Easy Crack Green Beans Recipe

Easy crack green beans recipe with bacon and frozen green beans. Different green bean casserole with a creamy butter sauce comfort food. A cross between our Instant Pot Crack Chicken Casserole main dish and the popular holiday side dish you love.

Crack Green Beans Recipe

Now with our Ninja Foodi Crack Chicken the sauce was made with cream cheese, we used butter on this go around. You could certainly add a cube into this mixture too, allow to melt, and enjoy that way too. Another alternative we have heard has been a real hit too.

We talk about How to Cook Frozen Green Beans here but in this case we are just going to add them slightly defrosted. All you need is to lay the bag on the counter while you’re prepping and crisping the bacon for about 15 minutes or microwave for 1 minute. You just want the frost off of the outside, they will cook in the oven later.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. frozen green beans is your best choice for texture
• 8 slices bacon diced or leftover ham works
• 1 tbsp brown sugar gives it a bit of sweetness
• Paprika for a pop of flavor
• 1/3 tsp salt or to your liking
• Olive oil for sauteeing meat in first step
• 3 tbsp butter or use dairy free alternative
• 1 c milk, whole is best
• All purpose flour will thicken the sauce

Can You make this without Bacon?

You could leave meat out of this dish entirely but it is one of the stars of this dish and gives it a lot of flavor. I would say this is a great alternative to our Cheesy Green Bean Casserole, with less calories but still gooier than just the veggies themselves served as a side.

Can you use fresh green beans instead of frozen?

We share How Long to Cook Fresh Green Beans on Stove if you prefer to make it this way. You’d just want to cook the meat first, then add the veggies and other items to saute. Creamy sauce made the same way over another burner and then combined at the end if you want to coat it all.

Why is it called crack green beans?

Great question, some don’t like the term but basically it is because that word refers to something that is addicting, and you want more Easy Green Bean Casserole with Bacon. I make these for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner but year round you can serve and enjoy these with any main dish like chicken or ham.

If you wanted to make this outside the oven in a countertop appliance too you could. I would follow our Air Fryer Frozen Green Beans with the diced meat in there which will crisp together. Make the sauce on the stovetop and season beans as suggested here. Then serve once everything in the basket is tender with a bit of crisp on the outside.

Southern Smothered Green Beans

This is yet another name for these babies, which makes sense right. Yes I do love our healthy Sheet Pan Green Beans but this takes those to a whole new level of YUM. In those I add sliced mushrooms which could easily be added into the mix as well if you wanted.

Another choice for toppings would be to sprinkle crispy fried onions over the top like your traditional dish would. Don’t add it inside the dish like the casserole would but on the top would add yet another texture and flavor profile that is out of this world.

How to Make Crack Green Beans Baked

• You will want to thaw them at least halfway before adding them right out of the freezer. Easiest way to do this is set the unopened bag in a bowl of cool water in the sink for 30 minutes.
• Flip over once during that time and you should be set after this step.
• Preheat the oven to 370 F. Fry the bacon strips in a pan until crispy for about 7 minutes.
  • or use bits that come as chopped cooked bacon in a bag
  • if you wanted to heat oven to 350 degrees because you’re cooking something else at that temp that would be fine, just increase the baking time a bit.
• Set aside. If using frozen green beans just leave on counter for 20 minutes or put into a bowl to heat in microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute to thaw a bit until frost on outside is gone.
• Mix green beans, salt, sugar, paprika and olive oil in a bowl.
• Transfer to a baking dish, such as 8×11 inch casserole dish.
• Top with crispy bacon. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
• While the green beans and bacon are baking, melt the butter in a saucepan and whisk in all-purpose flour so it is smooth. Stir and warm for 2 minutes on low heat.
• Add milk little by little and continue stirring the sauce with a whisk.
• You need to stir all the lumps and add salt.
• If the sauce is too thick, add more milk. If desired, you can add grated Parmesan to the sauce to make more rich.
  • taste, add more brown sugar or soy sauce for more salty or sweetness to your liking
• After 5 minutes, remove the sauce from heat.

Remove the crack green beans and bacon from the oven. Taste, can sprinkle a bit of garlic powder and onion powder for bolder flavors if you want. Serve with sweet and savory sauce poured over the top. You could add a bit of heat to it with red pepper flakes if desired. Jump to recipe and get started.

How to save leftovers

If you do have leftovers allow it to cool down completely. Store the sauce and dish separately for best results in airtight containers in the fridge. Reheat within 3 days in the air fryer, stovetop or microwave until warmed and then combine the two.

I prefer to warm the sauce in the microwave and air fry the veggies to get a bit of crisp on them as they’ll soften in the fridge. Texture is a big thing for me and that will fix it.