35 Green Bean Recipes for Your Thanksgiving Feast

updated Oct 12, 2023

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Photograph of Italian Green Beans on a serving plate placed on a white countertop with gold utensils. — Credit: Maria Do
Italian Green Beans

Green beans are a vegetable I rely on all year long. While I adore them most when they’re piled up at the farmers market during the summer, I find their bagged counterpart at the grocery store to be a trustworthy substitution the rest of the year. Their snappy crunch and versatility ensure they are always a hit.

Ready to get cooking? From simple and satisfying sautéed beans to a weeknight stir-fry to green bean casserole (a must in my book for Thanksgiving sides!), here are 35 green bean recipe ideas to keep on hand for side dishes and dinners.

Related: 10 Ways to Dress Up Green Beans

Healthy Green Bean Recipes

Keep things simple and you can ensure winning results that are extra wholesome.

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Roasted Green Beans

An easy and hands-off way to prepare crisp roasted green beans.

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Garlic Green Beans

This quick and simple way to cook green beans will become an instant favorite.

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Grilled Green Beans

Green beans love the grill. Here's how it's done.

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Vegan Green Bean Casserole

The fall time casserole we know and love gets dairy-free makeover, and a grown-up upgrade with homemade crispy shallots. The number of pans required to make it? Just one.

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Air Fryer Green Beans

Air fryers are great for cooking green beans (fresh or frozen!).

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Sautéed Green Beans

It’s always good to get the basics down and give yourself a refresher every now and then. Here we walk you through how to cook flawless green beans on the stovetop every time, with a two-step process of sautéing and steaming.

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Blistered Green Beans with Pickled Shallots and Toasted Breadcrumbs

Stir-fry your fresh green beans until they're blistered, then toss them with tangy pickled shallots and top with crunchy, salty breadcrumbs.

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Oven-Baked Green Bean Fries

Treat green beans to a crispy, crunchy coating of panko and cornmeal, and you'll never believe how fast they get gobbled up.

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Modern Green Bean Casserole

Once you try this sesame stick topping, you may never go back to frizzled onions again.

Vegetarian Green Bean Recipes

Green beans definitely don’t need to be paired with meat to reach their full potential.

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Green Beans Almondine

Crisp-tender beans are combined with sliced almonds and buttery shallots for an easy, delicious side.

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Vegan Green Bean Casserole

The fall time casserole we know and love gets dairy-free makeover, and a grown-up upgrade with homemade crispy shallots. The number of pans required to make it? Just one.

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Green Bean Salad

Adorned with toasty nuts, fried shallots, and radicchio, this green bean salad is a beautiful addition to your table, anytime of year.

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Italian Green Beans

Cheesy toasted bread crumbs and a splash of balsamic vinegar ensure these green beans are anything but boring.

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Roasted Green Beans with Harissa

If roasted green beans are a regular side dish in your rotation, kick up the next batch with a spoonful of spicy harissa paste and a handful of toasted almonds before serving.

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Stovetop Steam-Fried Green Beans and Mushrooms

This side dish is light, easy to pull together, and pairs well with just about everything.

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Potatoes, Green Beans, and Corn in Lemon-Brown Butter Sauce

This salad pulls the very best bits from potato salad and three-bean salad, then tosses in some fresh and tender corn, and mixes it all together in lemony brown butter vinaigrette.

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Lemony Green Beans With Almond Breadcrumbs

This easy side dish is one you can turn to again and again. A lemony vinaigrette keeps it feeling extra fresh, and the almond-breadcrumb topping delivers an irresistible crunch.

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Classic Green Bean Casserole

Learn how to make green bean casserole using the right grocery store shortcuts to rival the classic back-of-the-box recipe.

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Napa Cabbage and Kale Coleslaw with Creamy Miso-Ginger Dressing

This fresh and modern take on classic coleslaw fills the bowl with green beans and peas, partnered with crunchy cabbage, kale, and a super-savory dressing.

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Shelf-Stable Pickled Green Beans

Pickled green beans, or dilly beans, make perfect stirrers for Bloody Marys and are the perfect addition to cheese boards and chopped into grain salads.

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Three Bean Salad

This three-bean salad is a pretty straightforward take on the classic — a mix of fresh and canned beans, a tangy vinaigrette, and red onions. Of course there is plenty of room for adaptation, which is what makes it perfect for any cook to keep in their back pocket.

Meals with Green Beans

While they often play side kick, green beans can absolutely become part of the main dish, too.

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Sheet Pan Honey-Sesame Tofu and Green Beans

Green beans lend themselves wonderfully to roasting, which is why they’re always a top pick for my sheet pan suppers. This vegetarian dinner pairs them with wedges of tofu and a honey sesame sauce.

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Greek-Style Braised Green Beans

Grab some juicy, ripe tomatoes, white wine, and aromatics and you’re on your way to turning fresh green beans into saucy comfort food. Make it a meal by serving it over your favorite cooked grains, adding an egg, or pairing it with grilled chicken breast.

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Chicken and Green Bean Stir-Fry with Basil-Sour Cream Sauce

There’s no better time to toss green beans into a quick stir-fry than right now. This seasonal version features the beans with tender pieces of chicken and tops everything off with a creamy basil sauce.

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Sausage, Potato & Green Bean Packets

Combine cooked sausage, chopped potatoes, and green beans; add some butter and a dash of Cajun seasoning; and wrap in foil for a no-mess dinner in minutes.

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3-Bean Israeli Couscous Salad

This twist on classic three-bean salad is one of my favorite ways to bring green beans to the table. It mixes in chewy Israeli couscous, which soaks up red wine vinaigrette like a dream.

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BBQ Pork Tenderloin with Green Beans and Cauliflower

Green beans are perfectly suited to a sheet pan dinner. Here they're partnered with lean sauce-slicked pork tenderloin and cauliflower for an easy dinner that's ready in under 30 minutes.

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Farmers Market Risotto

A pot of creamy risotto mixed with nutty Pecorino and white wine sauce is one of my favorite ways to turn fresh green beans into dinner.

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Life-Changing Garlic Butter Chicken Thighs

Combined with the juices from the chicken, the fat also makes a luscious sauce for the green beans — the addition of garlic butter is really just gilding the lily.

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Lemon Garlic Chicken Foil Packets

Add a layer of fresh green beans to the bottom of your foil packet and by the time you pull it off the grill or out of the oven, the beans will be tender and slicked with a savory lemony garlicky sauce.

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Yes, green beans absolutely have a place on sandwiches! Especially this one, which is basically a Niçoise salad in sandwich form.

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Easy Green Minestrone

This light-yet-hearty soups calls for just a half-pound of beans — but don't hesitate to toss in more if you've got them.

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Lemon Herb Pasta Salad with Green Beans

This light and fresh pasta salad is packed with fresh herbs, snappy green beans, and a sunny lemon vinaigrette.

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Summer Bean Breakfast Salad with Soft-Boiled Eggs and Green Goddess Dressing

This protein-rich breakfast salad layered with vibrant beans, a soft-boiled egg, and creamy green goddess dressing has everything you need to stay energized until lunchtime.

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Gnocchi Skillet with Green Beans and Asparagus

This one-pan recipe is loaded with cauliflower gnocchi and crisp-tender veggies, all tossed in a lightly creamy sauce.

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