This is an elegant-yet-easy side dish that even works to prep ahead of time. Fresh green beans are wrapped in bacon, roasted in the oven, and drizzled with a mouth watering buttery glaze. These Bacon-Wrapped Green Bean Bundles make a perfect appetizer or side dish!
Ingredients Needed
- Green Beans – Use fresh (not frozen or canned) green beans here. You will need 1 pound of beans after the ends have been snapped off, so go for a little over 1 pound when you’re buying them at the store. I am using french style green beans here.
- Bacon – Get regular sliced bacon, not thin cut.
- Butter – Use real butter, no substitutions.
- Rice Vinegar – You can find rice vinegar by the other vinegar and condiments in your grocery store, or near the Asian foods section. “Seasoned” or “unseasoned” is fine.
- Granulated sugar
- Red onion
- Fresh garlic – No powdered, freeze dried, or jarred garlic. Use fresh garlic cloves!
How to Make Bacon-Wrapped Green Bean Bundles
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
- Wash and snap the ends off your green beans.
- When the water is boiling, briefly boil (blanch) the beans for 2 minutes . Quickly drain and rinse in cold water until the beans have cooled. You can also plunge in a bowl of ice water.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. On a parchment or foil-lined cookie sheet, divide the green beans evenly into 8-10 piles and wrap each one with a slice of bacon. Place on baking sheet with ends of bacon on the bottom. *This step can be done up to a day ahead of time.
- When the oven is ready, place the pan in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the bacon is crisp and sizzling.
- While the bundles are in the oven, melt the butter over medium-high heat in a small saucepan. When the butter is bubbly, add in the onions and garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until the onions are softened and fragrant. Reduce heat to low and add in vinegar, sugar, and salt. Remove from heat and set aside.
- When ready to serve, place bean bundles on a serving platter and drizzle with sauce. Serve immediately. These are perfectly paired with most meats particularly Asian- or American steakhouse-style meals.
Storing and Other Tips
- These beans are best enjoyed fresh from the oven, but leftovers are yummy, too. Store leftover beans in an airtight container in the fridge and consume within 3-4 days for best results.
- If you’d like to crisp up your bacon, I recommend heating leftover bundles in the microwave briefly and then transferring to the air fryer to cook until bubbly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make these ahead of time?
Feel free to blanch your beans up to a day ahead of time. You can even wrap your green bean bundles with bacon a day ahead of time and store, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to bake. The sauce is best prepared right before serving.
Can I use turkey bacon?
It’s worth using real bacon here. However, if you have religious or health reasons that restrict the use of pork, go ahead and use what you’re able to! I would just recommend keeping a close eye on the bundles during baking. Most turkey bacon is quite thin and will cook up much more quickly than traditional bacon.
Bacon-Wrapped Green Bean Bundles
Sweet and sour garlic butter sauce is drizzled over these crispy bacon-wrapped green bean bundles. These make a great side or appetizer!
Servings servings
Equipment
Ingredients
Bundles
- 1 pound green beans with the ends snapped off buy or pick about 1 1/2 pounds, so you'll have 1 pound after the beans' ends have been snapped
- 8 slices bacon regular or thin cut
Sauce
- 3 tablespoons butter no substitutions
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 1 tablespoon red onion finely minced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Blanch: Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
- Wash and snap the ends off of the beans. Discard any sickly looking, overly skinny, limp, or yucky-looking beans.
- When the water is boiling, briefly boil (blanch) the beans for 2-3 minutes or until you start hearing a popping noise and the beans have turned bright green. Quickly drain and rinse in cold water until the beans have cooled.
- Prepare the bundles: Preheat the oven to 400℉.
- On a cookie sheet, divide the green beans evenly into 8 piles. Carefully bundle each pile of beans with one slice of bacon and return to the baking sheet. This step can be done up to a day ahead of time.
- Bake: When the oven is ready, place the pan in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the bacon is crisp and sizzling.
- Prepare the sauce: While the bundles are in the oven, melt the butter over medium-high heat in a small saucepan. When the butter is bubbly, add in the onions and garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until the onions are softened and fragrant. Reduce heat to low and add in vinegar, sugar, and salt. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Serve: When ready to serve, place bean bundles on a serving platter and drizzle with sauce. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Prep Ahead Instructions: Green beans can be blanched ahead of time. You can wrap the bundles in bacon ahead of time as well, and store, covered, in the fridge until baking time.
- These beans are best enjoyed fresh from the oven, but leftovers are yummy, too. Store leftover beans in an airtight container in the fridge and consume within 3-4 days for best results.
- If you’d like to crisp up your bacon, I recommend heating leftover bundles in the microwave briefly and then transferring to the air fryer to cook until bubbly.
Nutrition
Calories: 100kcal, Carbohydrates: 6g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 19mg, Sodium: 244mg, Potassium: 164mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 525IU, Vitamin C: 7mg, Calcium: 24mg, Iron: 1mg
Calories: 100kcal
Did You Make This Recipe?Snap a picture, and hashtag it #ourbestbites. We love to see your creations on our Instagram @ourbestbites!
Questions & Reviews
I just made these for a Sunday dinner for guests and… they are fabulous! To be quite frank, I was a tad unsure about the sauce with vinegar in it but since I happened to have some rice vinegar in my cabinet decided to make it exactly like you said. Oh my. Oh MY. When I caught a whiff of the fragrance of the sauce I knew it was going to be phenomenal. I loved it, my guests loved it and I am delighted to have two servings left for my husband and me tomorrow. This is a great recipe! Thank you!
Definitely making these for Father's Day! Thanks for the inspiration!
I was just going to make garlic green beans for Thanksgiving, but I ran across this and I have everything so I am making them instead! : ) I am so excited for that sauce! MMMM
This has got to be the best way to eat your veggies!
Heidi, as long as the frozen beans are on the long side, you could totally do it! 🙂 Just boil them for a minute or two longer.
I bet my husband would love these. Do you think you could do them with frozen beans?
I loved the other green bean recipe you posted and my husband who doesn't eat green beans ate it, so I am definetly going to have to give this a try!
These sound delicious! I bet these would be delicious wrapped in prosciutto, too!
Everything is good with bacon!
These look adorable!!
Yum, maybe even my husband will eat green beans if I wrap them in bacon. Everything tastes better with bacon.
WOW – this looks phenomenal!! love your site!
Those look sinfully delicious. See, now I'm gonna HAVE to try them, especially considering our beans are going crazy.
That looks so yummy!!
OMG. I'm buying beans at the store tonight and making these. Delish!
Love the individual serving sizes. So cute and sounds so tasty.
Those look so cute. I'm going to have to try this instead of just throwing the bacon in with the green beans. Thanks for the idea!
I cannot wait to try these! Yummy!
That's one way to get your kids to eat their veggies! mmmm bacon 🙂
That looks great…my kids love green beans so it's always nice to have a new way of cooking them. I think it looks yummy paired with the bacon and the sauce sounds wonderful.
I never knew just how good fresh green beans could be until I had them with bacon. And almond slivers give them a nice crunch. Anyway, this looks super fancy – great for when you have guests over for dinner.
Those look so yummy!
One of our go-to sides growing up was green beans with crumbled bacon and almond slivers.
While I am normally not a bacon lover, pregnancy seems to have changed that aspect of my pallet. So yeah, these look divine!
mmmmmm…. Those look so yummy!! I may have to make them when my in-laws come to town tomorrow!!
Looks great!
ooh those look good!
Great recipe! Thanks!
WOW We made these and I could have eaten the whole batch myself! So yummy!
oooh wrap it in bacon and I'm sold! 🙂 Looks delicious!
looks sooo yummy!
My green beans are just starting to grow so in a week or two these are on the menu. And as my Bro. in law would say," everything tastes better with bacon."