Screaming Skillet Green Beans

Screaming skillet green beans get their name from the screaming hot skillet used to sautee them. With the fresh flavor of sauteed garlic and the fruity citrus notes of white wine, these green beans make a great side dish from summer into the fall.

A Simple Skillet Green Beans Recipe

Skillet green beans is one of my favorite green bean recipes. In fact, I have been known to eat an entire plate of it in a single sitting. They come together quickly and don’t require a big mess. I often serve them up as a side dish for dinner, or as a all-veggie meal for lunch.

The flavors aren’t overpowering but at the same time not bland, so they pair well with other dishes. I’ve served them with everything from seafood, to chicken, to steak. I even love them with the occasional cheeseburger instead of french fries.

While I often make these on the grill, it is just as easy to make these sauteed green beans on the stovetop. As these days get warmer and we rely on our grill more and more, this dish becomes a staple in my kitchen.

What You’ll Need

This screaming skillet green bean recipe calls for 1/2 lb of green beans, which serves between 2 – 4 people. If we are having multiple sides, it will stretch to 4, but if this is the only one on the table it’s works best for 2. You can easily increase the recipe to accommodate however many you have.

• Fresh green beans
• Fresh garlic
• Cooking oil such as avocado oil or olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Ground black pepper
• Dry white wine
• Water

Recommended Kitchen Tools

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These simple skillet green beans are fairly simple to make but your required tools may be slightly different when making it on the grill versus the stovetop. Regardless, you will need a 10″ or larger skillet with a lid. The lid does not need to fit snug, but it will trap a lot of the steam. I use my cast iron skillet, but I’ve had good results with stainless steel and non-stick as well.

For the grill, I only recommend cast iron and never use a glass lid. Grills can get very hot very quickly and can damage a pan that is only oven safe to 400º or even 500º.

How to Make Skillet Green Beans

Start by giving the fresh green beans a good rinse then pat them dry. Next snap off the end of the bean where it was attached to the vine. The string end can stay, but the vine end is very fibrous and tough to chew. Add green beans to a medium sized mixing bowl.

Next we are going to finely minced the garlic. Peel the garlic and mince it. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp of salt over the minced garlic and run your knife through it a couple more times. The salt acts like grit to help break the garlic up. Those smaller pieces stick to the green beans more readily than large chunks of garlic. We aren’t going as far as pureeing the garlic with the knife, but there will be a noticeable difference after you have minced it with the salt on top.

Add the garlic into the mixing bowl along with the green beans, then add the olive oil then the salt and pepper. Toss them to coat completely and set them aside while you heat the pan.

The green beans need fairly constant attention, but they should cook in 8 minutes or less. Once the pan is hot, add in the beans. Make sure you stir them every 20 – 30 seconds. The goal is to get the garlic to brown, but not burn. It takes about 2 minutes total. Once you see that most of the garlic has browned, add the wine. Stir to make sure nothing is sticking, cover and steam about 90 seconds.

As the wine cooks down, it will completely evaporate. When it does, add in a bit of the water about 1/4 of a cup at a time. Stir, cover and cook. In my experience it takes about 3 minutes to cook off the wine the first time, and 3 minutes to cook off each 1/4 cup addition of water. Make sure to check it and stir every 90 seconds as you go.

When the beans are almost done – pierce them with a fork or taste them to tell – remove the lid and let the rest of the liquid cook off completely. I like my beans tender crisp, which takes about 8 minutes total. If you like yours cooked further, you may need additional water to keep them going.

Tips for Success

While it seems easy to cook fresh green beans (because it is) there are always a few tips that can help you get it right the first time.

• Heat your pan properly. When using the grill, I place my cast iron skillet on at the beginning over medium or indirect heat so that I know it’s ready when I need it. On the stovetop, allow the grill about 3-5 minutes to heat over medium-high. We want it hot enough that the beans will scream, but not so hot that it will smoke and burn.
• Only add the liquid as needed. The intent is to steam the green beans in the skillet after building all those delicious flavors while sauteing. If you add it all at once you can end up with overcooked, waterlogged beans.
• Don’t waste your extra virgin olive oil on this recipe. The goal here is high heat cooking and unrefined extra virgin olive oils just can’t stand up to the heat. I recommend avocado oil, grapeseed oil, or peanut oil that has been labeled for high-heat cooking with a smoke point over 400ºF.

Serving Suggestions

Serve these screaming skillet green beans while hot! It’s a versatile dish that will compliment many main entrees such as this Creamy Balsamic Chicken Skillet, Garlic Herb Pork and Potatoes, or my Panko Crusted Rockfish Fillets. They also pair great with a dry white wine such as sauvignon blanc or a lightly oaked chardonnay (like the one you used in the recipe!)

How to Store and Reheat

These green beans will store in the fridge for 2 – 3 days if wrapped in an airtight container. I do not recommend freezing them. Reheat on the stove top until warmed through or pop them in the microwave for a few seconds.

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Screaming Skillet Green Beans

Screaming skillet green beans get their name from the screaming hot skillet used to cook them. Laced with garlic and the fruity citrus notes of white wine, they make a great summer side dish.

4.9 stars (13 ratings)

prep: 5 minutes minutes

cook: 8 minutes minutes

total: 13 minutes minutes

servings: 2 servings

author: Renee N Gardner

Print Pin Rate

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound green beans
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 – 3 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (divided)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup of water

Instructions

• Wash green beans and pat dry. Snap off the vine end of the bean and place them in a medium size mixing bowl.
• Mince the garlic clove, sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoons of salt and run your knife through it a few more times to create a thick chunky paste-like consistency.
• Add garlic, olive oil, remaining 1/4 teaspoons of salt, and pepper to the green beans. Toss to coat thoroughly.
• Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat, either on the stovetop or grill.
• Add green beans to pan and cook 2 minutes until garlic begins to brown, tossing often.
• Add the white wine, toss, cover and allow to cook 90 seconds. Toss, re-cover and cook an additional 90 seconds.
• When the wine in the pan evaporates, add 1/4 cup of water. Continue to cook while covered, tossing every 90 seconds and adding water as needed, no more than 1/4 cup at a time.
• For tender crisp green beans, it should take about 8 minutes total cooking time.
• When the beans are almost done, remove the lid and allow the rest of the liquid to cook off before serving.

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Notes

1/4 to 1/2 cup of water is all you need for tender crisp beans. If you prefer your beans to be cooked longer, keep adding water 1/4 a cup at a time as the pan dries out – every 2 – 3 minutes. If the pan dries completely, you’ll burn the beans instead of cooking them.

I typically use a chardonnay or sauvignon blanc for this recipe. For a richer result, try making it with sherry or bourbon. For an non-alcoholic alternative, use no salt added chicken broth.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Calories: 150kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 2gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gSodium: 534mgFiber: 4gSugar: 5g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is for general information purposes only. For the most accurate information, calculate using your select brands and exact measurements.

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