Perfectly crisp and vibrant, these sauteed green beans with mushrooms are a healthy and elegant side to serve along with your favorite main dish. Prepared with thin, French-style green beans, or haricots verts, a touch of butter and garlic, and a finishing sprinkle of hazelnuts and shaved parmesan, this recipe turns an ordinary vegetable side into one that's extra scrumptious!
A Vibrant and Flavorful Vegetable Side Dish
French green beans, otherwise known as haricots verts, are the epitome of an elegant vegetable in my book.
Long and thin, with a fresh flavor, crisp texture and stunningly vibrant color, these petite green beans bring a healthy and versatile sophistication to either a very simple meal, or one that's extra special.
Sauteing green beans is perhaps my favorite preparation for this pretty little vegetable, because there's so much opportunity to add a few tasty bells and whistles into the pan, not to mention flavor.
For my scrumptious sauteed green beans recipe, I love the combination of a little olive oil and butter, the earthy addition of shiitake mushrooms kissed with garlic cloves, the finishing flourish of flavorful shaved parmesan and the crunch of hazelnuts.
This simple-to-prepare, healthy side dish is perfect alongside beef, chicken, fish, or any of your favorite proteins, and makes an otherwise ordinary vegetable extraordinary!
How to Cook Fresh Green Beans
While fresh green beans look quite delicate, they have nice, hearty texture and can benefit from being blanched to help soften them and bring out their gorgeous green color.
The best way to blanch green beans is to bring a pot of very salted water (as salty as sea water) to the boil, then add in the fresh green beans, reduce the heat a little bit, and allow the green beans to simmer very gently for roughly 6 minutes.
At this point, the green beans should be crisp-tender and quite green, and ready for a quick shock in some ice water.
Draining and then shocking the green beans in ice water (for about 1 minute) will immediately stop the cooking, lock in that vibrant color and crisp texture, and prepare the them for the saute pan.
Here's a peek at my sauteed green beans with mushrooms recipe: (or just jump to the full recipe...)
- To get started, I blanch my green beans for about 6 minutes, or until crisp-yet-tender, then drain them and shock them in ice water; I drain them once again, and pat them dry.
- In a large skillet I heat up some olive oil, add in my shiitake mushrooms, some salt and pepper, and allow those to saute and become golden-brown; then, I add in the garlic and some Italian seasoning, and stir until deliciously aromatic, then remove the mushrooms from the pan.
- Next, I melt some butter in the skillet and add my green beans, sauteing to warm them through for a moment or two, coating them in the butter and some additional salt and pepper
- Now, I add the mushrooms back to the pan, toss everything together to incorporate, then remove the all veggies and place onto a serving platter.
- I finish the sauteed green beans with a sprinkle of the shaved parmesan and the toasted hazelnuts, and serve hot.
Recipe
Sauteed Green Beans with Mushrooms
by Ingrid Beer
Category: Side
Cuisine: American
Yield: Serves 4
Nutrition Info: 267 calories per serving
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
- 12 ounces haricots verts (the thin, long green beans)
- Olive oil
- 7 ounces shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly
- Salt
- Black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup shaved parmesan
- ¼ cup toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
- To blanch your green beans, brings a medium-size pot of well-salted water to the boil; add in the green beans, reduce heat and simmer them for about 6 minutes, or until tender but still crisp; drain, then shock the beans in ice water to stop them cooking, and to keep them a vibrant green; pat the beans with paper towel to dry them well.
- Place a large skillet over medium-high heat, and drizzle in about 3 tablespoons of the oil; once the oil is hot, add in the sliced mushrooms, plus a couple of pinches of salt and pepper, and saute them for a few minutes until a deep golden-brown.
- Next, add in the garlic, and stir together until the garlic becomes aromatic, about 15 to 30 seconds; sprinkle in the Italian seasoning and stir to combine, then spoon the mushrooms onto a plate to hold for a moment.
- Add the butter into the skillet, and once melted, add in the green beans, and toss to coat them in the butter; add back the mushrooms, and toss everything to coat well (check to see if you need more salt and pepper).To finish, add the green beans and the mushrooms to a large plate or platter, and sprinkle with the shaved parmesan and the toasted hazelnuts.
Tips & Tidbit for my Sauteed Green Beans with Mushrooms:
- Opt for haricots verts, or French-style green beans: This variety of green bean is thin and long, perfect for sauteing with other flavorful ingredients. Haricots verts are also a bit less "stringy", have fewer "fibers", and have a slightly more buttery texture when cooked. However, if you can't find haricot verts, feel free to use the thicker more traditional green beans—they'll be just as tasty!
- Flavorful shiitake mushrooms, or your favorite: The slightly garlicky flavor of shiitake mushrooms works deliciously with this recipe, but any mushroom will work here. You can use cremini mushrooms, mixed mushrooms, even regular white button mushrooms.
- Getting nutty with toasted hazelnuts, or another nut: Other options for some nutty crunch here are walnuts, cashews, almonds, pine nuts or macadamia nuts—all delicious!
Hungry for more mouthwatering vegetable sides? Check out this Sauteed Asparagus, this Roasted Cauliflower, this Roasted Acorn Squash, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, and Roasted Tomatoes!
Cook's Note: This recipe was originally published in 2014, and has been updated with even more love!
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