Buttery Garlic Haricots Verts

Haricots verts are perfect as a healthy weeknight side dish or a festive vegetable dish option for holiday gatherings. Crispy and tender they are cooked with garlic and olive oil, then finished with high quality butter. The butter lends a rich flavor to the otherwise fresh tasting French green beans. 

What Is Haricot Vert?

Haricot vert is French for a green bean. Haricots verts is the plural form and the more frequently used term. It is pronounced as ah-ree-koh vehrs.

As a variety French green beans are thin skinned, slender, stringless and with a delicate texture. Their flavor is commonly described as robust or vegetal and their aroma as herbaceous. 

Are Green Beans and Haricots Verts the Same Thing?

They are nearly the same thing in that haricots verts are a cultivar of the common green bean Phaseolus vulgaris. 

Green beans which are also known as snap beans or string beans are typically shorter, thicker and have a slightly paler color than haricots verts. Certain garden green beans, especially heirloom varieties, contain a tough, fibrous string that should be removed before they are cooked.

The Phaeseolus vulgaris species includes nearly 80 varieties. The term green actually refers to the immaturity and not the color of green beans. The term snap is related to the freshness of the green bean - the stem end of a young and tender bean is easily snapped off before cooking.

Stringless Green Beans

The first common green bean without a fibrous string was bred in 1894 by Calvin Keeney, also known as the 'father of the stringless bean". He developed it in Le Roy, New York for the Burpee Seed Company and the variety became known as the Burpee’s Stringless Green Pod (shown below). Later on numerous other stringless varieties were bred and are widely cultivated today.

When harvested very early modern stringless green beans taste very similar to haricots verts. 

About This Buttery Garlic Green Beans Recipe 

This side dish haricots verts recipe is all about using a sautéing technique known as steam frying to prepare flavorful green beans with exceptional texture.

Even as their skins acquire a delightful blistered appearance the haricots verts retain a certain level of snap. They finish with a tenderness above and beyond what regular sautéing can achieve and have none of the distinct, faint sogginess that inevitably results from blanching (see below).

Is It Better to Blanche Green Beans Before Sautéing?

If you were to use the classic sauté method and broader, fleshy green beans then yes, you should always blanche the green beans, drain them, dry them and then sauté them. (Blanching is a brief exposure to boiling water and then interupting the cooking process in ice water). The goal is to make them tender before you begin to cook them for flavor.

Because as a variety haricots verts have the advantage of being very slender and crisp blanching them is not necessary. 

In addition, blanching inevitably results in a certain degree of sogginess, regardless of whether the vegetable is green beans, asparagus, broccolini or snow peas. 

The texture of blanched sautéd green beans cannot compete with the texture you will obtain through steam frying as shown below. 

Try each method for yourself to actually taste the difference. Steam frying is by far the better method and this is easy to verify. And once you are convinced of this you will probably not consider boiling green beans when they are as tender as haricots verts. 

Ingredients for Garlic Butter Green Beans

Haricots Verts. Be sure to buy fresh green beans sold as haricots verts or if buying in bulk select thinner, younger stringless green beans of similar size. Similarly sized snap beans will cook more uniformly. 

Olive oil. To blister the green beans and create appetizing flavors on their thin skins through the Maillard reaction. Extra-virgin olive oil imparts more flavor. 

Garlic cloves. Several large garlic cloves, peeled and minced. As shown above we minced six cloves. Adjust to taste but since this is a recipe for garlic green beans more is better. 

Water. To steam the blistered haricots verts in the pan and cook them through just enough to achieve the perfect texture. 

Salt and black pepper. Season to taste. If you are using salted butter skip the kosher salt entirely. 

Butter. Be sure to have high quality European style butter. It is more flavorful and makes the dish taste much better. Salted or unsalted butter is up to you, just be sure to season the green beans accordingly. 

Do You Need to Trim Haricots Verts?

Haricot verts typically do not require trimming which is one of their key appeals. Occasionally there could be a few beans that have an end that should be trimmed but for the most part they are so delicate that the step is unnecessary.

When it comes to green beans in general the rule of thumb is to to trim the edges off while prepping. It is done in restaurants and often times packaged green beans at the grocery store are pre-trimmed.

TIP: To save time and to make the task of trimming the ends easier you can line up a handful of green beans over a cutting board and cut the ends off in a single motion using a sharp chef's knife. 

How to Make Garlic Green Beans with Butter

Below are step-by-step pictures showing you the simple workflow of using the steam fry technique to prepare the haricots verts. A summary of the process is contained in the Recipe Card at the end of the post.

Be sure to use a large skillet or frying pan that will comfortably accomodate the green beans. A cast iron skillet or a Hexclad pan as shown below work very well. 

Blister. Begin by heating the olive oil over medium-high heat. Pat dry the haricots verts. Once the oil is shimmering add the green beans and move them around to make sure they all get coated nicely. Allow them to blister for a minute or two. 

Steam. Once you see slight char marks on most of the haricots verts add the water. After the enthusiastic initial steam subsides lower the heat to medium and add the minced garlic. Work it in between the green beans. Allow beans and garlic to steam until the water has just evaportated. 

Finish with butter. Add the butter and as it melts begin to turn the beans over to make sure each one gets coated nicely. After about a minute or so turn off the heat. The garlic should just begin to turn golden brown, do not let it burn. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Serve immediately. 

What to Serve Haricot Vert With?

Garlic green beans are such a versatile side that you can serve them along multiple proteins across many cuisines.

In their finished crisp-tender state they are great with all manner of roasts, weeknight dinners such as pan-fried pork chops or baked chicken quarters, baked cod fillets or pan-seared salmon. 

If you were to add to them a tablespoon of chili oil they would be perfect with Asian inspired protein dishes. If you were to sprinkle a few tablespoons of finely grated parmesan cheese you would have the perfect garlic parmesan green beans to serve as a side to Italian dishes. 

Enjoy Garlic Green Beans as a Salad

Haricot vert cobb salad. Plate the prepared garlic green beans and add shaved red onions to taste, a couple of soft boiled eggs quartered lenghtwise, crispy bacon, feta cheese crumbles or blue cheese crumbles and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar or balsamic reduction. 

Burrata/mozzarella haricot vert salad. Toast almond slivers in a skillet to enhance their nutty flavor and sprinkle them over the buttery sautéd string beans with garlic. Add pitted kalamata olives and top with burrata cheese or fresh mozzarella cheese pearls. Season with red pepper flakes for a touch of heat and a squeeze of lemon juice. 

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