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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!

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

For the full list of ingredients & detailed instructions, see the recipe card at the end of this post. But before you scroll, there’s important & interesting stuff to know right below.

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.

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!

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 look at Oma’s Comfort Foods eCookbook and enjoy the traditional taste of German cuisine!

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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.

Did you know ...

 ... that this is one of the TOP 10 traditional side dishes to serve with rouladen? Really.

Ready to cook some German Green Beans?

Oma's Cooking Green Beans - Grüne Bohnen

Oma's Cooking Green Beans - 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 frozen green beans
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 small onion, finely diced
  • 2 tablespoons flour, all-purpose
  • about ½ cup vegetable broth or water
  • ½ teaspoon summer savory
  • salt, pepper
  • chopped parsley (optional)

Instructions:

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

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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Unless otherwise noted recipe, images and content © Just like Oma | www.quick-german-recipes.com

07.20.2021 revision update

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How to cook green beans, just the way your Oma does. It's the German way ... the best way.



Oma's Cooking Green Beans - Grüne Bohnen



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Oma's Cooking Green Beans - 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!


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

For the full recipe, scroll up ...

Words for the Wise

"The mouths of fools are their ruin; they trap themselves with their lips."

Proverbs 18:7 (NLT)


Top of Cooking Green Beans, German-style