Skillet Crack Green Beans (Fresh, Not Canned)

5 from 1 vote

Skillet Crack Green Beans (Fresh, Not Canned)

Fresh green beans cooked in bacon fat with butter, garlic, and shallots, then glazed with brown sugar and Maggi seasoning. One skillet, about 20 minutes, and the beans stay tender-crisp rather than going soft the way the canned oven version does.

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Total Time25

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: people

Calories: 366kcal

Author: Rose Sioson

Equipment

1 skillet or pan

Ingredients

½ pound Green Beans cut in half
¼ pound Bacon diced
1 teaspoons Brown Sugar
2 teaspoons Maggi Seasoning
4 cloves Garlic minced
1 piece Shallot minced
2 tablespoon Butter

Instructions

Cook Bacon: In a large skillet, cook the bacon until crispy. Remove and set aside, reserving the grease.
¼ pound Bacon
Melt Butter: Add butter to the skillet and melt over medium heat.
2 tablespoon Butter
Sauté Garlic and Shallots: Toss in garlic and shallots, cooking until fragrant and translucent.
4 cloves Garlic, 1 piece Shallot
Cook Green Beans: Add green beans to the skillet, stirring to coat. Cook for 5-7 minutes until tender but crisp.
½ pound Green Beans
Add Brown Sugar and Seasoning: Sprinkle in brown sugar and Maggi seasoning, stirring until the sugar melts and coats the beans.
1 teaspoons Brown Sugar, 2 teaspoons Maggi Seasoning
Top with Bacon: Crumble the cooked bacon over the beans before serving. Enjoy!

Notes

Makes 2 generous servings, or 3 to 4 as part of a holiday spread with other sides. Doubles easily, just use a bigger skillet so the beans aren't crowded.
Buy thin beans if you can. They cook faster and stay snappier. Thick beans need closer to 8 minutes and can soften on the outside before the middle is done.
Chop the bacon before you cook it. Chopping it after is fiddly and it shatters.
Pour off most of the bacon fat. Leave about a tablespoon for half a pound of beans. Too much fat and the glaze never thickens, it just pools.
Watch the garlic. Bacon fat and butter run hotter than oil alone, and garlic goes from fragrant to bitter in about thirty seconds.
Pull the beans while they still look slightly underdone. Bright green and squeaky is right. Olive-colored means you've lost the texture that separates this from the canned oven version.
Taste the glaze before it goes on. Maggi brands vary in salt. Add more brown sugar for sweetness or a few more drops of Maggi for depth.
Bacon on top, not stirred in. Crumble it over right before serving. Stirred through the glaze it goes soft in a minute or two.
No Maggi? Soy sauce is the standard swap, and you'll want slightly more of it since Maggi is more concentrated. Worcestershire also works.
Canned green beans. They work and it's how most versions of this dish are made. Drain thoroughly and add them after the glaze is made, since they only need warming through. Two or three minutes rather than seven.
Make ahead. Cook the bacon and chop the aromatics up to two days early, trim the beans the night before. The cooking itself is about eight minutes on the day.
Storage. Airtight in the fridge 3 days. Reheat in a skillet rather than the microwave, which steams the beans limp. They won't be as crisp on day two. Keep some bacon back and add it fresh when you reheat.

Nutrition