Blistered Green Beans

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Gorgeous, glistening blistered green beans with just the right amount of char, salty umami and not-too-tender texture. Deliciously smoked flavor with lightly crisp exteriors.

closeup photo of blistered green beans with almonds on top this recipe

Glistening, Gorgeous, Emerald Green: The Best Ever Blistered Green Beans Recipe!

What is it about glistening green beans that just brings an added element of elegance to your dining table? Today’s amazing blistered green beans recipe is one of my favorite vegetable side dishes because of the glisten and so much more!

Think: satisfying smoked flavor, the perfect balance between crisp edges and tender chew. Welcome to the best ever blistered green beans. Ready? Let’s make this!

The Ingredients You Need

Blistered green beans are one of my favorite vegetable forward recipes to make because they’re simple and elegant. The smoky char, salty goodness, and just right balance of tender bits & crispy bits is amazing.

This recipe includes:

  • Green beans
  • Butter – a combination of butter and olive oil make for a deliciously interesting and tasty flavor profile.
  • Olive oil – you can also use avocado oil or your favorite high-heat cooking oil.
  • Soy sauce – you may recall me adding a dash of this ingredient to my roasted potatoes and green beans – it’s the secret ingredient & really takes your blistered green beans to the Next Level.
  • Salt & pepper – use as much or as little as you’d like. Or, mix things up and add a sprinkle of Cajun seasoning or seasoned salt before serving.
dining table with a black plate full of blistered green beans

What Are Blistered Green Beans?

Blistered green beans are green beans that are prepared with very high heat until tender and charred (or blistered). If you’ve ever had Sichuan dry fried green beans or 干煸四季豆(ganbian sijidou), then you might have an idea of what we’re going for.

Today’s blistered green beans aren’t spicy or made with ground pork like ganbian sijidou is, but it follows a similar idea of searing/blistering green beans until just a touch crispy, with tender bits and a blistered surface that holds seasoning very well. 

We love serving these blistered green beans with dishes like this Thai chicken coconut curry for an easy weeknight dinner. Also, they both pair wonderfully with this crisp & crunchy ramen noodle salad.

How to Make Blistered Green Beans

Prep the green beans

Prepare the green beans: wash, dry, then trim off the ends of the green beans.

Now, heat a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add butter and swirl to coat the pan. Add olive oil.

two photos showing how to make blistered green beans - trimming green beans and buttering pan

Turn up the heat

Turn the heat up to the high setting.

Next, grab some protective eyewear and add in the green beans. Yep, the beans are gonna sizzle and pop! (Drying them as much as possible helps, but bits of water always get in there. Green beans are packed with water, and the high heat is a bit tricky, so use caution to be safe).

two photos showing how to make blistered green beans - cooking green beans with olive oil

Blister green beans

Allow the green beans to blister in the pan for about 3 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready when dark brown sear marks appear on the underside of the beans.

Flip half-blistered green beans, then cook the opposite side for 1-2 minutes.

Then, sprinkle in salt and pepper. Toss to coat.

two photos showing how to make blistered green beans - flipping and blistering green beans

Add the sauce

Now, for the fun part! Pour in the soy sauce. There’s going to be a bit of a flambé-eqsue situation—so again, make sure to wear your protective eyewear. Toss to coat, and cook for only 30 seconds.

two photos showing how to make this recipe - pouring sauce over pan then transferring to dish

Drip off excess oil & enjoy the best Blistered Green Beans!

Finally, grab a pair of tongs and drip off excess oil. Then, transfer to a dish and enjoy the best blistered green beans!

closeup photo to show texture

The Key to Perfectly Blistering Green Beans

The key to making perfectly blistering green beans is cooking the green beans enough, but not too much. Remember, making these blistered green beans are about a short cook time, with high heat. Fast cooking, here we come!

We’re going to begin by turning the heat up to high to quickly sear the green beans, then adding in a dash of soy sauce to help sorta-kinda flambé or almost wok hei the green beans. That flash of heat blisters your green beans and leaves them with a delicious smoky flavor.

Perfect Recipe Pairings

If you’re looking for some more easy and ultra enjoyable recipes to make alongside these green beans, I highly recommend checking out my Asian salad, which is made with a homemade Asian salad dressing.

finished recipe served on a plate

More Vegetable Side Dish Recipes

Tools You Need

Thankful as Cluck… 🦃

For you. Can you feel our gratitude from over there? Erik and I are always grateful that you’ve stopped by and are making & sharing these kitchen adventures with us. Please be sure to let us know your thoughts on today’s recipe—we look forward to it! Til our next kitchen adventure…

Sending you all my love and maybe even a dove, xo Demeter ❤️

  🧑‍🍳 📸 🍚

📸 Did you make this recipe? Take a pic and share it on Instagram with the hashtag #beamingbaker & tag @beamingbaker. I’d love to see it! 📸

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a square photo of blistered green beans on a plate with garnish

Blistered Green Beans

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Description

Gorgeous, glistening blistered green beans with just the right amount of char, salty umami and not-too-tender texture. Deliciously smoked flavor with lightly crisp exteriors.

Ingredients

Units Scale

Tools Needed

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon butter*
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil*
  • 2 cups green beans, stringless preferred
  • Salt and pepper to taste – I used a heaping 1/8 teaspoon of salt and a generous pinch of pepper
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce

Optional Topping

  • 1–2 teaspoons sliced almonds, to make it pretty!

 

Instructions

  1. Wash and dry green beans. Trim off the ends and remove strings, if needed.
  2. Heat a medium or large sauté pan over medium high heat.
  3. Place butter into pan. Swirl the butter around until melted and fully coating the pan.
  4. Add olive oil.
  5. Turn heat up to high.
  6. Add green beans. Use protective eyewear if needed (for real), it’s gonna sizzle and pop! (Think wok hei.)
  7. Allow green beans to cook and blister in the pan for about 1-3 minutes. Mine took 3 minutes. Be patient—don’t flip the green beans until dark brown marks appear on one side. You can check by flipping just one bean with a tong.
  8. Using heatproof tongs, flip the green beans. Allow to blister on the opposite side, about 1-2 additional minutes. Mine took 1.5 minutes.
  9. Add salt and pepper. Toss to coat.
  10. Pour in soy sauce—this will cause the beans to almost flambé! Use caution. Toss to coat. Cook for about 30 seconds, but no more to avoid burning. Remove from heat.
  11. Using tongs, grab green beans and gently drip off excess oil. Pour into a serving dish. Enjoy!

 

Equipment

Notes

*Note: You can use less oil if using a nonstick pan.

Storing Instructions: Blistered green beans are best served immediately. If needed, cool completely and store green beans in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Keep for 1-2 days max.

How to make Vegan: Use vegan butter.

How to make Gluten Free: Use gluten free soy sauce.

  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 7 minutes
  • Category: Side Dishes
  • Method: Cook
  • Cuisine: American

Tasty Fall Recipes 🍂🧡

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It’s nice to meet you! Erik and I love sharing easy recipes that are fun & approachable. I love cozy movies, chocolate, big hugs, and being out at sea.

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22 Comments

  1. Thank you for sharing this fantastic recipe that has made me appreciate green beans in a whole new way!

    Reply

  3. This might be my new favorite way to prepare green beans! So simple but so flavorful, and much better than just steaming them. Thanks so much for the recipe!

    Reply