Instant Pot Southern Style Green Beans
These easy Instant Pot Southern Green Beans are the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving or Christmas because they do not take up space on the stove or in the oven. They are steamed in chicken broth and sautéed in bacon grease for extra flavor.
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 12 ounces green beans trimmed
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 4-5 pieces bacon diced
- ½ cup diced white onion*
- 4-5 cloves garlic grated or minced finely
- ¼-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt*
Instructions
- Review all recipe notes and instructions before beginning.
- Place the steamer basket or rack/trivet into the Instant Pot. Add the green beans on top of it and pour in the chicken broth.
- Select Pressure Cook (manual) and High Pressure. Set to 0 minutes (or longer see notes). Once the pot has come to pressure and shuts off, quick release (valve switched to venting) immediately and remove the lid.
- Remove the green beans and set aside. Select Sauté mode on the Instant Pot. Add the bacon and cook until it begins to brown, stirring frequently. Once it begins to brown, add the onion and sauté until translucent.
- Using a spoon, remove about 2-3 Tablespoons of the bacon grease. This will be almost all of it.
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Turn the pot off completely.
- While the pot is still warm, add the green beans in and toss well.
Notes
Chicken Broth: Swap for water.
White Onion: Substitute sweet or yellow onion.
Salt: I like a lot of salt so I add ½ of a teaspoon, but some find the bacon adds enough salt to the green beans and prefer less.
If you double this recipe, you do not need to double the chicken broth. The broth will still create enough steam to bring the pot to pressure and steam the green beans.
Use kitchen shears to cut the bacon. I love using my shears to dice the bacon. It is so much easier and faster than using a knife and cutting board.
Use fresh garlic. I do not recommend using jarred minced garlic. It does not have nearly as much flavor.
If you prefer your green beans softer, set the timer to 1-2 minutes. I prefer mine al dente so I set it to 0.
Release the pressure from the pot immediately. If you let the pot naturally release or leave the lid on after the timer has gone off, the green beans will over cook.
Don’t forget to remove some of the grease. After the onions and bacon have cooked, you want to remove most of the grease from the pot. The small remainder will be plenty to coat the green beans. You want the flavor from the bacon grease but you do not want the green beans to be oily.