Southern Style Green Beans

These are the beans your grandma made! Cooked low and slow, well seasoned, and topped with crispy bacon. You won't have to remind anyone to finish their veggies!

We have a battle of the green beans at our house. I prefer them roasted until crispy and firm. He prefers them straight from a can. Needless to say, green beans aren't on the menu very often! Though I still can't go for beans straight from the can, I do love southern style green beans even though they are not crispy nor firm!

Side note: if you don't like mushy beans, you won't like these!

I'm not a soggy bacon fan so I fry the bacon first to infuse the bacon grease flavor throughout the beans but then remove them until the very end. Fat back is also something that seriously infuses loads of southern flavor if you can find it. I lucked out at the grocery store and they had a whole rack of it! If you can't find it but have access to a ham hock, that would be worth throwing in instead.

Southern Style Green Beans

8 slices thick cut bacon, diced

2 pounds green beans, trimmed and longer beans snapped in half

4 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon seasoning salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon onion powder

pinch of red pepper flakes

2-3 slices fat back, optional

salt, to taste (add at the end)

1 tablespoon butter

In a large pot, fry the diced bacon until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add the green beans to the pot and stir to coat. Add the chicken broth, seasoning salt, garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder, red pepper flakes, and fat back; stir to combine. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Barely simmer (don't let boil) for 1-1.5 hours, stirring occasionally. 

Once finished, remove the fat back and drain the beans. Return the beans to the pot and add the butter, stirring until melted. Taste and add salt or other seasonings if needed. 

Sprinkle with reserved bacon before serving.