Green Beans with Bacon, Pecans & Blue Cheese
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Say goodbye to boring, plain green beans & hello to these AMAZING green beans with bacon, pecans and blue cheese! This easy stove top recipe is made in just 15 minutes with fresh green beans, crispy bacon and candied pecans!
It’s the perfect side to pair with pork, chicken or turkey. Try it with this Garlic Herb Bacon Wrapped Turkey Breast or this Balsamic Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin. Because doubling up on bacon goodness is ALWAYS a good idea!
Anyone else here grow up on canned green beans? We ate A LOT of canned green beans growing up, except at my grandma’s house. For the most part, I loved Meme’s cooking, but I always dreaded the green beans at her house, because they were “different” than what we had at home. And by “different” I mean fresh!
It wasn’t until years later that I started cooking fresh green beans at my house and realized just how delicious they could be. Especially when covered in blue cheese, bacon and candied pecans! This easy and delicious recipe for green beans can be served anytime of the year, but they’re particularly tasty as part of a Thanksgiving feast.
It’s day 4 of Thanksgiving week on the blog and I’m SO EXCITED to share this green bean recipe. It’s the perfect side for your Friendsgiving or Thanksgiving celebration.
It only takes 15 minutes to make so you can easily toss it together right before dinner time! I’ll also give you some tips below for how to prep the recipe ahead of time.
If you’re not a huge fan of green bean casserole, but still want to make an easy side dish with green beans, then this is the recipe you’ve been searching for!
Now let’s take a look at what else is on the menu for Thanksgiving Week!
- Monday: Stuffed Acorn Squash with Brussels Sprouts and Cranberries
- Tuesday: Gluten Free Cornbread Stuffing
- Wednesday: The BEST Smoked Turkey Breast
- Thursday: Pecan Bacon Blue Cheese Green Beans
- Friday: Slow Cooker Creamed Corn
- Saturday: Butternut Squash Risotto
Is anyone else’s mouth watering just reading the menu? I know mine is! I can’t wait to make all of these delicious recipes again for Thanksgiving dinner!
Table of contents
Instructions
- Prep the green beans.
- Bring a large pot of water to boil on the stove over high heat.
- Add fresh green beans to the pot and cook for 3 minutes.
- Drain the beans and immediately place them in a large bowl of ice water for 3 minutes.
- Remove the beans from the ice bath and set aside.
- Cook the bacon.
- Add 3 slices of bacon to a large skillet on the stove over medium high heat.
- Cook the bacon for 4-5 minutes per side, or until crisp.
- Remove the bacon slices from the skillet and place on a paper towel lined plate to drain the grease
- Finish the dish.
- Add the cooked green beans to the pan on the stove with the bacon drippings and cook the beans in the bacon fat over medium high heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Chop the cooked bacon and add it to the green beans with blue cheese crumbles, chopped candied pecans, salt and pepper.
Can you prep them ahead of time?
The green beans can be cooked in the boiling water, transferred to the ice water bath, then removed from the ice water and set aside, ahead of time. This step is also known as blanching the green beans. This helps the beans maintain their bright green color and crunchy texture!
The bacon can also be cooked ahead of time, just be sure to save the bacon grease for cooking the green beans later. If both of these steps have been done ahead of time, it will only take about 5 minutes to put this dish together right before dinner!
Can you use frozen or canned green beans?
Yes, frozen green beans can be used instead of fresh green beans to make the recipe. The only difference is that you will need to add 2 minutes to the time that you boil the green beans.
If using canned green beans to make this recipe, simply drain the liquid from the can of green beans, then add them to the skillet with the bacon grease. Sauté the green beans in the bacon grease for 3-4 minutes, then add the chopped bacon, candied pecans, blue cheese, salt and pepper.
What to serve with them
Make the perfect dinner by pairing these green beans with the following meal ideas!
- Coffee Crusted Tri Tip + Rosemary Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes
- Bacon Wrapped Pork Chops + Cast Iron Skillet Rustic Potatoes
- Cranberry Glazed Turkey Breast + Butternut Squash Risotto
- Beef Wellington + Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
Making these green beans for dinner this week or an upcoming holiday meal? I’d love to see a picture! Tag me on your Instagram feed or story @WhitneyBond.
Green Beans with Bacon, Pecans & Blue Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 lb green beans, ends trimmed
- 3 slices bacon
- 4 oz blue cheese, crumbled
- ½ cup candied pecans, chopped
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- ½ tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil on the stove over high heat.
- Add the green beans and cook for 3 minutes.
- Drain the green beans and immediately place them in a bowl of ice water for 3 minutes.
- Remove the beans from the ice water and set aside.
- Add the bacon slices to a large skillet on the stove over medium high heat.
- Cook the bacon slices for 4-5 minutes per side, or until crisp.
- Remove the slices of bacon from the skillet and place them on a paper towel lined plate to drain the grease.
- Add the green beans to the bacon drippings in the skillet on the stove over medium high heat, sauté for 2-3 minutes.
- Chop the cooked bacon and add it to the green beans with the blue cheese, chopped pecans, salt and pepper.
Notes
- Using Frozen Green Beans? Add 2 minutes to the boiling time.
- Using Canned Green Beans? Skip steps 1-4. Drain the liquid from the cans of green beans, then add them to the bacon drippings and sauté for 3-4 minutes, continue with the recipe as instructed.
Nutrition Facts
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6 Comments on “Green Beans with Bacon, Pecans & Blue Cheese”
11/26/2020 – We’ll it is Thanksgiving 2020 and what a year it has been! This my 3rd year of preparing this “AWESOME” dish! This has become one of our our families favorite. I recommend that you give this dish a try even for those that do not like Blue Cheese as I have family members that do not like Blue Cheese, but loved this dish. Thanks for the great recipe!
Yay!! I’m so glad your family continues to enjoy the recipe Cookie! Thanks so much for sharing!
I understood that Bleu cheese is not gluten free because the mold is grown using wheat bread. Are you sure this is GF?
Hi Jeanine, all of the research I have done has concluded that no detectable levels of gluten are found in scientific studies of blue cheese even when grown using wheat bread.
Here’s a quote from one of the articles: “Analysis of blue cheese samples conducted by Dr. Terry Koerner’s laboratory at Health Canada’s Food Research Division found that neither cultures used with gluten-containing media or those used with wheat-based dextrose contained detectable levels of gluten when formed into blue cheese. The Canadian Celiac Association has added blue cheese to its “Acceptability of Food and Food Ingredients for the Gluten-Free Diet” pocket dictionary, meaning that it should not bother even people with celiac disease, much less those with gluten intolerance or those on a gluten-free diet for health concerns.”
Do the salt and pepper get added at any particular point before the end? I also had WAY too many pecans. It was like nuts with a side of beans. I double the recipe…would this have any effect on the nut to bean ratio?
Hi Alyssa, the salt and pepper should be added with the bacon, pecans and blue cheese at the end. You’re welcome to use less nuts in the recipe, totally your preference.