Green Beans Almondine (VIDEO)
This Green Beans Almondine recipe is from Natasha’s Kitchen Cookbook. It’s such a simple recipe, done in 15 minutes, but the flavors are memorable, and if you don’t already love green beans, you will. This is the green beans recipe that my kids love most and ask for refills!
The traditional French dish of sautéed green beans with almonds sounds fancy, but it’s so easy and tastes amazing as a side dish on any weeknight, but also impresses on a holiday menu.
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We love green beans around here, from Green Bean Casserole (from Scratch!) to Cranberry Green Beans, and they are perfect in Vegetable Soup. It’s such a versatile veggie. This Green Beans Almondine recipe will have you loving green beans (at least that was the case for my kids).
Green Beans Almondine Video
Watch this video to see how easy it is to make green beans with almonds. Natasha whips up this delicious side dish in no time!
Green Beans Almondine Recipe
This Green Bean Almondine is very popular among our “crew” and there are rarely leftovers. My sisters, Alla & Anna, make these frequently for parties and double it, but you can easily scale it down (or up) for your needs.
Here are some of the reasons Green Beans Almondine (Amandine in French) will become your “go-to” veggie dish, too:
- Quick & Easy to make in only 15 minutes, with 5 ingredients
- Versatile – scales up or down for your party
- Fits many diets – gluten-free, low-carb, vegetarian, and keto-friendly.
- Crowd-pleaser—everyone likes this dish!
- Make ahead option makes it even faster to serve!
Ingredients
Green Beans Almondine is traditionally made with 5 everyday ingredients, making it an easy dish with amazing flavor.
- Green beans – Rinse the fresh beans and snip off the ends (or use pre-cut beans). Any type of green bean works great, but the dish is traditionally made with haricots verts, a French type of bean. We use regular green beans in our video tutorial.
- Butter – divided into 3 Tbsp and 1 Tbsp, unsalted butter is preferred so you can season the dish to your liking, but it can also be substituted with dairy-free butter
- Slivered or sliced almonds – the slivered almonds seem slightly less likely to burn than the thinner sliced almonds, but either works great here
- Garlic – fresh minced garlic adds incredible flavor
- Lemon zest – from one lemon adds vibrant flavor to the buttery sauce without overpowering the dish
- Salt and Pepper – salt to season the water and sauce and pepper added to taste
Pro Zesting Tip:
To get the lemon zest, grate one lemon using a lemon zester, a microplane grater, or the fine holes of a box grater, but be sure to get the yellow rind, not the white pith underneath that is bitter.
How to Make Green Beans Almondine
Here’s how easy it is to bring the side dish to the table—in just 15 minutes!
- Blanching the beans: Fill a large saucepan 2/3 with water and bring to a rapid boil. Add 1 Tbsp of salt. Add the beans, return to a boil, and cook uncovered for 3 to 7 minutes (less for thin beans, more for regular beans), until crisp-tender. Using a colander, drain the beans and then rinse them with cold water (this is called “shocking”) to stop the cooking process. Drain well and then set aside.
- Melt 3 Tbs of butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. When you notice the butter foaming, add the almonds and 1/4 tsp salt and stir until golden. Watch closely because the almonds can burn quickly!
- Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds, and then remove from heat and melt in the rest of the butter. Season with salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle with lemon zest, toss, and then transfer to the serving dish with the sauce. Garnish with more zest, if desired, and then serve immediately.
IMPORTANT: Almonds cook really fast, so don’t walk away from them, and don’t crank the heat too high. They burn easily.
Pro Tip:
Salting the water is so important, so don’t skip this step! As a good guideline, the water should taste like salt water, so if you’re using a larger or smaller pot, be sure to scale the salt up or down accordingly.
Common Questions
A French dish of green beans with almonds with a buttery sauce.
This recipe is easy to double or even triple to feed a larger crowd. You’ll need a larger pot and cook time may be slightly longer.
Yes, but frozen green beans won’t look as vibrantly green and will be more limp. They will still taste great! Don’t use canned beans.
Yes, substitute the butter for your favorite non-dairy butter.
Trust me, you do not want to skip this step. Cooking in boiling water and then stopping the cooking with an ice bath or cold running water gives the beans that delicious tender, but crisp texture, and vibrant color, and helps to season the beans throughout.
Haricots Verts are a type of green bean popular in French cooking. They are longer and thinner and are thought to be more tender because they are harvested earlier. They also cook faster.
Serve Green Beans Almondine with
Try it as this year’s Thanksgiving green bean recipe or alongside any entree all year long, because it’s that versatile and delicious! Here are a few great dishes to serve with these brown butter sautéed green beans:
- Honey Glazed Salmon
- Baked Chicken Breast
- Prime Rib
- Juicy Roast Turkey
- Chicken Schnitzel
- Pan-Seared Steak
Make-Ahead
Par-boil the green beans up to 3 days ahead and store in an airtight container in the fridge, but make the butter and almond sauce before serving.
- To Refrigerate: keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days
- Freezing: we don’t advise freezing this recipe
- To Reheat: reheat on low heat in a skillet or in the microwave
This Green Bean Almondine recipe comes together quickly with only 5 delicious ingredients, so don’t wait to try this recipe! Your family will love the buttery almond sauce over these crisp-tender beans, and besides that, it’s such a beautiful dish!
There are tons of new and holiday-worthy recipes including the Green Beans Almondine in our Natasha’s Kitchen Cookbook.
More Vegetable Side Dishes
If you love this Green Bean Almondine recipe, then you won’t want to miss these other delicious vegetable side dish recipes.
Green Beans Almondine Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lbs green beans, or haricots verts, rinsed and trimmed
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided into 3 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds, or sliced almonds
- 1/8 tsp black pepper, or added to taste
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt, or to taste, plus 1 Tbsp to salt the water
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 tsp lemon zest, plus more to serve
Instructions
- Fill a large saucepan 2/3 with water and bring to a rapid boil. Add 1 Tbsp salt and green beans. Return to a boil and boil for 3-7 minutes or until crisp-tender (timing depends on the size of the green beans).
- Drain beans immediately in a colander and rinse them with cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain and set aside.
- In a large skillet, over medium heat, melt 3 Tbsp butter. When butter is foaming, add the almonds and 1/4 tsp salt and pepper and and stir constantly for 2-3 minutes or until nuts are golden and toasted (don't walk away as they burn quickly).
- Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds until fragrant but do not brown. Turn off the heat and add the remaining Tablespoon of butter then add green beans. Season with more salt and pepper to taste.
- Grate fresh lemon zest and toss to combine. Transfer beans to a serving platter and pour over the skillet sauce and almonds. Garnish with more lemon zest and serve right away.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Can you do a duck recipe please? I want to do it for new years
Thanks for your suggestion, Karolina!
This is a great side to our fave pork shop! It is flavorful, savory and suoer easy to make. I can even eat it all day! 😍
I totally agree, Ina! We love this.
My go-to green beans recipe! It’s simple, flavorful, and ready in 15 minutes. Even my kids love it. Perfect for weeknights or holiday menus!
I love how quick and easy this is! Tastes so good! My kids absolutely loved it (but we’re already big green fans over here) 🙂
That’s wonderful I love when the kids will eat it right up.
Hi Natasha,
If you bring this dish to a potluck how can you reheat it? Would it taste as good making it in advance and reheating it briefly in the oven?
To be honest, these green beans are best fresh but you could do that or heating them up on a skillet would be even better.
Yummmy, definitely making them for weekend! Can I make them a day ahead?
Green beans are best the day that they are made or they tend to get a little dark and lifeless, although they will still taste good when you reheat them the next day. I’d recommend prepping all of your ingredients and putting them together before serving. It doesn’t take long to cook this at all. I hope you love it! 🙂
Question: is this dish served cold then, since the beans are rinsed in cold water or does the melted butter warm them up?
It is served warm. You just want to rinse them with cold water. They should still be warm after your rinse them. You just want to stop the cooking process and not cool them down completely. I hope that makes sense 🙂 And the butter also warms them up. We love those green beans! They are frequently made for parties in our family. And they are easy!
Hi Natasha, I love your blog and come back to it every week for one thing or another. I have a soft spot for green beans, lol I could eat them every day. Well I make mine a little different. I add garlic and use Coconut oil instead of butter, and they come out amazing. ( I got my coconut oil in GNC) and use it on everything, it’s so much healthier, and tasted amazing,
Nadia, thanks for the tip. We have a GNC nearby (I think!) I’ll have to try that coconut oil out. Do you add almonds too or just garlic? Garlic sounds great!
I haven’t tried the almonds, but will next time I make them
Hey natasha i tried these with sugar snap peas today and they turned out soo good!:)
mmmm… that does sound good! Thanks for the idea!
My mother-in-law has taught me a very similar dish, but she adds real bacon bits. I have toasted the almonds and bacon on the side and the combination is delicious! 🙂
Hi Inga – bacon sounds really good! Thanks for the tip 🙂
So good! thanx
I love green beans! This is one of my favorite way’s to prepare them. Thanks for posting this, now everyone else can enjoy them too!
MMM, Natasha, these look awesome! Lately, I am on a green bean kick too. I love to steam them first and then saute in Walnut oil with some sesame seeds and black pepper. Vkusno! 😉
You left out the extra stick of butter and extra 1 1/2 cups of almonds you will need for step 7a – Toss out burned almonds and butter, clean pan, melt a stick of butter, add almonds…
Did that happen to you?? oh yikes! I admit, I’ve done it too. That’s why I included the warning. It can really sneak up on you!
Not with this one (yet). But I know how these things go. You turn your head for about 3 seconds, and you have gone from slightly golden to coal black (OK, dark mahogany).
Do they sell green beans at winko? Thanx 4 the recipe:)
Yes, I buy my beans at winco. They have them by the pound or pre-cut, but the pre-cut ones are twice as much.
Mmm, these are my favorite green beans. The toasted almonds and slightly browned butter gives them so much flavor.
The instructions in the original recipe I found for these a few years back said to rinse the beans in cold water to stop the cooking process, then to add them back in to the pan with the butter and almonds to heat through–I’ve tried it both ways (rinsing and not rinsing), and I’ve found I like them rinsed even though it’s an extra step, because it gives the beans a vibrant green color, and a crisper (but still cooked through) texture rather a more wilted texture.
Oooh, thats a great tip; I’ll include that. Thanks Natalia!