Sauteed Green Beans with Mushrooms is a delicious and healthy side dish. This easy vegan and gluten-free recipe is perfect for both weeknights and holidays. If you’re looking for an alternative to the traditional green bean casserole, this fresh string bean recipe is for you!
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Green beans, also known as string beans or haricot vert, are a very versatile vegetable.
You can eat them hot in casseroles or cold in salads.
And they are available fresh, frozen, and canned, alone or with other vegetables or legumes.
I love them with tomatoes in Italian Green Beans with Tomatoes and Garlic.
In addition, they are perfect in spicy dishes like Green Bean Curry.
But one of my favorite ways to enjoy them is in this recipe for Sauteed Green Beans with Mushrooms.
A versatile side dish
Sauteed Fresh Green Beans with Mushrooms are delicious with a variety of dishes.
And this recipe is perfect as part of a healthy plant-based Mediterranean diet.
You can serve them as part of a vegan Thanksgiving menu plan with other vegan holiday recipes like Roasted Fall Vegetables and Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes.
Plus they taste great with Italian dishes like Pan Roasted Tomato Pasta and Spaghetti with Garlic and Olive Oil.
I also like this side with Baked Tofu Steaks with Lemon and Garlic and Mediterranean Yellow Rice.
And the leftovers heat up well and taste great.
How to blanch green beans
Before we start cooking the string beans, check out this quick tip for Faster green bean prep for the best way to trim your beans.
To make Sauteed Green Beans with Mushrooms, first lightly cook the beans by blanching or steaming.
The easiest way to do this is to boil an inch or two of water in a large skillet with a lid.
Then add the whole trimmed beans for about two minutes until they are bright green.
Be sure not to overcook them.
The green beans should be tender yet crisp.
Ice bath
Have a large bowl of ice water close by to stop the cooking.
As soon as the beans are done cooking, immediately transfer them to an ice bath.
I suggest you prepare the bowl of cold water and ice cubes before you start blanching the vegetables.
I’ve made the mistake of not being ready, and it only takes a a brief moment for the beans to become limp and lose their vibrant color.
But if you shock them with the ice water, they won’t continue to cook, and you’ll have perfect beans every time.
Sauteed Green Beans ingredients
You only need a few ingredients to make Sauteed Fresh Green Beans with Mushrooms:
- Fresh green beans: You can purchase them by the pound or pre-packaged.
- Olive oil: This is my go-to oil as part of a healthy Mediterranean diet.
- Fresh garlic: Freshly minced garlic gives green beans so much flavor.
- Mushrooms: Here I used cremini (baby portobella) mushrooms, but I also like white button.
- Salt and pepper: For seasoning according to your tastes.
After the green beans are cooked and cooled in the ice bath, you can slice them into bite-size pieces.
Then simply saute some fresh garlic in a little olive oil.
Next add sliced mushrooms.
You can use your favorite variety.
After the mushrooms are tender, add the green beans to the skillet to heat through.
Finally, season the vegetables with a little salt and pepper, and you’re ready to eat!
By the way, for less clean up, I dry the pan I used to blanch the green beans and then use it again for sauteing.
A nutritious addition to your diet
Green beans are very low in calories and a good source of dietary fiber.
And they are high in vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, and manganese.
You can read more about the benefits of eating this vegetable in Green Beans: Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits.
While their peak season is May through September, it’s easy to find them in supermarkets year round.
What are your favorite ways to prepare green beans?
Sauteed Green Beans Recipe
This recipe makes 6 servings as a side dish.
If you have leftovers, they will last covered and refrigerated for several days.
Enjoy them reheated or at room temperature in a salad.
If you love this recipe, please give it 5 stars!
Sauteed Green Beans with Mushrooms
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 ounces mushrooms, white button or cremini, sliced
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Steam or blanch the green beans in boiling water for about 2 minutes, until they are bright green. Immediately transfer the beans to a bowl of ice water, then drain when cool.
- Pat the green beans dry with a kitchen towel. Slice the green beans into bite size pieces.
- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Next add the mushrooms to the pan and saute until soft.
- Add the sliced green beans to the pan and toss to heat through.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper, then serve.
Sayde
Do you have to slice the green beans or can you keep them whole?
Amy Katz
You can keep them whole if you like.
Cris lee
Love these! I’ve already made them a couple times. I’m not a mushroom lover but I can eat them in this dish. I cook for vegans, vegetarians, diabetic and carnivore family members and everyone lives this dish.
Amy Katz
Thank you so much, Cristal! I’m so happy everyone enjoys it!
Elizabeth Hernandez
Let me start with, “My husband doesn’t eat green beans.” Spoiler alert… My husband only eats these green beans.
Since he was a kid, my husband has sworn off green beans. Apparently there was some incident when he was a child… anyway, I married a man who doesn’t eat green beans. Twenty-six years later, we have an emergency impromptu Thanksgiving dinner at my sister’s house (long story, search “plant explosion in Port Neches, Texas”). So she doesn’t have time to poll the crowd and just makes whatever she has on-hand. It was fabulous and later in the week my dear husband asks me to get the recipe for the green beans from my sister because they were his favorite part of the meal. I’m not sure I’ve recovered from the shock yet, but this is the recipe she texted me. So congratulations. My husband loves THESE green beans!
Amy Katz
Thank you, Elizabeth! This is the greatest compliment ever!
Racheal
Can you use frozen green beans? If so, do you need to blanch them?
Amy
Hi Racheal, no, this recipe requires fresh green beans.
Karly
Love this side. Its so simple and healthy but tastes great too!
Amy
Thank you, Karly!