Green Beans Almondine

Green Beans Almondine is what you make when you want a green vegetable on the Thanksgiving table that isn’t green bean casserole. No creamy canned soup, no fried onions — just blanched beans, almonds toasted in butter until they’re properly golden, garlic, and a squeeze of lemon at the end.

The whole thing takes about 25 minutes, and most of that can happen the day before. Blanch the beans, shock them in ice water, refrigerate. Toast the almonds and keep them in a jar. On the day you’re combining things in a hot pan for three minutes while everything else comes out of the oven.

The one step to leave until the last moment is the lemon juice. Added early, the acid dulls the beans from bright green to army green, and the whole point of blanching and shocking them was the color.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Easy holiday side – Green beans almondine is my go to side for the holidays. It’s an easy side dish to make that doesn’t require the oven and is always a crowd pleaser
• Great for weeknight dinner – These crisp green beans requires little prep time and cook in a total time of twenty five minutes, which makes it is perfect for weeknight eating.
• Light vegetable side dish – At Thanksgiving, so many of the sides are creamy, which is amazing, but I love to offer this green bean side for a less filling option that tastes delicious! It’s a great keto or low-carb option for anyone with dietary restrictions.

If you’re looking for a side to pair with your green beans almondine, try these easy mashed potatoes.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Here’s a quick look at the ingredients you need to make this delicious spring roll salad. For a full list of measurements, see the full recipe.

• Fresh green beans – I recommend using French green beans, also called haricots verts, because they are thinner and more tender than standard green beans and cook a little faster. Either works in this recipe but haricots verts look beautiful and have the best texture.
• Butter – The butter cooks the almonds and garlic while adding such great flavor
• Sliced almonds – You can get whole almonds and crush them yourself, or you could buy slivered almonds
• Garlic cloves – Mince garlic cloves finely and saute them in butter with the almonds to add a depth of flavor to your green beans.
• Lemon juice – The lemon juice adds some citrus and brightness to the vegetables. Make sure to use fresh squeezed for the best results.
• Ground nutmeg – A bit of nutmeg gives the green beans a classic fall flavor
• Salt – You just need a little salt to intensify your flavors, but if you use unsalted butter, add a little extra to taste.

Instead of butter, you could use olive oil. In addition to garlic, you could add onion or shallot for more aromatics.

For spices, you could add any that you like! Black pepper would be a great addition. You could even add red pepper flakes for a bit of heat. I love to reserve a bit of lemon zest before juicing the lemon to garnish the dish.

For another simple fall side dish, make these maple glazed carrots.

How to make Green Beans Almondine

Step 1: Bring a heavily salted pot of water to a boil. Place green beans in the boiling water to blanch for about 4-5 minutes.

Step 2: Remove green beans from the boiling water and immediately transfer to an ice bath.

Step 3: Heat butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Once the butter is almost melted, pour the sliced almonds into the pan. Toss to make sure the almonds are evenly coated in the butter. Toast the almonds in butter until golden brown about 5 minutes.

Step 4: Place minced garlic in the pan and saute for another 3 minutes. Season with nutmeg and salt and toss again. Drain blanched beans and add to the pan with the almonds along with the lemon juice. Toss to mix all ingredients and serve immediately.

Make it ahead for thanksgiving

This is one of the few green vegetable sides that genuinely improves your Thanksgiving timeline, because almost all of it can happen the day before and the last step takes three minutes.

The day before (wednesday):

Blanch the green beans and shock them in ice water exactly as written. Drain them well and pat them properly dry — water clinging to the beans will steam them in the pan tomorrow instead of letting them sear. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge.

Toast the almonds in the butter, add the garlic, nutmeg and salt, and let the whole thing cool. Store it separately from the beans, at room temperature. Keeping them apart matters: almonds sitting in the fridge against damp beans go soft overnight, and soft almonds are the one thing that ruins this dish.

On Thanksgiving Day:

Warm the almond butter mixture in a large pan over medium heat until it’s sizzling, add the beans, and toss for about three minutes until everything is hot. Add the lemon juice off the heat, right at the end, and serve.

The one thing not to do ahead is the lemon. Acid turns blanched green beans from bright green to a dull olive within an hour or two, and the whole reason you blanched and shocked them was the colour. Keep the lemon juice in a small cup next to the stove and add it as the dish leaves the pan.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Use Frozen Green Beans?

You can, and you skip the blanching entirely since frozen beans are blanched before freezing. Thaw them completely and pat them very dry first, or they’ll release water into the pan and steam rather than sear. They won’t have quite the snap of fresh, so if this is going on a holiday table it’s worth buying fresh — but for a weeknight it’s a reasonable trade.

Should I make green beans almondine or green bean casserole?

Depends who’s at the table. Almondine is the lighter, sharper option — blanched beans, toasted almonds, lemon — and it’s faster and easier to make ahead. Green bean casserole is the comfort-food one, and if there are people at your Thanksgiving who expect it, substituting almondine will be noticed. I’ve been known to make both.

Why did my green beans turn a dull olive color?

Almost always the lemon juice going in too early — acid breaks down the chlorophyll that blanching set. Add it off the heat, at the very end. The other cause is overcooking: beans want four to five minutes in the boiling water and then straight into ice water, not a minute longer.

Storage and reheating

Allow the dish to cool completely. Then, store the leftover green beans almondine in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Reheat on the stove-top until warmed. The toasted almonds may lose their crunch over time.