These Dijon Maple Green Beans with Caramelized Pecans, Bacon and Feta aren’t your grandmother’s green beans – no offense grandma.
In fact, I was in charge of making the “green bean casserole” for Thanksgiving a couple times back in the day – and I made my mom’s green beans that had been passed down for generations. And they were good and comforting but there is a reason they are only made once a year. Isn’t it funny how we only make certain foods only once a year because its an obligatory Thanksgiving item?
Not these green beans.
While these Dijon Maple Green Beans might sound like another Thanksgiving recipe…
They are not just a Thanksgiving recipe. They are going to become a year-round favorite dinner side, favorite side to impress company and favorite side when you simply crave crisp tender green beans sauteed in butter, garlic, shallots and red pepper flakes, infused with a sauce of Dijon, pure maple syrup, and balsamic vinegar…
Topped with the crunch of bacon, sweet caramelized pecans and creamy Feta cheese.
Tangy, salty, sweet, crunchy, crispy, creamy – AKA, in my humble opinion, “the best green beans ever,” or at least that’s what I repeatedly exclaimed to myself when I tried to stop eaten them long enough to take pictures.
Move over green bean casserole, there is a new exquisitly beautiful and exquisitely delicious green bean side in town.
And it goes by Dijon Maple Green Beans with Caramelized Pecans, Bacon and Feta. Not your grandmother’s green beans.
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 6 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 1 1/2 lbs fresh green beans, trimmed
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 shallot, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- dash of red pepper
- 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1/3 cup Recipe 5 Minute Perfect Caramelized Nuts chopped or to taste
- 1/4 cup Feta cheese or to taste
- 6-8 slices bacon, crumbled
Ingredients
Dijon Maple Sauce
Garnish
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- In a small bowl, mix together the Dijon Maple Sauce ingredients. Set aside.
- Blanch green beans in a large stock pot of salted boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and transfer beans to a large bowl of ice water.
- Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add shallots, garlic and red pepper flakes and saute for 1 minute. Add beans and Dijon Maple Sauce and continue to saute until beans are evenly coated in the sauce and beans and cooked to desired crisp-tenderness.
- Taste and season with additional red pepper flakes and freshly cracked salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with caramelized pecans, bacon and Feta.
I tend to like more Dijon Maple Sauce than some, so you might want to Double the Dijon Maple Sauce and add to taste.
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What a fantastic looking side dish! Like you say, perfect for the holidays or really anytime! Veggies need to get some love too! 🙂
Thank you Renee, its always fun to dress up veggies and turn them into something extraordinary 🙂
Your dijon maple sauce is similar to a sauce I do with chicken and I know I would love it! These green beans are so much better than the old, tired, green beans you usually come across for Thanksgiving. Lovely!
Thanks so much Valerie, great minds think alike! I need to go and try your chicken recipe 🙂
Oh god these green beans look delicious with all that crispy bacon and feta ontop.. I can imagine how good they must have tasted. Definitely a recipe I can see myself making!
Thank you so much Thalia! I hope you love them! I have to warn you they are perfectly addicting 🙂
Wow, this is everything that I love! Pinned it 🙂
Thank you so much Sinea! I love this combination of flavors as well – its fun to be able to combine them all into one delicious recipe 🙂 Enjoy!
I just got tasked with the ‘green bean casserole’ this Thanksgiving, but I’m revolting! This is just what I was looking for and I think our meat-and-potatoes guys will dig this….especially with the bacon bonus. Thanks for sharing!!
LOL! I felt the same way years ago when I was asked to bring the green bean casserole! I am so happy you found this recipe and yes, bacon makes everything better! Enjoy and have a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Btw, we will be traveling later this week so we had our early Thanksgiving dinner with my side of the family yesterday….and the green beans were a hit! All I said was, ‘No mushroom soup in this one’. We all enjoyed them. Thanks again! Happy T-giving to you and yours
I am super excited about this recipe but I was just curious is this served hot or is it something that can be made the day before or the day of and still be yummy at room temperature or cold?
Hi Lauren! It is best served hot but can definitely be served at room temperature. You can always microwave it without the bacon and feta until just warmed through. Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!
I made this recipe for my family today (Thanksgiving) and my mom assigned me the green beans side for the rest of my life. Needless to say, they were a HIT! Thanks so much for posting this amazing recipe!
LOL! I am so happy everyone loved them enough to give you lifetime bean duty 🙂 YAY! Thank you SO much for sharing that they were a hit! I hope you had a very Happy Thanksgiving!
I made these for Thanksgiving this year- they were a hit! Everyone voted to make these the new regular recipe. Thanks for sharing!
That’s fabulous Rachel, so happy to hear it! And you are most welcome, THANK YOU for making my day!
I made this for dinner last night as a side dish for some yummy stovetop flank steak with chimichurri… GUYS. These green beans have changed my life!!
I left out the feta and pecans and subbed regular bacon for turkey bacon. I will never be able to eat plain green beans ever again.
Hi Shelby, your entire meal sounds delicious – LOVE steak and chimichurri! I am so glad you loved these beans and that they “have changed your life” – definitely the highest compliment, thank you!
Made this tonight with fresh asparagus instead of green beans… its what I had in the house… OMG… so delish!
YAY! So happy you loved it so much and I love the twist with green beans! Thank you so much Lisa!
Is there a specific brand of maple syrup? So many choices. I don’t usually use maple syrup so have no idea if some are better than others.
Hi Pat! As long as its pure maple syrup you should be just fine but I actually love the Kirkland brand from Costco! Slopeside Syrup, Fadden’s, and Maple Grove Farms are also excellent!
There’s no oil, even a TBSP of olive oil in the dressing?
No because the beans are already plenty buttery so there is no need for extra oil/fat in the dressing. Enjoy!
Have you ever made this ahead of time? If so what would you recommend the method be?
Hi Shelby, I have never made these ahead of time but I think they should work great. I would recommend following the instructions but instead of sauteing the beans with the sauce until crisp tender, I would just coat the beans in the sauce and remove immediately once coated that way when you reheat them they won’t be overcooked. Hope this helps!
okay so I’ve been making this recipe since I found it on Pinterest a while ago. Originally, I made the beans for Thanksgiving because…well, I hate green bean casserole (I know, treason). It helps my case that my husband is allergic to mushrooms *evil laugh.* Anywho, this is no longer just a recipe for the fancy times in life…this recipe has been made several times for various dinner parties where I need to bring a side dish or even just for a weeknight gig. I always leave the nuts on the side if I bring it to a gathering and everyone (seriously…there isn’t a person I’ve come across that doesn’t) loves it. Oh, and y’all….it CAN be made ahead of time. Do the frying part at the last minute…take them to your gathering place and warm them…then top them with the cheese and such….
thanks for a great recipe!!!
Hi Emily, thank you so much for making my day! I am so happy you love these Green Beans so much and have made them so many times for so many different occasions! And thank you for the help on answering if they can be made ahead of time! Happy Thanksgiving!!!