Slow Cooker Green Beans

Need an easy side dish that feeds a crowd and keeps them coming back for more? Slow Cooker Green Beans is it. They soak up all of the savory flavors of bacon and onion and pair well with so many main dishes. Win-win!

We serve this versatile side dish often with smoked meat, like our smoked turkey breast and brisket, but we also love it for simple weeknight dinners alongside baked pork chops, Southern cornbread, and mashed potatoes.

Crock Pot Green Beans with Bacon

Any and all green bean recipes are near and dear to my heart. They have always been my favorite vegetable! I grew up eating canned green beans, but once I had fresh, there was no going back. I love fresh green beans cooked on the stovetop or in my famous green bean casserole.

Minimal Time | This slow cooker recipe is not hard or difficult, making it perfect for the beginner cook. It only requires a handful of ingredients and about 10-15 minutes of prep time.

Minimal Effort | Everything is from scratch and completely full of savory Southern goodness, yet all you have to do is dice a few veggies, add to the slow cooker, stir, and cover, and go about your day.

Works for the Holiday, Too! | Crockpot green beans are a great recipe for holidays when you're out of stovetop and oven space, which works out great because these slow cooker green beans with bacon are delicious with roasted turkey and smoked ham. It's perfect to serve on holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.

Make-Ahead Friendly | This is an easy weeknight side dish you can make in advance, and like magic, it reheats perfectly and is even more flavorful. That means it's great for BBQs and cookouts!

Southern Slow Cooker Green Beans Ingredients

Green Beans | Fresh is best when it comes to which green beans to use in the slow cooker. We recommend this in our Southern green bean dish, too. Do not use canned! If in a pinch, you can use frozen to reap the same results.

Bacon | This green bean recipe calls for diced, thick-cut bacon. We love simmering with bacon! Our Purple Hull Peas recipe is proof. You can also use diced ham (take a cue from this butter bean side), a ham hock, chopped smoked sausage, or even smoked turkey for the meat, if preferred. Or you can leave out the meaty protein for vegetarian dish.

Onion + Garlic | Yellow onion is our choice here, but you can use any type. Even a shallot will work well in this recipe. Fresh garlic will add tons of flavor, but you can use 2 teaspoons of garlic powder if you're out of fresh.

Chicken Broth | Great for infusing juicy, savory goodness into the green beans, chicken broth is a must. We use unsalted for total control over the sodium level. You can use vegetable broth for a vegetarian option and water if you're in a pinch without any broth at all.

Salt + Pepper | We always cook with Kosher salt, and fresh cracked black pepper is a game changer.

How to Prep Fresh Green Beans

Wash the Beans | When cooking with any produce, you want to wash it to remove any dirt or debris.

Trim the Ends | Since we use fresh greens beans for this recipe, it's important to remove the stems on each end of the green bean.

How to Cook Fresh Green Beans in the Crock Pot

Add your ingredients to the slow cooker.

Cover and cook for 4 hours on high or 6-7 hours on low, stirring halfway through the cooking time if able.

What to Serve with Crockpot Green Beans

You can serve your green beans in a small bowl with juices and broth intact. I promise you, it's so delicious that you'll want every last drop. However, this isn't always convenient if serving in a potluck lineup. In this case, you'd serve with a slotted spoon.

We recently served this dish at a BBQ with Texas brisket, creamed corn, and charro beans. They were a huge hit and rounded out this Texas-type meal perfectly.

Crockpot green beans is an ideal meal partner to smothered pork chops, chicken fried steak, BBQ meatloaf, and bacon wrapped chicken.

Serve with other Southern side dishes like scalloped potatoes and ham, fried squash, or Southern biscuits.

How to Add More Flavor to Green Beans

Our recipes are developed with the least amount of ingredients and prep time that yields max flavor. If you're looking to get creative with this slow cooker green beans recipe, try adding any of the following ingredients to the pot!

Spices + Herbs | Feel free to experiment with your slow cooker green beans by adding bay leaf, paprika (standard or smoked), or ground mustard. If you have onion soup mix, it's a quick way to add a ton of flavor to the crockpot. Leave out the salt in this recipe and rather add to taste if you use the soup mix.

Fresh Herbs | Fresh herbs like thyme, oregano, or marjoram work well in this recipe. Use up to a tablespoon or 2 of fresh chopped herbs.

Acid | A tablespoon of apple cider vinegar will cut through all those rich savory flavors in this slow cooker green bean recipe and add a little zing. A tablespoon of lemon juice is another way to add bright flavors to crockpot green beans. And green beans complement one another as evidenced by the classic dish green bean almondine. We recommend lemon juice if you go the vegetarian route and leaving out the bacon or subbing in smoked turkey.

Tomatoes or Potatoes | You'd be shocked at how much flavor a can of fire-roasted tomatoes can add to your green beans. You can also make this side dish extra hearty with quartered red potatoes.

Brown Sugar | Give these slow cooker green beans major soul-food vibes by adding 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. We use this ingredient for our Southern collard greens recipe, and it's a TAK fan favorite!

More Southern Slow Cooker Recipes You'll Love

• Crockpot Chicken and Gravy
• Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken
• Crockpot Chicken and Rice
• Crockpot Beans
• Pulled Pork in the Slow Cooker