Your new favorite side dish is here! These smothered green beans are baked in a simple sweet and sour sauce with plenty of crumbled bacon making them super flavorful and delicious.

Close up of smothered green beans with bits of bacon, brown sugar, garlic, and soy sauce served with prime rib and mashed potatoes.

This simple side dish is popular enough to be welcomed at your holiday table and easy enough to make it for a regular family meal. The green beans get a ton of flavor from brown sugar, soy sauce, butter and a bit of garlic.

Of course the crispy bits of bacon don’t hurt either.

These green beans might be one of the more popular side dishes I’ve ever made. The first time I made them 4 of us (including one six year old) ate the whole batch.

That is almost a whole can of green beans a piece! And there was plenty of other food to go around, so it’s not like we were starving.

The next time I threw them together thinking it would be just us for dinner. But we had a turkey on the grill, so it seemed a shame not to invite some people to enjoy it with us.

I immediately regretted not doubling the recipe. The pan was practically licked clean!

Side dishes are usually a bit hard for me to decide on. It’s hard to get inspired or creative.

So when I saw a local food facebook star, The Farm Stand, post her famous green beans I was inspired. She caters large events, so her recipe was scaled up quite a bit.

Pan of green beans topped with bacon pieces next to bowl with garlic and soy sauce mixture ready to go on top.

square pan of green beans and bacon smothered in delicious sauce straight from the oven.

I scaled it down to a family dinner size and lightened it up just a bit. Going whole hog on the holidays is one thing, but I knew I was making these for just because.

Email Me The Recipe

I'll email this post to you, so you can easily find it later. Plus you’ll get new recipes from me every week!

The vegetable section of my dinner plate is usually something I want to feel good about. So I dialed back the butter and brown sugar a bit.

Dinner plate with a heaping pile of smothered green beans, prime rib, and mashed potatoes.

Served smothered green beans on plate showing the beans coated in a glossy sweet and sour sauce with chunks of cooked bacon.

Having never had the all in version, we didn’t know we were missing anything. So we were very happy with the results.

This recipe is already on repeat at our house and I don’t see that changing any time soon! You are going to have to give them a try so you can see why we love them so much.

These green beans would go great with:

Smoked prime rib is another great option. We had mashed potatoes too and the meal was an absolute winner!

MiMi’s Baked BBQ Chicken is a great way to have the taste we love off the grill indoors. You can have your bbq chicken no matter the weather, it is an easy and delicious recipe.

The Best Maid Rite Sandwiches are a fabulous quick and easy meal. Some people call them tavern burgers or loose meat sandwiches, but here in the Midwest we all know them as maid rites.

Braised Pork Chops are another great entrée. They cook in a flavorful sauce that makes them so tender and delicious.

4.88 from 40 ratings

Smothered Green Beans

Author: Carlee

Servings: Servings

Your new favorite side dish is here! These green beans are smothered in a simple sweet and sour sauce with plenty of crumbled bacon.

Prep: 10

Cook: 40

Total: 50

Ingredients

▢ 3 14.5 ounce cans green beans drained
▢ 6 slices cooked bacon
▢ 2 Tablespoons butter
▢ 3 Tablespoons light brown sugar packed
▢ 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
▢ ½ teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease an 8-inch square baking dish or similar sized casserole.
Dump 3 14.5 ounce cans green beans (drained) into baking dish. Crumble or chop 6 slices cooked bacon and sprinkle over the top of green beans.
In a small bowl, melt the 2 Tablespoons butter. Stir in the 3 Tablespoons light brown sugar, 1 Tablespoon soy sauce and ½ teaspoon garlic powder Drizzle over green beans and bacon.
Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes.
Stir to coat before serving.