This sautéed green beans recipe with apple cider is a delicious Thanksgiving side dish! Made with 5 ingredients in 30 minutes, they're a healthy and easy holiday side dish that everyone loves.
Trim the ends of 2 lbs (8 cups) of fresh green beans and place them in a colander and rinse.
Blanch the beans:
Fill a large, 6-quart stock pot ¾ full with water and bring to a boil.
While water is coming up to a boil, fill a large bowl ½ full of water and ice. If the ice melts add more! Set aside.
Pour trimmed & rinsed beans into boiling water cook for 3-4 minutes or until beans are slightly soft to the touch.
Pour boiling water/beans into a colander and rinse with cold water.
Put the beans into the bowl of ice cold water to stop them from cooking!
Once beans are completely cool (or cold) drain and rinse again.
Apple cider reduction:
While the water is boiling, place 1 ½ cups of apple cider into a small sauce pot (2-3 quart saucepan).
Bring liquid to a boil then reduce to a vigorous simmer and continue cooking, stirring occasionally. Be aware, stirring can cause the liquid to bubble more vigorously for a moment so be careful!
Cook until the cider is reduced to ½ of its original volume and begins to stick to the spatula when you stir it. (about 20 minutes).
Watch the apple cider reduction carefully because it can go from perfect to burnt very quickly!
Remove from heat and set aside.
Putting it together:
Put the beans in a large sauté pan and toss with 2 TBS olive oil, salt and pepper.
Cook for about 2-3 minutes until the beans become warm.
Add the apple cider reduction and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid coats the beans.
Serve immediately!
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Notes
Ingredient Substitutions
Olive oil. Any neutral oil will work well in this recipe. I recommend avocado oil or canola oil if you do not have olive oil. Melted butter is also an amazing substitution for the olive oil.
Garlic salt. If you do not keep garlic salt on hand. Simply substitute 1/2 tsp sea salt and 1/2 tsp garlic powder for the garlic salt. Then adjust seasonings to taste if necessary! You can also add fresh minced garlic to the beans when you cook them.