If you’re looking for a show-stopping side dish that’s as easy as it is impressive, these Bacon-Wrapped Green Bean Bundles are it. Fresh, crisp-tender green beans are wrapped in savory bacon, roasted until the bacon is golden and caramelized, and then brushed with a sweet, buttery glaze that takes them over the top. They’re the perfect combination of salty, sweet, and savory—and they make any meal feel just a little more special. Perfect for holidays, dinner parties, or whenever you want your veggies to steal the show.
Ingredients Needed
- Green Beans – Use fresh (not frozen or canned) green beans here. You will need 1 pound of beans after the ends have been snapped off, so go for a little over 1 pound when you’re buying them at the store. I am using french style green beans here.
- Bacon – Get regular sliced bacon, not thin cut.
- Butter – Use real butter, no substitutions.
- Rice Vinegar – You can find rice vinegar by the other vinegar and condiments in your grocery store, or near the Asian foods section. “Seasoned” or “unseasoned” is fine.
- Granulated sugar
- Red onion
- Fresh garlic – No powdered, freeze dried, or jarred garlic. Use fresh garlic cloves!
How to Make Bacon-Wrapped Green Bean Bundles
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
- Wash and snap the ends off your green beans.
- When the water is boiling, briefly boil (blanch) the beans for 2 minutes . Quickly drain and rinse in cold water until the beans have cooled. You can also plunge in a bowl of ice water.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. On a parchment or foil-lined cookie sheet, divide the green beans evenly into 8-10 piles and wrap each one with a slice of bacon. Place on baking sheet with ends of bacon on the bottom. *This step can be done up to a day ahead of time.
- When the oven is ready, place the pan in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the bacon is crisp and sizzling.
- While the bundles are in the oven, melt the butter over medium-high heat in a small saucepan. When the butter is bubbly, add in the onions and garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until the onions are softened and fragrant. Reduce heat to low and add in vinegar, sugar, and salt. Remove from heat and set aside.
- When ready to serve, place bean bundles on a serving platter and drizzle with sauce. Serve immediately. These are perfectly paired with most meats particularly Asian- or American steakhouse-style meals.
Storing and Other Tips
- These beans are best enjoyed fresh from the oven, but leftovers are yummy, too. Store leftover beans in an airtight container in the fridge and consume within 3-4 days for best results.
- If you’d like to crisp up your bacon, I recommend heating leftover bundles in the microwave briefly and then transferring to the air fryer to cook until bubbly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Feel free to blanch your beans up to a day ahead of time. You can even wrap your green bean bundles with bacon a day ahead of time and store, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to bake. The sauce is best prepared right before serving.
It’s worth using real bacon here. However, if you have religious or health reasons that restrict the use of pork, go ahead and use what you’re able to! I would just recommend keeping a close eye on the bundles during baking. Most turkey bacon is quite thin and will cook up much more quickly than traditional bacon.
Fresh, crisp green beans are ideal. You can even use French-style (haricot verts). Frozen beans can work, but blanch and fully dry them first to avoid sogginess.
Blanching for 2–3 minutes brightens their color and softens them slightly so they cook evenly with the bacon.
Bacon-Wrapped Green Bean Bundles
Equipment
Ingredients
Bundles
- 1 pound green beans with the ends snapped off buy or pick about 1 1/2 pounds, so you'll have 1 pound after the beans' ends have been snapped
- 8 slices bacon regular or thin cut
Sauce
- 3 tablespoons butter no substitutions
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 1 tablespoon red onion finely minced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Blanch: Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
- Wash and snap the ends off of the beans. Discard any sickly looking, overly skinny, limp, or yucky-looking beans.
- When the water is boiling, briefly boil (blanch) the beans for 2-3 minutes or until you start hearing a popping noise and the beans have turned bright green. Quickly drain and rinse in cold water until the beans have cooled.
- Prepare the bundles: Preheat the oven to 400℉.
- On a cookie sheet, divide the green beans evenly into 8 piles. Carefully bundle each pile of beans with one slice of bacon and return to the baking sheet. This step can be done up to a day ahead of time.
- Bake: When the oven is ready, place the pan in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the bacon is crisp and sizzling.
- Prepare the sauce: While the bundles are in the oven, melt the butter over medium-high heat in a small saucepan. When the butter is bubbly, add in the onions and garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until the onions are softened and fragrant. Reduce heat to low and add in vinegar, sugar, and salt. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Serve: When ready to serve, place bean bundles on a serving platter and drizzle with sauce. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Prep Ahead Instructions: Green beans can be blanched ahead of time. You can wrap the bundles in bacon ahead of time as well, and store, covered, in the fridge until baking time.
- These beans are best enjoyed fresh from the oven, but leftovers are yummy, too. Store leftover beans in an airtight container in the fridge and consume within 3-4 days for best results.
- If you’d like to crisp up your bacon, I recommend heating leftover bundles in the microwave briefly and then transferring to the air fryer to cook until bubbly.
Questions & Reviews
Think I may try this out with asparagus! This looks so good!
Just made these for friends last night, and can I just say they seriously stole the show! They were delicious and everyone wanted the recipe. I love that they are so easy, elegant, tasty, unique, and can be done ahead of time!
I found these in your cookbook (when’s the next one coming out?!) and tried them first with asparagus spears and lean turkey bacon, which is what I had on hand. Turned out so yummy! Thanks for all the inspiration. I look forward to reading your blog and browsing your website often.
My husband rarely goes back for seconds on anything I make :), but he definitely did on these! I just discovered your site this week, and this is the second recipe I’ve made from it. The first also brought him back for seconds!
Making these to go along with Easter dinner, I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for ages and I’m finally getting around to making it! Thanks again!
Made these for the second time tonight and they were super tasty.The sauce is sooo good!! I LOVE you ladies. I don't comment often but I am so grateful all the time you put into this website. You make cooking so much fun! Everytime I make one of your recipes I get tons of compliments and almost always a request for the recipe.I always direct people to your website I love sharing my secret weapon :)There are few things more satisfying that than someone raving about the food you've created for them. Thanks for all the tips and tricks that help me make these delicious recipes to successfully! Every recipe I've tried has been wonderful, and I've tried quite a few of them. You rock!!
Just an FYI if anyone reads through these comments for tips like I always do. 🙂
Both times I've made these they took longer than 15min more like 20+. Although it seems like the leaner the bacon the quicker they cook. Mine ended a bit on the over cooked side (I ended up duped by the packaging on some lower qulaity bacon). Next time I'll be more careful to spend a few more bucks on the bacon and not blanch the beans as long.
I made this for Christmas dinner – it was a *huge* hit, almost eclipsed the presents! For some strange cosmic twist, the green beans act as a bacon accelerator and send the bacon-y flavor into the strastosphere. A.maz.ing. From my whole family, thank you, bacon goddesses.
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I'm serving it for Thanksgiving.
ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I just found this. I Love bacon. I love green beans. I may do this also with some of the skinnier pieces of asparagus I have around here. mmmmmm. BACON!
Just made these tonight for my mother-in-laws family birthday dinner. We had salmon, watermelon-herb-feta salad (VERY deLIsH!!) and these beans. The beans were fantastic. The flavor of the drizzle is wonderful. We cooked them for what seemed like nearly a half hour and finally pulled them out because although the bacon still didn't seem cooked, the beans were starting to dry out. We just peeled the bacon off and enjoyed the wonderful flavor of the beans. They looked beautiful to serve too.