How to Steam Green Beans

Overhead of a bowl of steamed green beans with butter, salt, and pepper.

4.67 from 3 votes

How to Steam Green Beans

Learn how to steam fresh green beans for an easy, delicious, fresh, and versatile side dish that will go with just about any dinner.

Prep Time5

Cook Time8

Total Time13

Course: Dinner, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Total Cost: $1.86 recipe / $0.47 serving

Servings:

Calories: 60.38kcal

Author: Beth Moncel

Equipment

Steam Basket

Ingredients

1 lb. fresh green beans* $1.69
1 Tbsp butter $0.13
1/4 tsp salt $0.02
1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper $0.02

Instructions

Rinse the green beans in a colander. Snap the end off of any beans that still have an attached stem (see photos below). Snap each bean in half, or leave the beans whole for a more dramatic presentation.
Place one inch of water in a pot or deep skillet. Place the steam basket inside the pot. The water should not be so deep that it comes up through the holes in the steam basket. Fill the steam basket with the washed green beans. Place a lid on the pot or skillet, turn the heat onto high, and allow the water to come to a boil (about 3 minutes).
Allow the green beans to steam for about 5 minutes from the time the water begins to boil, or until they have reached your desired level of tenderness. Aim for green beans that are vibrant in color and tender but not mushy. You can test the tenderness of the green beans with a fork.
Once cooked to your liking, remove the pot from the heat. Remove the steam basket with the green beans and discard the water from the bottom of the pot. Place the beans back in the pot without the steam basket and add some butter. Stir the butter into the green beans, allowing the residual heat to melt the butter. Season the beans with salt and pepper, then serve.

See how we calculate recipe costs here.

Video

Notes

*Frozen green beans are blanched, or partially cooked, before freezing. So, while you can steam them using this method, they may need a different amount of time to cook. Check the package for recommended cooking times.

**For years, before I had the few dollars to spend on a steam basket, I simply steamed my green beans directly in the one-inch of water. The bottom layer of green beans cooked slightly more than the rest, but guess what? It was barely noticeable. If you're short on cash, follow the directions below minus the steam basket and you'll do just fine.

Nutrition

How to Steam Green Beans https://metabolic-life.news/how-to-steam-fresh-green-beans/%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3Ewindow.wprm_recipes = {"recipe-51886":{"type":"food","name":"How to Steam Green Beans","slug":"wprm-how-to-steam-green-beans","image_url":"https:\/\/www.budgetbytes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/How-to-Steam-Green-Beans-H.jpg","rating":{"count":3,"total":14,"average":4.67,"type":{"comment":3,"no_comment":0,"user":0},"user":0},"ingredients":[{"uid":0,"amount":"1","unit":"lb.","name":"fresh green beans*","notes":"$1.69","unit_id":11950,"id":3616,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"lb.","timestamp":1774775801000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"lb.","unitParsed":"lb."}}},{"uid":1,"amount":"1","unit":"Tbsp","name":"butter","notes":"$0.13","unit_id":11943,"id":1218,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"Tbsp","timestamp":1774775801000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"Tbsp","unitParsed":"Tbsp"}}},{"uid":2,"amount":"1\/4","unit":"tsp","name":"salt","notes":"$0.02","unit_id":11942,"id":1103,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"tsp","timestamp":1774775801000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"tsp","unitParsed":"tsp"}}},{"uid":3,"amount":"1\/4","unit":"tsp","name":"freshly cracked black pepper","notes":"$0.02","unit_id":11942,"id":1483,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"tsp","timestamp":1774775801000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"tsp","unitParsed":"tsp"}}}],"originalServings":"4","originalServingsParsed":4,"currentServings":"4","currentServingsParsed":4,"currentServingsFormatted":"4","currentServingsMultiplier":1,"originalSystem":1,"currentSystem":1,"unitSystems":[1],"originalAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"currentAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"collection":{"type":"recipe","recipeId":51886,"name":"How to Steam Green Beans","image":"https:\/\/www.budgetbytes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/How-to-Steam-Green-Beans-H-500x500.jpg","servings":4,"servingsUnit":"","parent_id":"51876","parent_url":"https:\/\/www.budgetbytes.com\/how-to-steam-fresh-green-beans\/","cachedAt":1774775801,"modifiedAt":1744373698}}}