I’ve been cooking green beans a dozen different ways recently. They’re all over the markets right now, and as a bonus, we also had a good crop at our garden this year. These blistered green beans were the stand-out green bean recipe of the season.

Blistered in a scorching hot pan, paired them with a favorite garlic-spiked walnut sauce and topped with extra toasted walnuts and a bit of grated cheese. Simple and incredibly good. You can make the sauce ahead of time, and then, when you’re ready, you’re literally under ten minutes from green bean perfection.

Do I need to Trim the Green Beans?

This is basically up to you. I often don’t bother with topping and tailing each bean, particularly if the beans are still fresh and tender. You’re cooking these quite intensively, so keep that in mind. That said, trimming any stems, or tough spots is recommended.

Some Variations

There are a number of alternate directions you can take this! For a spicy version, you can finish the green beans with a drizzle of chile oil, or toasted sesame chile oil. If you love herbs shower the green beans with chopped basil, mint, chives, and/or marjoram after you’ve finished cooking. Or, make a meal of it. I enjoyed these over a bowl of pasta noodles with extra walnut sauce. So good! The blistered green beans and walnut sauce are also A+ over simple brown rice.

More Green Bean Recipes

If you’re looking for other ways to cook green beans there are some really special ones in the archives.

The simplest: Vibrant Tasty Green Beans

Wildcard favorite green bean recipe: Anna Getty’s Feisty Green Beans

This green chile-spiked Yellow Bean Salad

This nut-studded, slaw-like Green Bean Slaw

You can see the blistered green beans here over pasta tossed with the walnut sauce. Enjoy!