Greek-Style Green Beans
Greek-Style Green Beans are simmered in a savory broth flavored with tomatoes, onion, garlic, and parsley, and topped with salty Feta cheese.
I used to go out for Greek food often. I still like Greek food, but many of the restaurants I went to are no longer around, so I don’t go out as often as I used to. But that doesn’t mean I don’t still think of some of my favorite dishes.
I recently remembered some Greek-Style Green Beans that I used to order. The beans are cooked until very tender in a tomato-based sauce with lots of garlic and onions. They’re usually topped with some crumbled Feta cheese for a cheesy, briny pop of flavor.
I was recently making a meal with other Mediterranean flavors (a roasted pork loin with lots of garlic and rosemary), so I decided to make a batch of these beans as well. I served them with some fresh bread to sop up the flavorful sauce, and the meal turned out great.
How to Make Greek-Style Green Beans
Before you get cooking, you’ll have to prep your ingredients. I like to start with the beans – wash them, then trim off both ends. Thinly slice both the onion and garlic. Remove the core and seeds from the tomatoes, then dice them. Mince the parsley.
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or saute pan and add the sliced onion and salt. Cook until the onion has just softened, then stir in the garlic and pepper. Cook until fragrant.
Stir in the diced tomatoes, green beans, and parsley. Pour in a little water, stir everything together, and bring to a boil. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer until the green beans are very tender (they will lose their vibrant green color), stirring occasionally and watching the water level to make sure it doesn’t evaporate too much.
If there is still a lot of liquid in the pan when the beans are done cooking, push all the beans to the edges of the pan and increase the heat to medium-high to cook down the liquid to a thick, saucy consistency.
Before serving, sprinkle the beans with crumbled Feta and additional minced parsley. I recommend serving this dish with bread (try sourdough, focaccia, or flatbread) to sop up the sauce.
Greek-Style Green Beans Ingredients
- Olive oil
- Small onion
- Kosher salt – Alternatively, use MSG-salt to enhance the savory flavors in this recipe.
- Garlic – Use fresh garlic here, as you will be thinly slicing the cloves.
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Tomatoes – I like to core the tomatoes and remove the seeds before dicing them and adding them to the recipe.
- Fresh parsley – You should always use flat-leaf parsley for cooking, as it has better flavor and texture. Curly parsley can be used as a garnish.
- Green beans – find green beans either in bulk (sold by weight) or pre-packaged in bags in the produce department. Sometimes the bagged beans are already trimmed and ready to cook, sometimes they’re not.
- Water – Use whatever water you normally drink. Cold tap water is fine.
- Crumbled Feta cheese – While you can buy Feta already crumbled, I prefer to buy whole chunks of Feta that are packed in brine, as it lasts longer.
Want more green bean recipes?
Greek-Style Green Beans Nutrition Notes
The nutrition information in the recipe below is for one serving of green beans if you divide the recipe into 4 portions. The calculations use 2 ounces of Feta cheese.
This recipe is gluten-free and vegetarian as written. To make the recipe dairy-free and/or vegan, skip the Feta cheese or use a vegan Feta alternative.
Greek-Style Green Beans
Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
- Heat ¼ cup olive oil in a large skillet or saute pan over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and 1 teaspoon kosher salt and cook until the onions are softened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the sliced garlic and ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the diced tomatoes, 1 Tablespoon minced fresh parsley, and trimmed green beans. Pour in ½ cup water.
- Cover the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 40 minutes until the beans are very tender, stirring occasionally. While the beans cook, keep an eye on the water level, and if it evaporates and starts looking dry, add a bit more.
- When the beans are tender, if there is still quite a bit of liquid in the pan, increase the heat to medium-high, push the beans to the sides of the pan, and allow the liquid to reduce until a thickened sauce remains.
- Sprinkle the beans with additional minced parsley and 1-2 ounces crumbled Feta cheese before serving. Serve with bread to sop up the flavorful sauce.
Nutrition
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