Sometimes the easiest recipes produce the most delicious results. These Green Beans with Balsamic Butter fall into that category. They come together SO quickly, making them perfect for a weeknight meal, but the rich, tangy balsamic butter bumps them up a notch, making them equally at home on a holiday table or served alongside an elegant meal for guests.
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Fresh green beans – Frozen green beans would work as well.
- Salted butter
- Balsamic vinegar – This recipe is written for balsamic vinegar, not balsamic glaze, which has been reduced for a thicker texture and more concentrated flavor, often with sugar added.
- Green onions
- Fresh garlic
- Salt and pepper
How to Make Green Beans with Balsamic Butter
- Chop some green onions, mince some garlic, then combine them with some balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan. Cook on medium, stirring frequently, for 5-7 minutes or until most of the vinegar is reduced into a thick syrup and has been absorbed by the green onions. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. While the water is coming to a boil, combine the vinegar/onion mixture and the butter. Set aside.
- When the water begins to boil, add the green beans. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until the beans float to the top and are bright green. Drain. Toss in the balsamic butter, salt and pepper to taste, and serve immediately.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store leftover green beans in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoy within 3-4 days for best results.
- If you have leftover butter, store it in an airtight container in the fridge and melt to use on your favorite veggies within 3-4 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! This butter would be great with asparagus, Brussels sprouts, or snap peas.
Yep. Blanch your green beans and prepare your balsamic butter. Store separately, tightly covered, in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, combine the beans with the butter and warm gently over low heat until heated through.
Sure. Just give them a quick blanch like the fresh ones. When they are hot and bright green (this should only take a few minutes), drain and continue on with the recipe as written.
Green Beans with Balsamic Butter
Ingredients
- 2 pounds fresh green beans trimmed
- ¼ cup salted butter
- ½ cup balsamic vinegar
- 3 green onions chopped (the entire thing)
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine the onions, garlic, and vinegar in a small saucepan. Cook on medium, stirring frequently, for 5-7 minutes or until most of the vinegar is reduced into a thick syrup and has been absorbed by the green onions. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. While the water is coming to a boil, combine the vinegar/oninon mixture and the butter. Set aside.
- When the water begins to boil, add the green beans. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until the beans float to the top and are bright green. Drain. Toss in the balsamic butter, add salt and pepper to taste, and serve immediately. Serves 8.
Notes
- Store leftover green beans in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoy within 3-4 days for best results.
- If you have leftover butter, store it in an airtight container in the fridge and melt to use on your favorite veggies within 3-4 days.
- If desired, you could blanch frozen green beans for this recipe.
Questions & Reviews
Sounds yummy! We didn’t get our garden going this year, so sad! If you have a farmer’s market near you, the green beans would be so much yummier than store-bought! They are in season right now, so that’s what we’ve been doing. I love them blanched and then sauteed in butter & lots of garlic, sometimes I throw some bacon pieces in there too. YUM!
DELICIOUS! Made these last night for our anniversary dinner along with the pork with plum sauce, I’m surprised there were any left.
looks sooo yummy!!! maybe i’m just missing it, but do you melt the butter at some point? or does it just melt from the heat of the cooked green beans?
thanks!!!!
It just melts from the heat of the beans. 🙂
Working with balsamic vinegar for the first time (apparently I’m way sheltered)! This was yummy! I knew OBB wouldn’t disappoint!
I’m always on the lookout for delicious side dishes. Thanks!
This looks delicious but I have a practical question about it. If you are serving something like this (that needs to be made and served immediately) to guests, how do you serve it immediately without leaving a pile of dishes in your sink when you have guests at your house? If I am cooking something last-minute it usually means my guests are in my kitchen with me and it’s usually messy from making the dinner so then they see the mess. I would love to know how you (or other readers) pull off a great last-minute side dish like this without inviting the whole dinner party into a messy kitchen while you make it.
I would make the compound butter well in advance, to save time and mess, even if I were just serving it to my family on a week night. For guests, I would go a step further and place the prepped butter in the bottom of the serving dish during my meal prep before everyone arrives, then toss the hot beans in the dish before stirring and serving.
And now I’m dreaming of all the different compound butters I could try with my favorite veggies this fall…
I discovered this summer how easy it is to grow beans and how much my kids LOVE them – now I wish I’d planted more than my experimental 5 plants 🙂 I’ll have to buy some and try this recipe, it sounds delicious!
That sounds delicious! I tried to grow veggies once… I’ll try again, but you made me laugh so hard with your black thumb and acceptance of it!
I have a big bowl of these from the garden and I’m tired of a simple sautee…I like this idea for something a little different!
Got home with green beans to be my veggie for dinner tonight, and saw this in my email. Had everything on hand – super easy to make and I LOVED THEM! Thanks!