The best recipe for Southern stewed green beans with tomatoes! An easy, slow-cooking side dish made special with fresh green beans, bacon, and fire-roasted canned tomatoes.
FRESH MAKES A DIFFERENCE
Stewed green beans with tomatoes is a classic side dish down here in the South, and we serve them up regularly at holiday potluck parties and right alongside comforting family suppers. You’ll also find a rendition of these savory green beans at most barbecue restaurants, however, I must sadly report — there’s just no chance they’ll be as good as those you’re going to experience here.
You see, unlike most barbecue restaurants, these stewed green beans are made with fresh green beans. And, no offense to the canned variations, but they couldn’t hold a candle to fresh even if they tried.
Fresh green beans hold on to their texture even when stewed, and when using fresh green beans in a recipe like this one, they actually take on the flavors you want them to take…not the flavors fromt the can. They take on the flavor of brine-y bacon, absorb the acidity and brightness from the fire roasted tomatoes, and bathe in a seasoned chicken broth that’ll have you slurping it up with a spoon.
In the case of green beans, fresh is always best, and in the case of stewed green beans, the best is right here, at your fingertips.
HOW TO MAKE STEWED GREEN BEANS WITH TOMATOES
Homemade stewed green beans are easy to make, and the steps and ingredients are fairly minimal. By using ingredients with really big flavors like bacon, onion, and fire-roasted tomatoes, we are taking stewed green beans with tomatoes to a whole ‘nother level.
ADD BACON & ONION FOR FLAVOR
The best stewed green beans begin like most great recipes do — with bacon. Thick-cut bacon to be more precise. Thick-cut bacon is much easier to dice than thinly sliced bacon and adds great texture to just about any dish. The bacon is diced and added to a large saucepan, Dutch oven or braiser, and is seared until crispy. Then, in goes some thinly sliced yellow onions.
FIRE ROASTED TOMATOES = REAL BIG FLAVOR
Fire roasted tomatoes have greater depth of flavor than regular canned tomatoes, and they are absolutely perfect for stewed green beans.
FRESH GREEN BEANS FOR QUALITY
Fresh green beans may seem intimidating if you’ve only ever used canned before, but rest assured, you can still take the easy way out. Most major grocers carry packaged green beans in the produce section, and they are already snipped, trimmed, and strung.
If you shop at major, major grocer, they may have more than one type of green bean to choose from. Haricot Vert (also known as French green beans) are not what we’re looking for here. Just a standard ol’ American green bean will do. If you want to do it all yourself, but don’t know how, below is a demo from MyRecipes you’ll find helpful:
Once you’re ready to work with your fresh green beans, they’ll go into the pan with the bacon and onion, followed by the chicken broth and tomatoes.
USE UNSALTED BROTH FOR COOKING
When cooking, it is always best to use unsalted broths. This way, you have complete control over the amount of seasoning that goes in. For example, if you were to use salted broth, your dish might come out to salty because of the salt from the bacon. So, unsalted broth it is.
To the broth, you’ll add soy sauce for depth of flavor, salt, pepper, garlic, and powder. Then, the bacon gets to come back in, along with a new friend, fire-roasted tomatoes.
The dish comes to a simmer and slow cooks for just under an hour, just until the green beans have enough time to absorb and take on all the amazing flavors streaming throughout the broth.
And let me just tell you, there is a lot of flavor going on in this dish. Stewed green beans with tomatoes is easy to make, the only hard part is the waiting. But sometimes, it’s the waiting that makes a dish so very special. Please, enjoy.
5 MORE SIDE DISHES YOU’LL LOVE
- Green Bean Almondine is a simple way to spruce up fresh green beans! The name may mislead some into thinking it’s a complex recipe, but rest assured, these buttery green beans topped with a crunchy almond sauce comes together quickly and with very few ingredients.
- Fresh Green Bean Casserole with Cheese features freshly cooked green beans, baked in an incredible homemade cream of mushroom sauce and topped with crispy French fried onions.
- Pesto Pasta Salad is a creamy pasta salad made with bowtie noodles, grape tomatoes, green beans, and fresh Mozzarella.
- Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad is a family-friendly side dish Ranch lovers will swoon for. Pasta salad coated in a quick and easy Ranch dressing (homemade or store-bought), crispy bacon, and more!
- Fresh Green Beans are still great on their own, so don’t fret if you can’t swing an Almondine sauce tonight. Featuring over fifteen amazing ways to eat fresh green beans in stellar side dishes, salads, and main courses.
The best recipe for stewed green beans with tomatoes, featuring fresh green beans, bacon, onion, and canned fire-roasted tomatoes!
- 2 slices thick-cut bacon diced
- 1/2 yellow onion cut into thin slices
- 1 (12 ounce) package fresh green beans trimmed and cut in half
- 1 (28 ounce) can whole fire-roasted tomatoes drained
- 3 1/2 cups unsalted chicken broth
- 1 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
- Pinch red pepper flakes
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Add the bacon to a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sauté for about 3 minutes, then add the onion and continue to sauté. Stir often, for another 3-4 minutes or until the onion is translucent.
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Add the prepared green beans, along with the fire-roasted tomatoes. Use the back of a wooden spoon and crush/break apart the tomatoes.
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Stir in remaining ingredients and allow to come to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to maintain a slow simmer. Simmer for 50 minutes, lifting the lid to stir occasionally. Serve and enjoy.
This is it – my new favorite side dish! Delish!
Thanks, Jillian! Mine too 😉
Oh man, these beans look to-die-for! I’m a fan of all things Southern, pinning these to make! MMM!
Yay! Thanks, Kristine!
That is a staple dish around here, but I think most people use canned green beans. I can imagine that fresh green beans make it sooo much better!
Thanks, Pam! Couldn’t agree more 😉
This brings back memories of snapping beans for my grandma and mama when I was a kid in Virginia and Georgia. We use hamhocks instead of bacon, but this looks delish!
Oh, I LOVE that! Those are the best kind of memories 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
These are so nostalgic for me. My mom used to make excellent stewed tomatoes and green beans. But your recipe is a total upgrade with all of that great smoky bacon. Love this!
Thank you so much! That’s such a sweet memory 🙂 Love it!
I love the green bean-bacon combo, but I never thought to add tomatoes! And the fire roasted tomatoes are my favorite! Can’t wait to make this!
I looked for years for a southern recipe for green beans. I never could nail it– It’s totally the fire roasted tomatoes. So yummy! Snapping green beans also make think of being young and doing it with my mom. Big paper bags full. I can remember doing it in the neighbor girls garage one day when it was raining and then playing spoons with the garage door open and the summer rain pounding. Good times!
That is the sweetest memory ever Sara! I absolutely love that! Thank you 🙂 XOXO
Instead of canned tomatoes, could fresh tomatoes take the place along with the fresh green beans?
Sure! Especially in the summer when the tomatoes are so wonderful! Sub in 5-6 vine-ripened tomatoes (just be sure to deseed and cut them into large chunks and add them to the pot 🙂