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Easy Haricots Verts Recipe (French Green Beans)

If you are new to haricots verts, prepare to become obsessed! These French green beans are delicious, nutritious, and an incredibly versatile veggie side dish that you’ll find yourself making time and time again. You can leave them simply seasoned (my favorite way), or try some of the seasoning ideas below. Just like my frozen broccoli, honey-glazed Brussels sprouts, and air fryer broccoli, this side will go with everything from furikake salmon to crockpot chicken and gravy and makes a great side dish to any weeknight dinner.

Haricots verts on a plate with lemon wedges.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

What You’ll Love About Haricots Verts

  • Delicious and mild in flavor
  • Thin and tender size
  • Super easy side dish to any main
  • Ready in 10 minutes
  • Versatile – you can use any seasoning you like
  • Easy to find at grocery store or farmers market
Haricots verts on a plate with lemon wedges

Ingredients

  • Haricots verts – Look for fresh haricots verts that don’t have any browning or rotting on the ends. If you can find them locally, they will taste much better, but are also more difficult to find. Many of the haricots verts are grown internationally, which means they are picked early and have to travel a ways to get to the US.
  • Butter – The flavor is preferable, but you can also use olive oil. Use unsalted butter or salted as we’ll season with salt to taste.
  • Sea salt
  • Season ideas – There are so many ways to season your recipes for French green beans, see the list below for a list of ideas.
Ingredients to make sauteed haricot vert.

Emily’s Tip

Look for haricots verts at more upscale grocery stores or stores like Trader Joe’s or Costco. They are always prepackaged.

How to Cook Haricot Vert

This is an overview, the detailed instructions can be found below in the recipe card.

  1. Melt butter. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat until butter foams. Add in beans and let cook undisturbed for a few minutes.
French green beans going into skillet
Steaming haricot vert in skillet
  1. Steam haricots verts. Add any additional seasonings if using and water to pan, cover, and adjust to low heat. Cook until tender-crisp, or a little longer if you like them softer.
  2. Finish. Remove the cover and cook until the liquid has evaporated. Adjust salt, pepper, and seasonings to taste.

Other Cooking Methods

While I love this simple sautรฉing method, you can also boil the fresh beans. Simply cook the beans in boiling water, removing with a slotted spoon, and plunged into a large bowl of ice water (an ice bath) to stop the cooking.

Another option is to lightly steam them with a steamer basket set above a few inches of water.

French green beans on a plate with lemon wedge

Haricot Verts Recipe Seasoning Ideas

This recipe for haricot vert is BASIC, but it’s also a blank canvas for adding your own seasoning flair. Here are some great additions to get you started:

  • Minced garlic
  • Dried dill
  • Lemon pepper seasoning
  • Seasoning salt
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Garlic salt
  • Soy sauce + sesame oil
  • Lemon juice + flaky sea salt
  • Minced garlic cloves + flaky sea salt
  • Fresh herbs
  • High-quality finishing vinegar
  • Simple vinaigrette
  • Ideas for how to season green beans

FAQs

What Are haricots verts?

Haricot is bean and vert is green in the French language, but they are slightly different green bean variety than the typical American bean. Merriam-Webster defines haricot vert as a thin green bean and they have slender pods.

Do you need to trim haricots verts?

No! One of the benefits of French green beans is that they don’t need to be trimmed.

Haricots verts vs green beans – What’s the Difference?

Haricots verts ARE different from traditional green beans and I’ll tell you how they compare. Haricot vert are:
– thinner and longer in shape
– stem ends don’t have to be trimmed (this makes them quick and easy!)
– cook in less time
– have a little milder flavor (which may help veggie-averse)

How do you pronounce haricots verts?

If French doesn’t come naturally to you (like myself!), this is how to pronounce haricots verts: รคr-ฤ“-kล-หˆver

Storage

Store the leftover sautรฉed haricots verts in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

How to reheat

Reheat in the microwave or a hot skillet until heated through.

Can you freeze haricots verts?

The texture will change a bit, but yes, you can also freeze the haricots verts in an airtight container for 2-3 months.

What to Serve with Sauteed Haricot Verts

This versatile French green beans recipe is the perfect veggie side dish for so many main meals. Here are a few favorites:

Plate of haricots verts with lemon wedge

More Vegetable Side Dishes

If you like this recipe for haricot verts (French beans), you might also like some of these other easy recipes:

Want More?

Follow Emily on Instagram or TikTok for family dinner recipe videos and tips for feeding kids.

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Plate of haricots verts with lemon wedge

Easy Haricots Verts Recipe (French Green Beans)

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 3 reviews
  • Author: Emily Dingmann of myeverydaytable.com
  • Prep Time: 0 minutes
  • Cook Time: 6 minutes
  • Total Time: 6 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings
  • Category: Side
  • Method: Skillet
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Description

If you are new to haricots verts, prepare to become obsessed! These French green beans are delicious, nutritious, and so versatile.


Ingredients

  • 1 lb. haricot verts
  • 2 Tbsp. butter
  • 1/8 tsp. sea salt (more to taste)


Instructions

  1. Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. When it sizzles, add in the haricot verts. Cook for 3 minutes, mostly undisturbed. Let them get a bit of color.
    French green beans going into skillet
  2. Season with salt, any additional seasonings, and add 1/3 cup water to the skillet and cover.
    Steaming haricot vert in skillet
  3. Turn down heat to medium low and cook for 3-4 minutes for tender crisp, 5-6 minutes if you want them softer.
  4. Remove cover and cook until all liquid has evaporated. Finish with more salt to taste.ย 
    Haricots verts on a plate with lemon wedges


Notes

  • See seasoning suggestions above.ย 
  • Look for the freshest French green beans you can find! Most are grown internationally so I’ve found that they are sometimes hit or miss, depending on how old they are.

Food styling and photography by Loren Runion.

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