Smoked Green Beans
Smoked green beans are a very easy, and delicious side dish for any meal. Smoked green beans can be prepared in a matter of minutes and smoked alongside your main dish. The recipe is super easy, yet it tastes amazing!
The Best Smoked Green Beans
Making the best smoked green beans is easy and delicious. To make amazing smoked green beans you only need a few basic ingredients, and time in order to make tasty beans. Once you taste these delicious beans there is no going back. They are so easy and oh so tasty, we are excited for you to enjoy this one.
What Are Smoked Green Beans?
Green beans are exactly as it sounds. We enjoy making this dish with fresh or frozen whole green beans, they are prepared and then smoked until they are done. Smoke in your green beans makes a tasty and delicious side dish for any meal.
Why This Recipe Works
The beauty of this recipe is found in its simplicity. Green beans are of course the feature, with a few additional ingredients to enhance the overall flavor. Then you simply smoke them and enjoy them!
Equipment Needed / Helpful Tools
Smoker
Cast Iron or Aluminum Pan
Grilling Tongs
Wood For Smoking
Mixing Bowl
Smoked Green Beans with Bacon Recipe
Ingredients You’ll Need
Fresh or Frozen Green Beans
Olive Oil
Garlic Seasoning Salt
Pre-cooked bacon pieces or bacon bits
Sliced Almonds (optional)
How to make smoked green beans
Step-by-Step Recipe Instructions
Preparing The Smoker
Before you begin it is important to prepare your smoker. Be sure to clean the grates, and make sure that your smoker is ready to go. Add your desired wood or pellets to the grill, and then you can begin making your smoked green beans.
Step 1: Prep your green beans
For fresh green beans, you will want to wash and snap the ends off your green beans. You will also want to blanch your fresh green beans before smoking. To do this add them to a pot of boiling water along with some salt, and boil for approximately 2 to 3 minutes, then remove.
Drain the beans, then place them into a bowl of ice water for another 2-3 minutes. Remove and allow to drain. If you are using frozen green beans, you can simply remove them from the package and add your seasonings.
Step 2: Preheat your smoker
Preheat your smoker to 250°F (121.1°C)
Step 3: Season the green beans
Add your green beans to a mixing bowl, then drizzle with olive oil. Toss until all your green beans are coated with the oil. Sprinkle with your garlic salt, add cooked bacon pieces, and toss to combine. Pour your mixture into a cast-iron skillet.
Step 4: Smoke the green beans
Place your pan of green beans into the smoker and smoke uncovered for approximately 1 to 3 hours at 250°F. Smoke until your green beans are warmed through. Add chopped almonds to the top of your green beans before serving, then remove them from the smoker, serve, and enjoy!
How Long to Smoke Green Beans
How long you smoke your green beans may vary. The idea is to get your green beans warmed all the way through, and still have them be slightly crispy. You don’t want your green beans to be all mushy. The goal is to let them smoke long enough so that they are done, but not turned into a pile of mush.
Smoking your green beans at a lower temperature, alongside meat, or your main dish, may take longer for your green beans to be smoked. For instance, if you’re cooking your green beans at 220°F, it may take them more like two or three hours, whereas if you smoke them at 250°F it may take them closer to one hour to be fully smoked.
How to Serve Smoked Green Beans
Smoked green beans are best served fresh from the smoker. Keep them warm on your smoker until you are ready to serve the green beans and your main dish, then remove and serve right away.
The great thing about the this recipe is that they are very simple and easy to prepare, yet taste fabulous alongside your main dish.
What to serve with Traeger Green Beans
There are many different things you can serve with Traeger green beans. No matter if you are serving your smoked green beans alongside smoked meat, other smoked dishes, or even just a plain main dish, this recipe makes a great side.
Storage
Serve: Smoked green beans should be served fresh from the grill. Your beans may sit at room temperature for two hours, and then any leftovers should be refrigerated.
Refrigerate: Smoked green beans should be transferred to an airtight container or sealed in a plastic storage bag and then refrigerated. You may refrigerate your dish for up to 3 to 5 days when stored at 40°F or below.
Freeze: We do not recommend freezing smoked green beans as they have a tendency to turn out mushy after they are frozen and re-thawed.
Wood Chips or Pellets
To smoke your green beans, we have found that Hickory especially works well to smoke your green beans on pellet grill. You can also use the barbecue blend for a delicious flavor. Although other types of wood chips or pellets work well for this recipe, these two are especially delicious.
Expert Tips
Bacon. For this recipe, we recommend using partially pre-cooked bacon. You can use either fresh bacon that you cut and partially cook ahead of time in a skillet, or you can use bacon bits.
We have found that turkey bacon or pork bacon works out well for this recipe. You may also choose to substitute the bacon in this recipe for small pieces of ham if desired.
Frozen Green Beans. One of our favorite, and easiest ways to make smoked green beans is to use frozen green beans. We like to pick up a bag of whole green beans that are frozen from Aldi, then simply open the bag, drizzle with olive oil, and toss with seasonings before smoking.
Fresh Green Beans. Fresh green beans also work well to smoke if desired. However, before you smoke fresh green beans, it’s a good idea to blanch them so that they are soft, and will end up smoking better. You will also want to remove the ends of your fresh green beans before smoking.
Canned Green Beans. Because canned green beans are not whole, and are fairly mushy, we do not recommend smoking canned green beans for this recipe. However, if you want to smoke a green bean casserole, canned green beans work well. Below we will show you a recipe variation on how you can smoke green bean casserole, made with canned green beans.
Recipe Variations
Smoked Green Bean Casserole
You can easily mix things up and make a smoked green bean casserole rather than using fresh or frozen green beans. To make an easy smoked green bean casserole, you will need four cans of cut green beans, two drained, and two with liquid. You will also need a can of cream of mushroom soup and French fried onions.
Simple Smoked Green Bean Casserole on Traeger Smoker
The process of making a smoked green beans Traeger casserole is very simple. In a mixing bowl, begin by combining your two cans of drained green beans, along with your two cans of green beans still containing the liquid. Add in your can of cream of mushroom soup, then stir until combined.
Pour this mixture into a cast-iron skillet, cast-iron Dutch oven, or disposable aluminum pan. Sprinkle the top with French fried onions, then smoke for one to two hours at 225°F to 250°F.
You can tell when your smoked green bean casserole is done, as it should start to bubble around the edges, and be warmed or hot in the center of your Traeger green bean casserole.
Can You Cook This in the Oven?
Yes, you can also cook a green bean casserole in the oven if desired. To do this, preheat your oven to 350°F, then add your assembled green bean casserole and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until warmed and bubbly around the edges.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you smoke green beans with bacon grease?
Yes, you can smoke green beans using bacon grease, however, we have found you achieve a delicious flavor using olive oil. If you wish though, you can definitely add bacon grease to your green beans.
Can I make these if I don’t have a smoker?
Yes, you can make green beans using this recipe in your oven or on the grill if you do not have a smoker. The instructions would be very similar, following the preparation as instructed above, then you would want to bake your green beans in the oven at 400°F for approximately 20 to 30 minutes, or place them on your gas grill or charcoal grill at 350 to 400°F for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
How long do smoked green beans last in the fridge?
Smoked green beans that are stored in an airtight container or sealed in a plastic storage bag will last between three and five days in your refrigerator.
How to make it in the oven?
To make the smoked green bean recipe in the oven, you can simply prepare as instructed above, then place it in your oven and bake at 400°F for approximately 20 to 30 minutes.
What’s in Smoked Green Beans?
Our recipe for smoked green beans calls for fresh or frozen whole green beans, olive oil, seasoning salt, bacon pieces, and almonds.
Hickory Smoked Green Beans with Bacon
Hickory grilled green beans with bacon are very easy to make and it tastes amazing. This is one side dish, that you can toss on your smoker with any other main meal, and enjoy the delicious food with very little effort.
Easy Smoked Green Beans
Smoked green beans are extremely easy to make, and taste fabulous. This dish is so simple, yet tastes amazing, you should give it a try. We are excited for you to try this simple yet delicious recipe, give it a try today then let us know what you think!
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Other Smoked Side Dishes
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Homemade Smoked Green Beans Recipe
Smoked Green Beans
Ingredients
- 16 oz Frozen Green Beans or fresh
- Olive Oil drizzle
- 2 tsp Garlic Seasoning Salt
- 2 Tbsp Pre-cooked bacon pieces or bacon bits
- ¼ cup Sliced Almonds optional
Instructions
- Before you begin it is important to prepare your smoker. Be sure to clean the grates, and make sure that your smoker is ready to go. Add your desired wood or pellets to the grill, and then you can begin making your smoked green beans.
- For fresh green beans, you will want to wash and snap the ends off your green beans. You will also want to blanch your fresh green beans before smoking. To do this add them to a pot of boiling water along with some salt, and boil for approximately 2 to 3 minutes, then remove. Drain the beans, then place them into a bowl of ice water for another 2-3 minutes. Remove and allow to drain. If you are using frozen green beans, you can simply remove them from the package and add your seasonings.
- Preheat your smoker to 250°F (121.1°C)
- Add your green beans to a mixing bowl, then drizzle with olive oil. Toss until all your green beans are coated with the oil. Sprinkle with your garlic salt, add cooked bacon pieces, and toss to combine. Pour your mixture into a cast-iron skillet.
- Place your pan of green beans into the smoker and smoke uncovered for approximately 1 to 3 hours at 250°F. Smoke until your green beans are warmed through. Add chopped almonds to the top of your green beans before serving, then remove them from the smoker, serve, and enjoy!
