Roasted Balsamic Green Beans

Fresh green beans tossed with cooking oil, seasonings, and balsamic vinegar then quickly baked in the oven at a higher temperature until tender, slightly caramelized and crispy around the edges. These roasted green beans are elegant enough to serve at a holiday gathering and easy enough to whip together for a weeknight supper. {vegan, paleo, gluten-free, whole30}

I'm one of those weird people who likes to include a vegetable side dish with dinner as often as possible so my meals are well-rounded. And it's not because I'm obsessed with eating healthy all the time. 

Instead, I learned to prioritize cooking my vegetables so they taste super duper delicious. Like, fancy a la carte veggie side dish at a steak restaurant good. (Note to self: make scalloped potatoes soon.)

When your veggies are suddenly on par with the main dish, they transform from an afterthought to a must-have at every meal. 

In years past, I used to rely on canned or frozen veggies. Were they quick? Yes. But, they were bland, soggy, and underseasoned.

Thankfully, I discovered what is now my favorite technique for fixing most fresh vegetables these days: roasting them in the oven.

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Why Are Oven Roasted Vegetables So Much Better?  

Roasting a vegetable in the oven draws out and concentrates its natural sugars so it ends up slightly sweeter and/or more flavorful. (This is my secret to the best mashed sweet potatoes.) 


And for fresh green beans specifically, baking them in the oven at a higher temperature lets you control the crispness or tenderness, but also slightly caramelizes the green beans and leaves them crispy around the edges. 

This is due in part to being spread out on a large rimmed baking sheet. That extra room makes a difference! 

When you give the green beans (and other veggies) room to breathe at a high temp (this helps cook them faster, too), not only do they TASTE better, but their texture is also superior. They get slightly crispy instead of soft from steaming. 

And all this with no extra work on your part. Awesome, right? 

In my opinion, this is the best way to fix fresh green beans in the oven other than a classic green bean casserole (which I need to start fixing all year long because it's amazing). 

More roasted veggie recipes you should try:

• Mashed Cauliflower "Potatoes" with Roasted Garlic
• Savory Roasted Butternut Squash
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Broccoli
• Roasted Tomatoes with Fresh Herbs & Garlic 

Balsamic Vinegar = The Best & Easiest Way to Season Roasted Green Beans

I love simple oven-roasted green beans with coconut oil (slightly sweet & buttery) and roasted green beans with bacon & onion (salty & savory), but my favorite way to fix green beans in the oven is with BALSAMIC VINEGAR!

When you coat the green beans in balsamic vinegar it reduces in the oven and intensifies the sweet & tangy flavor. So the vinegar + oven do basically all the work for you. (Yay!)

Balsamic vinegar is one of my favorite additions to any roasted vegetables these days, especially root veggies. I used a similar version of this recipe with onions, beets, parsnips, and carrots awhile back and taught my dad how to make it (along with slow cooker pulled pork) last spring. 

He loves, love, loves it! You can get the easy & healthy recipe for balsamic oven-roasted root vegetables here.

If you have a roasted vegetable hater in your home, try splashing some balsamic vinegar on them next time you fix a batch and you just may win them over. 

Overall, this recipe was a big hit and I loved that roasting the beans reduced the cooking time by about 10-15 minutes compared to a stovetop method. 

Can You Use Canned Green Beans For This Recipe?

I get asked this question pretty often on my Pinterest pins for this recipe. The general consensus from the many folks who've tried it is that YES you can use canned beans.

HOWEVER, they will NOT have the same crisp texture as using fresh green beans.

Will they still taste good? Yes.

So, this is a good way to jazz up some canned green beans. But I definitely recommend you try it sometime with fresh beans.

What About Using Balsamic Salad Dressing Instead of Vinegar?

If you don't keep a bottle of plain balsamic vinegar in your pantry, but you DO have some balsamic vinaigrette in your fridge -- that works, too!

My homemade maple balsamic vinaigrette would be yummy on this and add a bit of sweetness, as well. Please leave a comment & let me know what you think if you try it with my dressing. :)

Can I Use Fresh Garlic & Onion Instead of Dried Spices? What About Adding Other Veggies?

YES! I came up with this version because I wanted something easy that only used fresh green beans + pantry ingredients. If you have some fresh sweet onion, yellow onion, or red onion, slice it up thin and throw it onto the sheet at the same time as the green beans.

Same with raw garlic. I'd dice several cloves (I'm a garlic lover) and scatter them on the sheet right before you add the olive oil so it gets coated in all the seasonings.

As far as other veggies go, you could TOTALLY throw some other quick-cooking vegetables onto the sheet to roast alongside OR mixed into the green beans.

Some yummy add-in ideas would be:

• sliced mushrooms (like crimini or button)
• cherry tomatoes
• asparagus (although that cooks a bit quicker so you may want to add it 5-10 minutes in)
• cabbage (green or red)

What To Serve with These Balsamic Roasted Green Beans

This is a versatile side dish that pairs with lots of different entrees, so it's a good one to keep in your back pocket when you're noodling over what veggies to serve for dinner on a random weeknight.

In the meantime, if you're craving green beans and need inspiration for what to serve alongside it...

• Parmesan Crusted Chicken
• Easy Crock-Pot Pork Ribs
• Perfectly Cooked Cast-Iron Skillet Steak
• Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Onion Soup Mix
• The Best Tuna Patties
• Mississippi Pot Roast

Watch The Recipe Video 

If you're a visual learner, make sure to watch my short recipe video by clicking below. It illustrates the super easy process of roasting green beans with balsamic vinegar!

fresh, vinegar, recipe, glazed, oven, easy

side dish

American

Yield: 4 servings

Author: Elaina Newton - The Rising Spoon

Roasted Balsamic Green Beans

prep time: 10 Mcook time: 20 Mtotal time: 30 M

Fresh green beans tossed with cooking oil, seasonings and balsamic vinegar then quickly baked in the oven at a higher temperature until tender, slightly caramelized and crispy around the edges. These roasted green beans are elegant enough to serve at a holiday gathering and easy enough to whip together for a weeknight supper. {vegan, paleo, grain-free, gluten-free}

ingredients:

• 1 lb. of fresh green beans
• 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil (those two are my favorites)
• Sea salt, to taste (I love THIS Celtic salt and THIS Himalayan salt)
• Lemon pepper seasoning OR cracked black pepper, to taste
• Granulated garlic, to taste
• Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
• 1 tablespoon of aged balsamic vinegar (I like this regular one & this thick one)

instructions:

How to cook Roasted Balsamic Green Beans

1. Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. Wash, dry and trim off the green bean ends. Snap or cut each bean in half. I did this because I wanted the beans smaller for a leafy salad. If you'd prefer, you can leave the beans whole. Place the green beans in a pile in the middle of a large rimmed baking sheet.
2. Pour the cooking oil over the green beans and mix them around so they're evenly coated. Season to taste with the sea salt, lemon pepper (or cracked black pepper), granulated garlic, and crushed red pepper.
3. Spread the green beans out on the baking sheet giving as much space between the individual beans as possible. Shake or measure the balsamic vinegar over the green beans.
4. Bake for 10 minutes, stir the green beans and then bake for another 5-10 minutes. If you like your green beans more crisp-tender, you'll probably want to pull them out after 15 minutes. I cooked mine for 20 minutes so there would be a bit more caramelization.

NOTES:

If you prefer using all fresh ingredients, toss 1/2 of an onion (thinly sliced) or several cloves of diced garlic in with the beans. If you dislike vinegar or want different seasonings, use those instead! I don't want the vinegar to stop you from trying this roasting technique, which gives the beans a great flavor and a quicker cooking time than on the stovetop. LEFTOVERS: If you have any left, they get a big soggy sitting in the fridge so I like to add them to other recipes like steak salad, scrambled eggs, or baked egg muffins.

https://www.therisingspoon.com/2013/05/balsamic-oven-roasted-green-beans.html

© The Rising Spoon. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not reprint this recipe without my written permission. If you'd like to feature this recipe on your site, please take your own pictures, rewrite the directions in your own words, and link to this post as the original source. Thank you!

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Update #1 (December 2015): Since this is one of the most popular recipes on my blog (thank you Pinterest), I decided it was time to update the pictures. It's the same tasty recipe just photographed in natural light instead of harsh yellow nighttime kitchen light. ;)

Update #2 (November 2017): I rewrote this post to expand upon the benefits of roasting veggies, picking green beans as a weeknight side, and using balsamic vinegar.

Update #3 (September 2019): I originally published this post back in May 2013 & decided to update the recipe card and add some more paragraphs addressing questions about tweaks & substitutions, then republish it so folks new to my site can see it when they hop over. :) 

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