Green Beans with Almonds

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Green Beans and Almonds is a light and crisp fresh green side dish to serve on Thanksgiving. It’s the best green bean side dish (better than casserole in my opinion), and offers a nutritious and colorful dish to add to your meal. It’s embarrassingly easy to make and pairs really well with turkey and mashed potatoes! I hope you include it on your ever-growing Thanksgiving menu.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Green Beans: Trim the green beans before blanching them in hot water. Once tender, place them into iced water so that they stay a vibrant green color and don’t overcook.
• Oil: For cooking. Olive, canola or vegetable will all work well. For a richer tasting dish, you can also use a tablespoon of butter with the oil.
• Seasonings: Salt and pepper
• Garlic: Use freshly minced garlic for the best flavor.
• Almonds: We like to use Marcona almonds in this recipe. They are rounder and plumper and have a softer texture, though regular almonds will also work well. Toast them first to enhance their natural flavors.
• Parmesan: Parmesan is optional, but adds a great flavor. If using, use freshly grated rather than pre-grated for the best flavor and texture.
• Lemon: I like to serve these green beans and almonds with a little squeeze of lemon juice for a nice fresh and zingy flavor.

How to make green beans with almonds

• Wash the green beans.

• Trim the ends of the green beans.
• Blanch the beans in hot water, then place them into iced water.

• Cook the garlic in the skillet and add in the cooked green beans.
• Remove from the heat and sprinkle with the parmesan.
• Toast the almonds and serve on top of the beans.

Tips to make this recipe

1. Blanche and shock the green beans for the best results. This technique is widely used to make sure that green beans come out tender yet crisp without losing that beautiful bright green color. Cook for 2 minutes in boiling water and then place in iced water. A rule of thumb is the beans should spend as much time in the cold water as in the hot.
2. Trim the green beans evenly. The green bean pieces are similar in length so they cook evenly in the skillet after the blanching process is done
3. Take care not to overcook the garlic. It should be softened and fragrant, but don’t let it brown. If the garlic overcooks it can become bitter in flavor.
4. Try using different nuts. Green beans work wonderfully with almonds, but you can easily make this recipe with other varieties like pecans, pine nuts or walnuts if you prefer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Lighten up the heavy Thanksgiving meal or holiday meal with this green beans with almonds side dish. It’s a really tasty reliable compliment to the main course, and everyone will love the golden toasted almonds crunch on top! If you’ve ever had green beans amandine, this kinda reminds me of that recipe but without the lemon-butter sauce. It’s an all around perfect side dish to make for the big meal.

Other Thanksgiving side dish recipes:

• Melting Sweet Potatoes
• Sautéed Mushrooms
• Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts
• Healthy Mashed Sweet Potatoes
• Autumn Pear Salad
• Cranberry Orange Sauce
• Oven Roasted Carrots

If you’ve tried this healthy-ish feel good Green Beans with Almonds recipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!