Green Beans Almondine is a vegetable dish my family requests regularly. I've simplified the cooking process into 10 easy steps and added make-ahead tips, making it easier than ever to prepare at dinner time.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Green beans almondine is a vegetable side dish that can easily steal the spotlight! Whenever I ask my kids what we should serve for dinner guests, they always suggest green beans almondine. They love these beans, and so do our guests.
This delicious side dish is perfect for everyday meals yet elegant enough for holiday dinners and special occasions. My make-ahead tips allow you to prepare these beans in advance and finish them right before serving, making them a convenient and impressive addition to any meal.
Green Beans Almondine
We all need a great recipe that is easy to make but really pulls an entire meal together. These green beans with almonds are that dish!
Fresh green bean almondine is perfect for an elegant dinner or a casual get-together. These green beans are easy to make and you will impress your guests and your family.
Almondine simply means with almonds. The word amandine also describes dishes cooked with almonds. Why the difference? Almondine is typically used in the US while amandine is European.
This recipe blanches the beans first and then they are sauteed with butter and garlic.
If you love green beans, you'll also want to check out this recipe - green beans with bacon!
These tasty green beans go with so many dishes, including a few of our favorites baked halibut, pan seared pork chops and apricot chicken.
Key Ingredients
- Fresh green beans - pick nice firm green beans
- Butter - I use salted butter
- Garlic - adds a lot of flavor to the beans
- Sliced almonds - adds great flavor and crunch
- Lemon juice - fresh squeezed (don't use the bottled stuff) The fresh lemon juice adds a bit of freshness that is a perfect finish to these beans.
How to Make Almondine Green Beans
1. Trim the green beans
- Grab a handful of beans
- Line up one end of green beans
- Cut off the stem part of the bean
- Turn around to the other side
- Cut off the tail end of the bean
2. Blanch the beans
- Blanch in a pot of boiling water for 4-5 minutes
- Remove from boiling water and add to a large bowl filled with ice water
3. Prepare beans
- Melt butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add almonds and cook 3-4 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from pan and set aside.
- In same pan, add garlic and cook for a minute over medium heat
Add beans. Saute for 3-5 minutes until beans are heated through.
- Add almonds and stir
- Turn off heat and squeeze fresh lemon juice over beans.
Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Recipe Tips
- Do not overcook beans when blanching. You want them to be al dente and still have a bit of bite to them.
- Be certain to drain all excess water from the beans
- Prepare beans just before serving. These beans are best served hot.
How To Make In Advance
I often get as much done ahead of time, especially when serving guests or for a holiday menu. Here are my make-ahead tips:
- Wash and trim beans
- Blanch beans in boiling water and then place into an ice bath
- Drain beans
- Place beans in a covered container and refrigerate until needed
- Toast almonds in a saute pan without any butter. Toast just until browned. Remove from pan right away to keep from browning. Store at room temperature until needed.
- Follow remaining steps in recipe, eliminating browning the almonds in butter
How To Serve
These green beans are best served hot. They are one of the last items I finish cooking right before serving. As soon as they are done, I add a squeeze of lemon juice, a bit of coarse salt and slide the beans onto a serving dish. Feel free to garnish with lemon wedges.
Storage Tips
Any leftover green beans almondine should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Reheating Green Bean Almondine
Four ways to reheat green bean almondine:
Microwave: Place beans in a microwave-proof container and heat in the microwave for 30-90 seconds until heated through.
Air Fryer: Preheat air fryer to 375°F. Place green beans in air fryer and heat for 5-8 minutes until fully heated.
Stovetop: Melt a bit of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add green beans and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring often until heated through.
Oven: Preheat oven to 350°F. Place leftover beans on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place in oven for 10-12 minutes until beans are fully warmed.
FAQs
Yes, the leftovers can be reheated either in a skillet over medium heat for 3-4 minutes or for 1 minute in the microwave.
You can blanch the beans up to two days ahead of time. The almonds can be toasted several days ahead of time.
Serving suggestions
Green bean almondine goes great with these dishes:
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @beyondthechickencoop
Be certain to check out all my vegetable recipes here!
Almondine Green Beans
Equipment
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Saute Pan
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh green beans (washed and trimmed)
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup sliced almonds
- 2-3 cloves garlic (minced)
- ½ lemon
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Cook beans for 3-6 minutes in boiling water. Water should be at a rolling boil before you add beans. Taste bean to see if it's cooked enough for your liking.1 pound fresh green beans
- Drain beans in a colander and then cool in a bowl of cold ice water. Once cooled, drain beans again. Remove all excess water from beans.
- In a large saute pan, melt butter. Once melted add almonds.¼ cup butter, ¼ cup sliced almonds
- Cook over low heat until slightly browned. 3-4 minutes. Remove almonds.
- In same pan add garlic and beans.2-3 cloves garlic
- Continue cooking until beans are heated through.
- Add almonds and stir.
- Turn off heat, squeeze ½ lemon over top.½ lemon
- Add salt and pepper to taste.salt and pepper
- Serve immediately
Video
Notes
- Wash and trim beans
- Blanch beans in boiling water and then place into an ice bath
- Drain beans
- Place beans in a covered container and refrigerate until needed
- Toast almonds in a saute pan without any butter. Toast just until browned. Remove from pan right away to keep from browning. Store at room temperature until needed.
- Follow remaining steps in recipe, eliminating browning the almonds in butter
- Do not overcook beans when blanching. You want them to be al dente and still have a bit of bite to them.
- Be certain to drain all excess water from the beans
- Prepare beans just before serving. These beans are best served hot.
Nutritional Disclaimer:
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally posted in December of 2015. The pictures have been updated and a video has been added.
Green Bean Almondine Recipe Adapted From Fine Cooking.
Helen D'Agostino says
Hello,
Love the idea of making this ahead! I wanted to clarify that if I blanch the beans and toast the almonds with no butter the day before Thanksgiving, I would start with the step where you put the garlic in the butter on Thanksgiving Day? Thank you so much!
Kathy says
Hi Helen,
Yes, that is correct. Since the beans are already cooked from the blanching, all you're doing is reheating the beans with the butter and garlic. Then add the almonds and lemon juice. You'll want to do this just before you're ready to serve so they are nice and hot!
Enjoy!
Kathy
Sharon G Rigsby says
Kathy, I made this recipe for a dinner party and got rave reviews! Everyone loved them, and I loved the fact that I could mostly make them ahead and then just heat them when it was time for dinner. Thank you so much for an awesome recipe; I know I will be making it again and again.
Kathy says
Thanks so much! 🙂 It sounds like your dinner party was a huge success!
Desta says
Could this dish be finished off in the oven rather than stove top?
Kathy says
Hello,
Yes, this could be finished in the oven. You'll need enough time to heat everything through. Add the almonds and the lemon juice just before serving.
Enjoy!
Gloria says
My new favorite dish. In fact adding more pole beans to the garden to make this repeatedly!
Kathy says
Hi Gloria,
Thanks so much! Growing a few more beans is a great idea! I still need to get mine planted.
Thank you,
Kathy 🙂
Pam says
This looks yummy, but my husband likes his green beans cooked a bit more than this. Would it be okay to cook the beans in the water a bit longer? Or when you put the beans in with the almonds?
Kathy says
Hi Pam,
Yes! You'll want to cook the beans longer when you boil them. Cook until the desired softness. Once you add them back into the pan, it is really just to heat them.
Enjoy,
Kathy
CJ says
Recipe was spot on and a hit. Super easy....definitely needs the salt. Plan on adding it or it falls super flat!
Kathy says
Thanks, CJ 🙂
Gwen says
Can you use frozen green beans
Kathy says
Hi Gwen,
I haven't tried using frozen green beans so I'm afraid I don't know how they'd turn out in this recipe.