German Green Beans

JenSmith's Note:

This is another simple but tasty dish that I found in one of my grandmother's old recipe files. My family loves it, and it makes a nice alternative for the traditional holiday green bean casserole. It's good all year long, but especially when the weather turns cool.

• Total Time: 25 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 4 slices bacon
• ½ cup chopped onions or 2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ½ cup vinegar (cider, if possible)
• 2 (14 ½ ounce) cans green beans (reserve 1/2 cups liquid from canned beans or water if using fresh) or 2 ½ lbs fresh green beans , washed and cut (reserve 1/2 cups liquid from canned beans or water if using fresh)
• ¼ cup bacon bit (Bacos)

Directions:

1. Fry the bacon in a large cast-iron skillet until crisp, then drain on paper towels, leaving the fat in the pan.
2. Add the onion and cook until light golden and tender, then add the flour and stir, cooking for about 1 minute.
3. Add the sugar, salt, pepper, bean liquid or water, and vinegar, stir, and bring to a rolling boil; Allow to boil for about 3 minutes to thicken the sauce. Add the bacon bits at this time.
4. Add the green beans and cook until heated through, about 7--8 minutes.
5. Transfer the beans and sauce to a serving bowl and top with crumbled bacon.

Reviews

[swissms]

This is a nice way to prepare canned green beans. I did reduce the sugar to 2 tablespoons and reduce the cider vinegar to 1/4 cup. I might try white wine vinegar next time. I was a little confused that the recipe calls for 4 strips of bacon as well as 1/4 cup bacon bits in the ingredient list. I only used the 4 strips of bacon and omitted the bacon bits.

[Flomi]

I made this dish for Thanksgiving and a potluck this year and was very pleased. I found that the vinegar taste was a bit overwhelming for me so the second time, I only used 1/4 cup of vinegar which made a big difference. Thanks for the recipe!

[Jules211]

This was a nice and easy side to my ham dinner. Followed directions, used frozen instead of canned (what was on hand). Didn't use the baco's. Had bacon left over from breakfast so i used that up. (about 6-7 pieces cut up). Will make again.