Creamy Green Beans – Oma's Grüne Bohnen

by: Gerhild Fulson  /  Cookbook Author, Blogger, German Oma!

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Cooking green beans, German-style, makes a wonderful side dish for almost any meal. Cooking the grüne Bohnen till just tender with a creamy white sauce is so traditional and so lecker!

This one is reminiscent of the way my Mutti cooked many vegetables.

Most common were a mix of peas and carrots. Another, were these green beans. And, being green beans, the best herb to season them with is Bohnenkraut (bean herb) ... a type of summer savory.

Don't want the cream sauce? Then drizzle the cooked beans with some browned butter and sprinkle with grated cheese. Also very German.

Above, I've served the creamed green beans with boiled potatoes, pan-fried pork chops and some leftover gravy from Sunday's pork roast adding a bit more cream plus the cooking fat/juices from the pork chops to make a wonderful gravy for this meal.

From start to finish, this whole meal, including the meat, took me just 45 minutes to put onto the table. Yummy deliciousness!

How to make a really quick cream sauce:

If I'm in a super hurry, I'll use this quick trick I learned from my Mutti. Once the green beans are cooked and drained, I'll keep the green beans in the pot, and pour in some whipping or table cream. I'll perhaps even add a dollop of butter. Gently stirring over fairly high heat, the cream will start to evaporate, leaving a yummy 'sauce' coating the beans. 

Add the seasonings, especially the Bohnenkraut (summer savory), lots of freshly ground black pepper and salt. Done. Yum!

I'll use this method particularly for Brussels sprouts. So good. Toss in some bacon chips. DOUBLE YUM!

Need that “all’s good with the world” feeling? Comfort food will do that. Get your copy of Oma's German favorites in her Comfort Foods e-Cookbook.

Take a peek at all Oma's eCookbooks. They make sharing your German heritage a delicious adventure!

Cooking Frozen Green Beans?

The recipe below uses frozen green beans. Why? Because, as far as I'm concerned, it's the best to use. I mean, fresh from the garden would be nicer, if available, but I don't have a garden at the moment. 

And, garden fresh is only available for a short season here. That's why frozen is best because the beans keep their nutrients that way. Even buying those 'fresh beans', depending how long ago they were picked, will have varying degrees of vitamins left.

Cooking Fresh Green Beans?

If you've got some wonderful fresh green beans, hopefully right out of your garden, then all you need to do is to snip the ends off.

Pull any 'string' off the length, wash and either leave whole or cut into pieces. Use the same recipe as above, but it may take a few minutes longer for the beans to cook until just tender.

These really are the best. It's just too bad they are only available for a short time. If you have surplus in the garden, do freeze them in order to preserve their healthy benefits.

Using Canned Green Beans?

Follow the same recipe as above, starting by draining the beans in a sieve, keeping the liquid, and starting right with the sauce. 

Even though these may not be as 'healthy' as the frozen or fresh, these are readily available and easily stored. And, especially if you can get 'no-salt' or 'low-salt' canned green beans, that would be the better choice.

Ready to cook some German Green Beans?

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Print Recipe

Creamy Green Beans – Oma's Grüne Bohnen

Cooking green beans, German-style, makes a wonderful side dish for almost any meal. Cooking the grüne Bohnen till just tender with a creamy white sauce is so traditional and so lecker! (Or use this quick method using just cream.)

This one is reminiscent of the way my Mutti cooked many vegetables. And, being green beans, the best herb to season them with is Bohnenkraut (bean herb) ... a type of summer savory.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings:

Makes 4 - 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1½ pounds (681 grams) frozen green beans
• 1 teaspoon (6 grams) salt
• 2 tablespoons (28 grams) butter
• ½ cup (75 grams) finely diced onion
• 2 tablespoons (16 grams) all-purpose flour
• about ½ cup (120 milliliters) vegetable broth or water, if needed
• ½ teaspoon (0.5 gram) summer savory
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• chopped parsley (optional)

Instructions:

1. Place the frozen green beans in a saucepan and add enough water to almost cover the beans. Add the salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 8 minutes or until just tender.
2. Pour the beans into a sieve to drain, reserving the cooking liquid. 
3. In the saucepan, melt the butter and add the onions. Sauté for several minutes until the onions are transparent, but not browned. 
4. Stir in the flour and cook for about 1 minute.
5. Stir in about 1 cup of the reserved cooking liquid and continue to cook while stirring. Simmer for about 5 minutes, adding more liquid if the sauce gets too thick. If you run out of cooking liquid, use vegetable broth or water.
6. Return the cooked beans to the sauce and stir in the savory. Season with salt and pepper. Add chopped parsley, if using, and serve.

Hints:

• You can use this recipe for making peas and carrots. Use either canned or frozen, cook till tender and make the sauce the same way. Use parsley instead of savory.

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05.07.2023 revision update

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Oma's Cooking Green Beans - Grüne Bohnen



By Oma Gerhild Fulson





Cooking green beans, German-style, makes a wonderful side dish for almost any meal. Cooking the grüne Bohnen till just tender with a creamy white sauce is so traditional and so lecker!


Ingredients: green beans, vegetable broth, all-purpose flour, onion, parsley, butter, seasonings,

For the full recipe, scroll up ...

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More about me >

Hi, I'm Oma Gerhild! As a food writer and cookbook author, I'm always looking to find ways to pass on my German heritage using local ingredients. Quick and easy. That's my goal. Wunderbar food. That's the result.