instant Pot and cook for 9 minutes under high pressure. Once finished, allow the pressure to naturally release for 5 minutes and then quickly release any remaining pressure.

Should my green beans be crunchy?

Absolutley not. These beans are meant to be tender and that's what makes them so amazing. Cook them until they are tender but do not cook them to long. Cooking the beans too long will lead to mushy beans.

Looking for other Southern vegetables recipes? Try these out:

green beans and potatoes in bowl
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4.69 from 47 votes

Southern Green Beans and Potatoes

These Southern Green Beans and Potatoes are the perfect combination of flavors. Green beans and potatoes are cooked until tender in a flavorful broth.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 4 people
Calories 318kcal

Ingredients

  • 4 slices thick-cut bacon chopped
  • 1 yellow onion chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 lb green beans trimmed
  • 3 Tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1.5 cups chicken broth
  • ½ lb red potatoes cut into 4ths
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Add bacon pieces in a heavy bottomed pot and sauté over medium heat until the bacon starts to cook and curl, about 5 minutes.
  • Then add chopped onion and sauté until the onions have softened, about 3 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for an additional minute.
  • Add the trimmed green beans, chicken broth, and butter to the pot and stir. Cover and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cooked covered for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • After 20 minutes, add the cut red potatoes and stir. Cover and continue cooking for an additional 15 minutes, until the red potatoes and green beans have softened.
  • Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper. Serve and enjoy.

Notes

  • The red potatoes can be left out if preferred. Keep the cooking time the same. 
  • For the pressure cooker version of this recipe, I recommended reducing the amount of broth to 1 cup. Then simply add the ingredients to your Instant Pot and cook for 9 minutes under high pressure. Once finished, allow the pressure to naturally release for 5 minutes and then quickly release any remaining pressure.

Nutrition

Calories: 318kcal

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54 Comments

  3. This recipe is absolutely delicious!!!! I am of Latino decent (my Husband is African American)so I naturally use lots of spices. The ingredients in this recipe had a super good flavor! We really enjoyed this and I DEFINITELY will ne making it again and again and again 😉

    Thanks guys! 😍

    Reply

  4. 5 stars
    Made this tonight and served it with a store rotisserie chicken and StoveTop cornbread stuffing (my daughter added a spoonful of pot liquor to her stuffing). My 6-year old grandson made a simple cucumber salad.

    The beans and potatoes made this semi-homemade meal special. Wonderful recipe and thanks for sharing.

    I’ll be making it again.

    Reply

  6. Greetings from So. Cal! This recipe is DELICIOUS! On the stove now, and the aroma is permeating our whole apartment! We like pepper, so I go a little overboard on the “to taste” direction, and used a bit more broth (no need to refrigerate a carton with less than 1/2 cup left!). Otherwise, following your recipe. Serving it alongside pork chops…can’t wait! Thanks for a great recipe!

    Reply

  8. 5 stars
    At age 70, I still miss my grandmother's southern cooking. This recipe is as good, maybe even better. If I had fresh picked from the garden beans like she had, I would think I'd died and gone to heaven. Even with mediocre grocery store beans, it's still an amazing recipe. Thank you!

    Reply

  10. Add a little slap ya mamma or Dano's really tops it off. I'm from Louisiana so we like ours with so heat

    Reply

  11. Made it this evening. Followed the recipe exactly except added some sliced mushrooms and a bit more broth. Excellent! Will make this again.

    Reply

  13. I'm making it now along with grilled bourbon seasoned chicken breast, butter and garlic pasta and for desert, pineapple upside down cake. I'll let you know when I'm finished but it's smelling good already.

    Reply

  14. 5 stars
    Im making this now along with bourbon seasoned chicken breast, corn bread, butter and garlic pasta and a pineapple upside down cake.

    Reply

  15. Delicious!. I followed the recipe and bought a pack of The Little Potato Company Potatoes, Fresh Creamer, Garlic Parsley (1 lb) cut them in 4ths and used their seasoning packet. My husband next day is still saying mmm mmm good!

    Reply

  16. Love green beans and taters! I make them this way, and add garlic to add dimension in flavor. My family including the two year old grandbaby loves garlic. Lol

    Reply

  17. 5 stars
    Very, very good. Even when made with green beans that were a leeetle bit past their prime.

    Many thanks for this.

    Joe

    Reply

  18. 5 stars
    This was my first time making green beans and these were delicious. I’m from Tennessee and these remind me of the ones my mom used to make. I made these for one of my holiday dinners. I’ll be making these again, for sure!

    Reply

  19. 5 stars
    Cooked these just now for an early lunch. My kids are visiting. They've already asked if they can take the leftovers home. Lol

    Reply

  22. I made this for dinner along with baked chicken and the green beans were out of sight 😋👍🏾Thanks for sharing !

    Reply

  23. 5 stars
    My family, and even extended family, loves when I make these with a ham hock or salt pork (bacon too). However, I cook them for a couple of hours like Mama and Granny did and then add the potatoes for the last bit of cooking. Beans never get "mushy", or at least I've never heard complaints. This recipe is perfect for the slow cooker too, if feeding a lot of people, but again adding taters at the end of cooking. Your recipe is absolutely on point for southern beans (except I like longer cook time). Just perfect. I'm going to try your braised lamb loin chops using the braise function on my Ninja possiblepro cooker tomorrow because if you know how to cook southern beans then I'm counting on the chops being delicious too.

    Reply

  24. 5 stars
    I made this last night along with soup beans and cornbread and let me tell you I was transported right back to childhood in Kentucky with my dad's family. I veganized this by using v chicken broth and v bacon and it was delicious! Thank you!

    Reply

  25. Can you use white potatoes and not red, also if you do not
    have fresh green beans what kind of green beans could be used? Thank you GBU

    Reply

    1. Hi Mercedes, you can use white potatoes, that would work fine. You could use canned green beans or even frozen, you would need to adjust the time you add the beans. I would only cook them for 20 minutes, along with the potatoes.

      Reply

  26. 5 stars
    Unbelievably perfect!!!! I made a side of overnight rubbed boneless skinless thin chicken thighs, and just slightly overcooked them in the air fryer and BOY!!!! Did that bird not just rock mopping up that delicious liquor!!!!! Well done!!! Love your recipes for real, yet elegant, food!! ❤️

    Reply

  27. 5 stars
    This is exactly how my Southern Granny made these green beans except...she cooked them to death (We love them this way) and made a slurry of brown sugar and apple cider vinegar in equa1 parts adding this toward the end.

    Reply

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