Green Bean and Bacon Bundles
An impressive side dish that will please even the vegetable avoiders, these Green Bean and Bacon Bundles are both elegant and delicious!
Assemble these Green Bean Bundles ahead of time and just pop them into the oven before dinner. You will look like a seasoned host or hostess!
Why You Must Make
Fresh green beans are one of the blessings of summer. A few of my favorite tried and true green bean recipes are these Asian Green Beans from my mom’s recipe box, Haricots Verts with Grape Tomatoes, and Garlic Parmesan Roasted Green Beans. Sometimes it’s nice to make them fancy, even on a weeknight. Bundling a few green beans in bacon, drizzling with a jazzed-up garlic butter sauce, and baking makes an elegant presentation, not to mention a delicious little package.
- This fresh green bean recipe is elegant and delicious!
- Simple, easy-to-find ingredients make a company-worthy side dish.
- You can assemble these ahead of time to make it easy when the dinner hour draws near.
- They make such a fun presentation!
Expert Tips
This is one of those Fresh Green Bean Recipes that can be served for a special weeknight dinner or for dinner guests! Versatile, impressive, and delicious!
- PRO-Tip: You may precook the beans and bacon so the beans keep their green color and to shorten the time in the oven. When I have a busy day, I do a lot of prep work in the morning, so dinner comes together quickly.
- For this recipe, you can prepare the beans and bacon while sipping on your breakfast coffee. I place a few paper towels on a microwave-safe plate, arrange the bacon in a single layer, top with more paper towels and zap till some of the fat is rendered and it is partially cooked.
- The beans can be precooked for about 3-5 minutes, drained, and placed in ice water. This makes for simple assembly during the busy dinner hour and shortens the time in the oven.
- PRO-Tip: Using thin green beans or haricots verts works best. You can often find whole thin green beans in the frozen food section of your grocery store, just defrost before assembling. Cooking time will vary depending on both the thickness of your beans and your bacon.
Frequently Asked Questions
The color should be bright green without bruises or discoloration. They should feel firm and crisp and snap when bent. The skin should be smooth and tight without signs of dehydration.
Avoid beans with large swollen pods as this is a sign of old, tough green beans.
Blanching is a cooking process that brightens and sets the color. It also starts the cooking process.
To blanch green beans, drop them into boiling water briefly (about 2-3 minutes) until the color brightens. Next, remove them with a slotted spoon and plunge them into ice water to stop the cooking process.
Precooking the bacon helps ensure the bacon will be safe to eat when the shorter cooking time for the beans is done. Fry or microwave the bacon until much of the fat is rendered, the bacon looks nearly cooked, but is not crisp, but pliable. This way it can be wrapped around the beans.
You May Also Like:
- Easy Oven Roasted Asparagus
- Honey Balsamic Roasted Carrots
- Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Lemon Garlic Broccoli
- Roasted Autumn Vegetables
- Cauliflower Bacon Gratin
- More Side Dish Recipes
Green Bean and Bacon Bundles
An easy, elegant side dish that's impressive enough to serve company.
Ingredients
- 3/4 pound haricots verts or thin green beans (may cook first for about 3-4 minutes, then cool in ice water)
- 6 slices of bacon, 1/2 slice for every 5 green beans (may par-cook)
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
- A pinch of freshly ground black pepper
- Grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- Clean and snip the ends of the green beans. Bundle beans in bunches of 5-7 and wrap with 1/2 of a bacon slice. Skewer with a toothpick if desired. Place on a baking sheet.
- Mix together melted butter, brown sugar, garlic salt and black pepper. Drizzle over each bundle, and then sprinkle a little Parmesan on each bundle as well.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Then broil for a minute or two to brown if desired.
Notes
Note: if you precooked the beans and bacon, you may want to decrease the cooking time to 15-20 minutes.
Precooking the bacon helps assure it's fully done when the beans are cooked.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
2 bundlesAmount Per Serving: Calories: 158Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 337mgCarbohydrates: 8gFiber: 3gSugar: 4gProtein: 6g
56 Comments on “Green Bean and Bacon Bundles”
These look so good!
This looks like a great way to eat beans but I’m sure this would work well with asparagus too. Asparagus is now in season and is very affordable so I might try this recipe with asparagus xx
These little bundles are so pretty. I think I can even get my kids to eat green beans if I present it like this. 🙂
I love this! It reminds me of prosciutto-wrapped asparagus so this is a great alternative and frankly, I would much rather have this!
Liz, you made green beans look so good…so elegant! Simple and tasty.
Thanks for the idea and hope you are having a wonderful week 😀
What an excellent dish! The pictures are so pretty! I love the balance between the bacon and green beans. I can’t wait to give this a try. Thanks for sharing.
Oh my goodness! This is so simple and delicious! I would love some right now
what lovely and delicious plate Lizzy!!
Hate cooking at the last minute, though I do it a lot. But not for holidays. Then I’m ready. These are always an elegant way to serve green beans!
Partially cooking the bacon is a good time savor and serving these on a weeknight makes dinner extra special. I hope our Farmers Mkt is still open so I can score some fresh green beans.
Great idea to precook the beans and bacons, Liz. They sure are pretty little bundles =) And undoubtedly very tasty!
P.s. My fresh beans are picked at Whole Foods 😉
There is nothing like fresh green beans. They do the body and the soul good! Thank you for sharing Liz!
Oh yes, I could eat these by the ton! 🙂
What a fun and unexpected party appetizer! These look delicious, Liz!
Green beans wrapped with bacon? Oh yes, I’m there. They look so mouthwatering, Liz. 🙂
What pretty bundles, Liz! This is indeed a great dish to entertain guests…
The green bean bundles look so delicious and yet so easy to make. Thanks for sharing:)
I must admit, I love anything wrapped in bacon! This recipe is wonderful because I usually make bacon wrapped asparagus, and this is something different to try. This looks like it will be on my holiday table for sure!
Bacon just makes everything better. Those green bean bundles are super cute and tasty for sure.
oh now this brings back some memories! Since I can remember my grandmother used to make this for all our family gathering and church pot lucks. It was a favorite of mine. She used to drizzle a dab of bbq sauce on each bundle before baking to give them a smoky flavoR!