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Elevate your plain green beans with lemon and garlic for an easy, fresh and bursting with flavour side dish! Then top with Parmesan cheese for that salty, umami hit! Serve with our Crispy Air Fryer Potatoes

Perfect side dish for your Easter table

green beans topped with Parmesan and slices of lemon on a platter
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Adding layers of flavour to simple dishes is one of the reasons I love cooking and feeding people. Apart from the cooking process itself, watching people’s reaction of surprise, satisfaction and joy is what makes my job so worthwhile. 

This simple green bean recipe is no exception. Green beans are not my favourite if I am completely honest. The only way I really like them is in this homemade from scratch Green Bean Casserole, smothered in a creamy mushroom sauce. 

I find the taste of unadorned green beans lacking, so I decided to come up with a recipe that would change that opinion.

green beans with lemon slices in a cast iron pan

Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce

Let’s talk about the magic that lemon garlic sauce can bring into a very dull situation. And I am about to introduce this sauce to my ordinary green beans to give them an extraordinary boost. 

Lemon and garlic have the ability to turn boring food into a dish packed with flavour and zing. And butter needs no introduction! All vegetables benefit from being bathed in a touch of butter. 

Great news is lemon garlic butter sauce is incredibly easy to make and it takes mere minutes! Simply sauté minced garlic in butter over low heat for half a minutes, then hit it with freshly squeezed lemon juice and more butter. Done!

green bean recipe process images

Recipe Tips and Notes

  • Use fine green beans, sometimes called French green beans. They are more tender and cook faster. 
  • Blanch the trimmed green beans for 4-5 minutes, then drain them and plunge into ice cold water immediately. This trick stops the beans from cooking and allows them to retain that vivid green colour you see in the photos. Keep the beans in the ice water while you are making the lemon garlic butter sauce. 
  • Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a This is an affiliate link.frying pan and add minced garlic, saute over low heat for 30 seconds. We are looking to soften garlic, not to colour it. Watch closely as burnt garlic taste bitter and will ruin the sauce. 
  • Add fresh lemon juice and a few lemon slices together with the remaining butter, stir until the butter melts.
  • Add the green beans and toss until they are coated in the lemon garlic sauce. There should be enough of the sauce just to coat the vegetables. Continue sautéing over low heat for about 5 minutes until the beans are desired doneness. 
  • Sprinkle with grated This is an affiliate link.Parmesan cheese right before serving. Use freshly grated Parmesan for the best flavour. 
top down view of green beans with lemon slices and Parmesan

More delicious vegetable side dishes

5 from 3 votes

Lemon Garlic Green Beans with Parmesan

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 20 minutes
Servings: 6
Elevate your plain green beans with lemon and garlic for an easy, fresh and bursting with flavour side dish! Then top with Parmesan cheese for that salty, umami hit! 
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Ingredients 

  • 125g / 1/2 lb green beans, washed and trimmed
  • 2-3 tbsp butter
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1.5 lemons
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 25g / 1/4 cup This is an affiliate link.Parmesan cheese

Instructions 

  • Wash and trim the ends of the green beans. Parboil them for 4-5 minutes.
  • Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a frying pan and sauté the minced garlic for 30 seconds on low heat, add the juice of one lemon along with a few lemon slices and the remaining butter.
  • Drain the beans and immediately plunge them in ice water to keep the colour, then add them to the pan with the lemon garlic butter sauce, season with salt and pepper, sauté for a few minutes until the beans are desired doneness. 5 minutes of sauteing over low heat will deliver beans, that are tender but still have a bite to them. Increase cooking time by a couple of minutes if you prefer softer beans.
  • Serve immediate topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Notes

Use fine green beans also known as French green beans for best results. They are thinner and more tender than the regular variety. 

Nutrition

Calories: 85kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 507mg | Potassium: 114mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 472IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 72mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Julia from Vikalinka

About Me

Julia Frey is a London based recipe developer and photographer. Julia founded Vikalinka in 2012 with the main mission to provide her readers with delicious and accessible everyday recipes, which could be enjoyed by everyone.

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Recipe Rating




6 Comments

  1. Jennifer says:

    5 stars
    This is the BEST way to eat your green beans! So flavorful and delicious! I can’t stop eating them!

    1. Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says:

      Yes!! ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. Jen says:

    5 stars
    Thanks for the tip about blanching them while making the lemon sauce. Worked like a charm. Such a delicious and easy side dish to add to any dinner.

    1. Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says:

      Thank you for the lovely review, Jen!

  3. Erin says:

    5 stars
    I loved how easy this was to make! It’s hard to beat lemon, garlic and Parmesan. Most importantly, my kid liked it! It’s impossible to get him to eat vegetables. Thanks a bunch for the recipe!

    1. Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says:

      I got the same reaction from my kids, Erin!! ๐Ÿ™‚