With just 5 ingredients and 15 minutes, you can whip up these Green Beans with Cranberries and Almonds to accompany your Thanksgiving or Christmas feast, or to simply enjoy during a quick weeknight dinner.
These sautéed green beans are the perfect balance of crisp textures and vibrant flavors. They are bursting with the natural sweetness of dried cranberries, the crunch of slivered almonds, and tender green beans.
Crafted with simplicity in mind, you can bring this flavorful vegetable side dish to life in under 15 minutes.
It’s fancy enough to serve as part of your Thanksgiving spread but simple enough to prepare as part of a quick weeknight meal!
Serve alongside Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole, Vegan Stuffing, and Creamy Mashed Potatoes and Gravy.
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Ingredients
Blanched green beans, garlic, almonds, and cranberries are sautéed together to create a crunchy, crisp, and fresh Holiday side dish!
Fresh Green Beans: You can use french green beans or regular green beans for this recipe. French green beans, also known as haricot verts, are longer and thinner and tend to be more tender than regular green beans.
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: Use a good quality olive-oil for the best flavor.
Garlic: Freshly minced garlic cloves yield the best flavor. I would avoid using jarred garlic for this since it's such a simple recipe and you really taste the garlic!
Slivered Almonds: Almonds add a delicious crunch on top of the beans.
Dried Cranberries: Dried cranberries are chewy and sweet and add such a lovely flavor and texture to this dish. Buy unsweetened if possible.
Sea Salt Flakes: Maldon Sea Salt Flakes are added on top for a hint of saltiness. Salty, sweet, crunchy, and crisp. This recipe hits all the right notes!
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make This Recipe
This recipe for sautéed green beans with dried cranberries and almonds is the perfect sweet, savory, and fresh side dish for weeknight dinners, Thanksgiving dinner, and Christmas dinner!
The full written recipe can be found in the recipe card below.
Step 1: Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add the Kosher salt. Add the trimmed green beans and cook for 3-4 minutes. They will turn bright green. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool.
Step 2: Add olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the blanched green beans and minced garlic. Toss for 2 minutes or until the garlic is golden.
Step 3: Add the slivered almond, cranberries, and a pinch of salt and black pepper. Toss for 30 seconds before removing from the heat.
Step 4: Plate on a serving dish and top with a few more slivered almonds and dried cranberries for garnish. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes. Enjoy!
Note: For more toasted almonds, toast the almonds prior to adding to the sautéed green beans if desired.
Substitutions & Variations
Feel free to switch up this simple vegetable side dish to fit your preferences.
Olive Oil: Vegan butter can be used in replace of olive oil.
Almonds: Change it up and use toasted pecans!
Cranberries: I absolutely love dried cranberries. Alternatively, you can use raisins.
Variations: Add fresh herbs, lemon zest, orange zest, balsamic vinegar, or crumbled vegan feta.
Serving Ideas
I created this vegan green bean recipe with Thanksgiving in mind but this is a wonderful fall and winter side dish to serve with a variety of different meals.
As a Side Dish: Serve this green bean dish as a side alongside a vegan Thanksgiving roast, grilled tofu, or with vegan chicken.
On a Bed of Rice: Create a bed of rice on individual plates and place a portion of the sautéed green beans with cranberries and almonds on top. Top with vegan protein of choice.
In a Salad: Chill the green beans and serve them as a cold salad. Toss them with mixed greens, a maple dijon vinaigrette, and perhaps some additional cranberries and almonds for a refreshing side salad. Apples would be nice too!
Alongside Mashed Potatoes: For a comforting meal, serve the green beans alongside creamy mashed potatoes. The combination of textures and flavors work really well together.
As a Thanksgiving Side: This dish is particularly fitting for Thanksgiving. Place it on the holiday table alongside other traditional dishes like Stuffing, Vegan Mashed Sweet Potatoes and cranberry sauce.
Tips & Tricks
Prepare all of your ingredients prior to cooking. This dish moves fast so you'll want everything chopped and prepped before.
For best results, buy fresh garlic and green beans. Jarred garlic won't bring as much flavor and frozen green beans won't be as crisp.
Avoid overcooking the beans. They only require 4 minutes in boiling water so that they get only slightly tender, bright green and crisp.
Storage
Store: Store leftover green beans in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days.
Reheat: Reheat on the stovetop over medium heat until warmed through.
Freeze: I do not recommend freezing leftovers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, skip the blanching step and steam the beans according to the package. Pat them dry and proceed with the rest of the recipe. Please note that this recipe tastes best fresh.
I recommend boiling green beans for 4 minutes in salty water and then adding rinsing them with cold water until they stop cooking. Then, add them to olive oil on a hot pan and sauté for 2-3 minutes. For a total of 6-7 minutes.
They are the perfect Thanksgiving side dish but taste great with just about anything! My favorite way to serve these is with mashed potatoes and crispy tofu.
More Holiday Sides
Looking for other side dishes to serve on Thanksgiving? Try these:
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Recipe
Green Beans with Cranberries and Almonds
Ingredients
- 1 pound Fresh Green Beans trimmed and washed
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt for blanching
- 1 tablespoon Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
- 3-5 Garlic Cloves minced
- ¼ cup Slivered Almonds
- ¼ cup Dried Cranberries
- Pinch of Black Pepper
- Pinch of Sea Salt Flakes
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add the Kosher salt.
- Add the trimmed green beans and cook for 3-4 minutes. They will turn bright green. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool. No need to shock in an ice bath. Drain off excess water and pat dry.
- Add olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the blanched green beans and minced garlic. Toss for 2 minutes or until the garlic is golden. Add the slivered almond, cranberries, and a pinch of salt and black pepper. Toss for 30 seconds before removing from the heat.
- Plate on a serving dish and top with a few more slivered almonds and dried cranberries for garnish. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes. Enjoy!
Notes
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