Southern Green Beans and New Potatoes
You’ll find Southern Green Beans and New Potatoes on just about every dinner table south of the Mason Dixon line! Tender, fresh green beans, nestled in a savory broth with bites of delicious red potatoes!
This classic side dish doesn’t take long to make and has incredible flavor! The ultimate Southern comfort food and ready in no time at all!
Why this recipe works
Simple ingredients: fresh beans,also known as “snap” beans, baby potatoes – small red (or new potatoes), a little chicken broth, and some bacon fat
Healthy side dish: no additives, preservatives or yucky stuff
Inexpensive: you can feed the whole family this vegetable dish for under 10$
Perfect side dish: this one-pot side dish provides flavorful vegetables and a starch, or carbohydrate
Here’s what you’ll need
This is one of the more simple recipes you’ll come across! All you need is fresh green beans, new potatoes (small red creamer potatoes), chicken broth or chicken stock, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano (or marjoram) and a few slices of bacon!
If you want to use chopped onions instead of onion powder, you can saute them in a little butter (optional.)
How to make it
First of all, it’s not necessary to cook the beans and potatoes for a long time. If you like crisp tender green beans, this recipe is ready in about 20 minutes. I like mine a little more done, so I usually cook this about 40 minutes.
Rinse the green beans and potatoes. Then “snap” or cut the ends off the green beans off. If the beans are really long, you’ll want to “snap” them in half.
Place the beans in a large bowl. Cut the new potatoes into halves or quarters, depending upon the size of the potato. (You want a bite size potato.)
Cut the bacon into 1/4 ” inch pieces and place in a large stock pot or Dutch oven; cook bacon until crisp. Remove crispy bacon pieces and set aside on a paper towel.
Move the stockpot with the bacon grease OFF heat and let it sit for 3-4 minutes; add chicken stock and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any bacon bits in the bottom of the pan.
Once the bacon pieces are incorporated into the chicken broth, return the stockpot to the stove.
Add snap green beans, potatoes, onion powder, garlic powder and oregano; bring to medium high heat at a gentle boil; then, turn the heat to simmer, cover and continue to cook beans and potatoes on very low heat for about 40 minutes or until the green beans are the texture you like.
Taste for seasonings and add a teaspoon salt, ground pepper or a little butter
Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with remaining bacon pieces, and use a slotted spoon for serving.
Recipe Tips
As your beans and potatoes simmer, you may need to add a little more chicken broth or a cup water. You want the liquid level to just barely cover the combination.
If you want to use a different kind of potatoes, I recommend sticking with a waxy skin potato like a small Yukon gold potato or those small fingerling potatoes. I do not recommend using russet or Idaho potatoes because they contain more starch and have a tendency to dissolve in the broth
If you don’t have onion powder, use diced onions instead. Cook the chopped yellow onion (or white onion) and cook it with the bacon are a little butter. After you remove the bacon pieces, just leave the onion in the big pot.
Storage and reheating
Store southern green beans and new potatoes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-5 days. Reheat on the stove top or in a microwavable bowl.
Southern Green Beans and New Potatoes are the perfect side dish for just about anything! Serve this with fried catfish or your Sunday roast!
More Southern favorite recipes
- Southern Greens
- Purple Hull Peas
- Fried Catfish
- Easy Skillet Cornbread
- Maple Pecan Carrot Souffle
- Speckled Butter Beans
If you make this recipe, please scroll down and leave a comment and rating! I love to hear from you!
Southern Green Beans and New Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh green beans rinsed and snapped or cut in half
- 1 pound small Red or New Potatoes rinsed and quartered
- ¼ pound bacon (about 4 thick pieces)
- 1½ cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano or marjoram
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Rinse green beans thoroughly in cold water; snap the ends off, then snap the green beans in half (you can use a knife to do this as well)1 pound fresh green beans
- Rinse the new potatoes and cut them in half or quarters, depending upon the size of the potato1 pound small Red or New Potatoes
- Cut bacon into ¼ inch pieces¼ pound bacon
- In a large stockpot, add bacon; cook on medium heat until the bacon pieces are crisp; remove cooked bacon pieces and place on a paper towel
- Remove the stockpot with the bacon grease off heat and let it cool about 3 minutes
- Add chicken broth to the pot of bacon grease and use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the bacon pieces (this is what creates the great flavor!)1½ cups chicken broth
- Return stockpot to heat; add potatoes, green beans, onion powder, garlic powder and oregano; stir it all together well and turn the heat to medium high1 pound fresh green beans, 1 pound small Red or New Potatoes, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon oregano or marjoram
- Let the green beans and potatoes cook on medium high for 5-8 minutes, then turn heat to simmer, cover with a lid and continue to cook until potatoes are fork tender and green beans are the desired texture (I simmer mine for 40-45 minutes, but you may want to simmer yours longer)Season to taste with salt and ground black peppersalt and pepper to taste
- Serve with a slotted spoon, garnish with bacon bits and enjoy!
