French Green Beans
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These French green beans cooked with shallots are simple enough for weeknights but special enough for holiday dinners.
These French green beans are simple yet elegant, perfect for a quick weeknight side or an impressive holiday dish. The recipe requires just one pan: simply cook the shallots in butter in a large skillet, then add the beans with a splash of water and simmer until tender. You’ll be surprised at how much flavor the shallots bring to the beans. Note that the recipe uses French green beans, or haricot verts—thinner, sweeter, and more tender than American varieties, these beans are typically available pre-trimmed and ready to cook.
What You’ll Need To Make French Green Beans
- Extra virgin olive oil or unsalted butter – Adds richness and depth of flavor to sauté the shallots and coat the green beans. Use whichever you prefer.
- Shallots – Thinly sliced and cooked until soft, they add a delicate sweetness and mild onion flavor that complements the beans.
- Water – Added to steam the beans, ensuring they cook evenly and become tender.
- French string beans (haricots verts) – Haricot means “beans” and vert means “green.” These slender green beans cook quickly and absorb the flavors of the shallots and seasonings.
- Salt, freshly ground black pepper & sugar – These seasonings enhance the flavors, add warmth, and bring out the natural sweetness of the beans and shallots.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by thinly slicing the shallots into rings and cooking them slowly in olive oil until soft, sweet and mellow.
Next, add the beans, salt, pepper and water.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer, covered, for about 8 minutes.
Remove the cover and continue cooking until the pan is completely dry, the shallots are jammy, and the beans are tender, about 6 minutes.
Season to taste with salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar.
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French String Beans with Shallots
These French green beans cooked with shallots are simple enough for weeknights but special enough for holiday dinners.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or unsalted butter
- 2 large shallots, thinly sliced
- ½ cup water
- ¾ pound (12 ounces) French string beans (haricots verts), trimmed
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Pinch sugar
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Do not brown.
- Add the beans, salt, pepper and water; bring to a boil. Cover the skillet, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 8 minutes.
- Remove the lid and increase the heat to high. Cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid is evaporated, the beans are tender, and the shallots are jammy, about 6 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar. Serve warm.
Nutrition Information
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- Calories: 116
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 13 g
- Sugar: 6 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Sodium: 302 mg
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Loved this recipe. Served it with the grilled pesto shrimp. So easy to grill both dishes at the same time on the grill.
5 stars
This is my favorite way to have fresh beans straight from the garden. There is no taste comparison. Thanks for the recipe.
I made this a couple of times already. I used to just boil the beans till soft and added salt and pepper. This tastes much better.
Such an easy way to spruce up green beans! Worth the expense of shallots over onions.
I’ve also added small bits of lemon zest in the past that’s gone over well, particularly in the spring time.
Hi – this is a staple in France and was regularly served up by by family there. Frozen beans were steamed slightly first and finished up in the frying pan with the shallots and a clove of garlic (it was France, after all!)
I prepared this for a dinner party and it was the talk of the table! Even the children loved them.
In the winter I must use frozen green beans but I can never get them to cook up well. If I were to use frozen bean in this recipe how would you suggest cooking them so that they are tender but not limp and tasteless.
Hi Faye, To be honest, I haven’t had much luck with frozen green beans either. The problem is that they are typically cooked before being frozen, so they don’t work well in recipes like this one. I’m usually able to find fresh haricot verts, bagged and trimmed, year round in my regular supermarket. That said, I’ve heard from several readers that the Trader Joes frozen haricots verts are very good, but I haven’t tried them myself.
This is a great way to cook green beans!
Sounds good – I usually buy frozen Haricot Verts from Trader Joes – How would you modify this using frozen beans?
Hi Amanda, I am not familiar with Trader Joe’s brand. Are they fully cooked?
Those do not look like shalotts to me, they look like a red onion. Which are they?
Hi Barbara, They are shallots…sometimes they are more purple in color.