I use a squeeze of lemon juice and some fresh or dried oregano. Sometimes I put some very finely diced onion or shallots on them, and always a bit of white pepper.

A squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of dill (prefer fresh, but dried is fine). I serve these a lot since they are the only veggie The Picky One will eat without complaints.

Alexa

I learned these seasonings when I was living in Holland. The Dutch sold shredded fresh green beans and on the package it recommended to cook them until tender in the microwave with a little bit of water. Drain them, add a bit of butter, ground white pepper and fresh ground nutmeg. I like the combination of flavors.

I have not done this with canned beans, but have cooked frozen French style green beans, drained and seasoned as above.

seagrass

Drain the canned green beans - Saute in a little light olive oil, small diced onion, slices of roasted red pepper in water (omit the olive oil if you use the roasted red peppers in oil). Add salt & fresh ground pepper to taste.

Bacon fond, what else! LOL

Typically, for plain canned green beans, I saute chopped bacon until done like I want it, add a little chopped onion to the grease and saute that. Then add the beans with some of the liquid and cook however long. A teaspoon of chicken base is really good added to them as well.

Judi

Bacon & onion. Sometimes bacon, onion & garlic. Other times, bacon, onion, garlic & tomato sauce or canned tomatoes.

I'll saute a little sliced or chopped onion or shallots in some EEVO, then add the drained and rinsed green beans. I'll add whatever herbs I'm in the mood for, frequently Herbs De'Provence, (sp.?) or a little dried sage, or some parsley. I'll also add a little squeeze of lemon juice, plus a pinch of salt (if I'm using the unsalted green beans) and black pepper.

Sally

Depends. If I'm going the healthy route, steamed, al dente, with montreal seasoning after drizzling with a bit of olive oil. Not healthy route, cooked forever with bacon and lots of black pepper. I am southern, after all.

-Robin

Just salt on my home canned ones.

Deanna

Granny:
I use the bacon too. Sometimes I'll put in some chopped Boiled Ham, in a can of French Style.

Also a Tomatoe source. 1/2 teaspoon of Ketcup, Tomato Puree , or Spaghetti sauce.
A pinch of Old Bay, Garlic Powder and Salt if needed.

You could also nuke some chopped onions and red pepper and add them.

I don't like just plain String Beans, boring.
Lou

1. lemon and butter
2. a vinagrette of olive oil, balsamic, and shallots
3. roasted in the oven with a sprinkling of olive oil and then kosher salt to finish

I bet I could pick out you southerners just from these seasonings!

You betcha..........bacon grease and bacon.

To make them healthy I don't cook them all day like Mom did, but mine don't taste as good as hers either.

My grandma used to cook hers with new potatoes and onion and they were very good too.

I like the aledente with vinegarette and raw diced red onion...sometimes I add chick peas...YUM!

Bacon, onion and mushrooms are added to my green beans.

Yes, I'm southern alright, and do not like green beans that have been cooked less than several hours. Just can't eat them because of their green, raw taste. I'm told the Germans use summer savory to take some of that taste out. I can't get summer savory here.

Yes, I'm southern alright, and do not like green beans that have been cooked less than several hours. Just can't eat them because of their green, raw taste. I'm told the Germans use summer savory to take some of that taste out. I can't get summer savory here.

My MIL cooks "southern style". She boils canned green beans forever and adds bacon fat. What is the point to boiling them so long?

It doesn't appeal to me in the least. Overcooked faded vegetable.

The "point" is it takes the raw green taste away.

Updated Southern Green Beans:

Saute 3 minced garlic cloves in 1-2 TBSP olive oil in enamelled cast iron braiser for one minute, add fresh green beans and top with 1-2 white or yellow onions, thinly sliced. Sprinkle 1-3 TBSP (depending upon desired level of seasoning) beef bouillon granules over top, cover, and cook on low until they reach your desire "doneness". For me, that's around 30-40 minutes. Stir and serve. An easy, delicious recipe for green beans given to me by my friend's 82-year old Southern father from Birmingham, Alabama.

WOW!!! Lots of replies. Thanks everyone. Lots of good choices here.

Ketchup. Just give it a good squeeze, about a tablespoon, heat to a boil, mix it up.

I served this at Thanksgiving and a lady asked what I did to the green beans to make them "taste so good." It's not sweet or anything, it just has a good tomato flavor.

Another thing I use at times is Picante Sauce. Put a tablespoon full into the pan, and it's really good!

How do you cook them so long and they not get mushy or broken up? I usually just heat them with a little butter, salt and pepper. Sometimes a little bacon and lemon pepper...

My grandmother used to do them with a piece of fatback (good luck finding that outsid the south), new potatoes and pearl onions and cook them very slowly for half of forever. I don't think she used canned beans, though. She usually had beans she grew over the summer in the freezer, just blanched. People went nuts for them. I'm not a fan of them cooked that long.

I always assumed canned gree beans were already cooked. I think the only time I've ever had canned was at school and in restaurants.

Only fresh green beans used here. After living in the Atlanta area for 9 years, I never did develop a taste for veggies that had been cooked for hours. Meat and threes didn't give me much to eat.

We used to grow green beans and new potatoes, and I'd can quarts and quarts of them. They are the best combination!

Now I'm craving new potatoes!

My answer of bacon fond was kind of a tongue in cheek answer because of the thread we had on foods we eat when no one is looking.

To cook green beans I much prefer fresh, will use canned and frozen when I must. There really is no comparison to the fresh. I first brown some bacon in a pan until crispy, then remove the bacon and set aside. I deglaze the pan with mostly chicken broth and add a little water and salt. Sometimes I'll crush a few cloves of garlic and add, fishing them out later. Then I add a whole onion to the top of the beans and simmer away. I sometimes fish the onion out when they are finished and sometimes leave it in. When beans are cooked the crispy bacon can be broken up and added to the top of the beans. I love new potatoes cooked in the beans toward the end of cooking time. I don't mean what the grocery stores call new potatoes, but the real thing which you can rarely find.

I not from the South but use Bacon, Sausage and all that fatty good stuff,in beans and other related food.
So I should say,
Come Sta, Yau'll

'Course, being a bank examiner in north Georgia, I'd come into the meat and three's in a suit and heels. They knew this 5'2" tiny lady wasn't a local! They would look at me crosseyed. Although the veggies were not edible, most of them had fried chicken that made up for it in every way.

A little OT but cooking things to death seems to have become a sub-topic of this thread. Just because I'm southern doesn't mean I want everything overcooked as some would call it, just peas,green beans and corn. I want crispy cooked cabbage, carrots, sweet peppers and many other things, including broccoli if I absolutely have to eat it.

Two ways: Bacon and onion, of course. I sometimes make them with chopped fresh or canned tomatoes, a little garlic,olive oil, salt, pepper and either tarragon or basil. As I'm writing this, it occurs to me that it might be good to combine the two preparations. Bacon and onions just make everything taste better to me. I typically use fresh or frozen green beans.