These sautéed green beans with garlic are a simple and easy side dish… Adding a little extra raw minced garlic at the end of cooking gives them an extra unexpected punch of flavor!
This is a sponsored conversation on behalf of Artisan Books; all opinions and text are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support this site!
Green beans are a totally underrated side dish. I mean, they’re so simple to prepare, and with a little seasoning, they pack a lot of flavor and pair well with just about any protein.
I recently shared how amazing they are with salmon in these grilled salmon in foil packets recipe, but these easy sautéed green beans are my go-to recipe for just about any other purpose. With just a touch of lemon paired with a good measure of garlic, they can go from stovetop to table in under 10 minutes!
Skillet green beans have always been in my recipe repertoire, but what really takes these to the next level is a little hack that I picked up from The Haven’s Kitchen Cooking School cookbook. It advises to reserve a little raw garlic and add it when you’re done cooking, and the result is simply amazing. I get it — raw garlic sounds a little overpowering, but the remaining heat in the green beans turns it kind of creamy and takes the bite out of it. It’s SO good!
I don’t own a lot of cookbooks, personally, but I wholeheartedly recommend picking up a copy of The Haven’s Kitchen Cooking School. This is just one of many little tips and hacks that I picked up while paging through it. It’s just an all around great basic cookbook that walks you through the building blocks you need to cook any meal. The focus is only really teaching the reader how to cook, not just how to follow a recipe.
I can’t wait to continue cooking my way through this book! Especially the chapter on sauces — sauces are such a great way to transform a basic dish, and I could use a little help in this area. I hope you’ll pick up a copy, too… In the mean time, try these yummy green beans and let me know what you think!

Sautéed Green Beans with Garlic
These sautéed green beans with garlic are a simple and easy side dish... Adding a little extra raw minced garlic at the end of cooking gives them an extra unexpected punch of flavor!
Ingredients
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound green beans, ends trimmed
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- fine sea salt
- 1/4 cup water
- grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat.
- Add enough oil to coat the pan, about 1 tablespoon. When the oil begins to shimmer, add half of the beans. Sauté, moving the beans around the pan occasionally, until tender, about 4 minutes.
- Add one-third of the garlic, a pinch of salt, and 2 tablespoons of the water. Cook for another 30 seconds and transfer the beans to a serving bowl.
- Repeat with the second batch.
- To serve, toss the beans with the remaining raw garlic and the lemon zest and juice. Season to taste with additional salt.
More quick & easy side dishes to try:
- No more undercooked sweet potatoes, this one simple secret will produce a perfectly cooked Instant Pot sweet potato every time… Making sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot is a total game changer for meal prep or those doing a Whole30!
- With just 5 ingredients, these grilled potatoes in foil packets have everything going for them… Quick, easy, delicious, and virtually mess-free!
- Want to learn how to make zucchini pasta with just 3 ingredients? Start with a bag of frozen zucchini noodles, and you can have this easy zucchini noodles recipe on your table in under 10 minutes! Low carb, gluten-free & Whole30 compliant.
Did you try these garlicky sautéed green beans? I’d love to see how they turned out… Tag me @Unsophisticook on Instagram or use the hashtag #Unsophisticook so I can check it out. Enjoy!
amanda whitley
Thursday 20th of July 2017
my biggest struggle is cooking healthy but good tasting food.
Breanna Pollard
Thursday 20th of July 2017
I STRUGGLE WITH SIDE DISHES.
Carolsue
Thursday 20th of July 2017
I can learn recipes and meal prep from a cookbook that is designed for the real home kitchen -- I need to learn about cooking vegetables, especially
Steve Weber
Wednesday 19th of July 2017
I'm hoping to learn how to make the perfect stock.
Laurajj
Wednesday 19th of July 2017
I am very excited about the soup section and learning to layer flavors! I have never been good at making my own soups and would love to learn!