This 1970s recipe for Southern skillet potatoes with green beans has a lot of flexibility while retaining extreme flavor. You can use red potatoes and canned green beans and have this as a recipe for red potatoes and green beans. This is part of our Vegetables, Side Dishes, and Potatoes Categories.
Recipe for Potatoes with Green Beans Overview
Overall, this recipe for green beans and potatoes is just cooking cutup potatoes and combining them into a hot skillet of diced, cooked veggies and seasonings. Also, you have many options like using new or red potatoes and fresh, frozen, or canned green beans. Regardless, this potatoes green beans recipe can be quite easily changed to fit what you already have in your kitchen.
How To Make This Southern Skillet Potatoes with Green Beans Recipe
1. Start the Potatoes
Initially, clean and cutup the potatoes into small pieces. Also, no peeling is needed! After that, add them to a pot of water and bring it to a boil. Then, keep it on a slow boil. This also helps it fully cook fast and easy in about 20 minutes. While it’s cooking, move on to the next step.
- Cook potato pieces for about 20 minutes.
2. Prep and Cook the Veggies
Then, dice the onions, celery, and carrots. Here’s a fast way to peel onions without crying. Then, just toss the 3 veggies into a hot skillet (with a tablespoon of oil or bacon drippings) on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Stir them occasionally. While this is cooking, prep the green beans.
2a. Dice onions, celery, and carrots. Then, add them to medium heat skillet with some oil and cook for 5 minutes.
For fresh green beans, go ahead and wash them in a colander. Then, break off any end strings, if any. If canned, just drain them. If frozen, briefly nuke them in the microwave to at least partially thaw them out.
Ensure cooking the other veggies has been for at least 5 minutes. Then, add the green beans and a tablespoon of vegetable oil (or bacon drippings) into those veggies in the hot skillet. Cook all for about 5 minutes, only stirring to mix them up or to scrape the bottom. This is still done on medium heat.
2b. Add Green Beans and Oil to Cook with Diced Veggies for 5 minutes.
3. Add the Potatoes to the Veggies Skillet
After the green beans and veggies have cooked their appropriate times, drain and gently fold potatoes into the same skillet. If the potatoes aren’t quite ready, just set the skillet aside until ready. When potatoes are done and added to veggies, cook at medium heat for about 5 minutes, adding about 2 tablespoons of oil and the listed seasonings. Be sure you don’t stir much. Usually, I only mix them in and scrape the bottom two times max. This prevents mushy potatoes.
3. Add cooked potatoes, some oil, and spices to veggies skillet. Cook for 5 minutes.
4. Final Step and Serve
Then, turn off the heat and serve. Or, for a mild Italian theme, sprinkle some Parmesan cheese over it all. However, if I’m using shredded Parmesan cheese, I’ll scatter it over the whole skillet, cover it for a minute to melt, and then dish it out for serving.
It’s a super meal when served with kielbasa or little smokies.
4. Ready to serve. Added optional shredded Parmesan cheese and melted for 1 minute in skillet with lid.
Changes You Can Make To Potatoes with Green Beans Recipe
Using RED Potatoes with green beans
If you use red potatoes, increase the amount of potatoes 3 times the amount called for. And, for paring small red potatoes, cut them into 4 pieces each. If using the larger red potatoes (but still smaller than the usual Russet white potatoes), you might just use 2 times the amount called for. Consider cutting those into 6 pieces each. Also, you usually don’t peel these red potatoes for this recipe.
Using NEW Potatoes
If using new potatoes, these are commonly small at about 2-inches in diameter. Decide if you should use about 3 times the amount called for. They’ll be typically cut into about 4 pieces and remain unpeeled.
Potatoes and green beans and BACON
Adding bacon to potatoes and green beans is very popular in the South. Since you have onions also, this is a super flavor enhancement. Sometimes, I’ll replace the vegetable oil with bacon drippings for that extra Southern flavor without adding actual bacon.
Popular Questions on this Recipe for Potatoes with Green Beans
What’s the FASTEST Way to Make Potatoes with Green Beans Recipe?
Follow the steps in the order shown in the recipe. In the example shown below, you’re prepping the green beans while the diced veggies are cooking, and while the potatoes are boiling in water. That maximizes your time saving steps while minimizing any waiting times.
Can I use something different from fresh green beans, like canned or frozen?
For canned green beans, it will work perfectly fine. You’ll use just one can, drained, and follow the recipe the same after dumping them in the pan to cook. For a change of pace, you can use French-style cut green beans as well.
For fresh green beans, most of the time they have that little string or stem on at least one end of each bean. With practice, you can snap it off or pierce it off with your finger or cut it with a knife. With this small amount, it doesn’t take very long. Because it’s a fresh bunch of green beans, you’ll want to ensure you do rinse them off and then give a quick shake to get rid of the bulk of the water droplets.
For frozen green beans, the results will vary. Some can be thawed out and used with good results. Others, might result in being too wilted when thawed. You’ll just want to take a mental note of which brand does well for future considerations in your dishes such as this one.
Can I run some cold water over the colander drained, cooked potatoes?
Running cold water over hot cooked potations is not recommended. Only use the colander for potatoes draining & no rinsing. These hot, cooked potatoes tend to become a bit more mushy if cold water is run over them. Also, if unpeeled, the skins will begin to separate. Finally, they need to remain hot so it doesn’t cool down the cooking veggies you’re about to add them to.
Main dishes for this recipe for potatoes and green beans
Green bean and potatoes dishes go extremely well with these main dishes of kielbasa, brats, and meatloaf. Sometimes, people add the meat directly in this skillet to make it a one pot meal. Also, this recipe is listed on our Christmas Dinner Meals Ideas article.
Nutritional Values of Potatoes and Green Beans Recipe
These potatoes and green beans 1-pot dish have only about 284 calories. Plus, it satisfies as having multiple vegetables sides in one! More detailed nutritional values are shown in the <Print Recipe> option.
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Recipe for Potatoes and Green Beans
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Ingredients
- 2 medium potatoes russet or adjust higher qty for red or new; peeled or unpeeled, cutup in 1-inch pieces
- ¼ medium sweet onion diced
- 1 stalk celery diced
- 6 pieces baby carrots diced (or 1 regular carrot)
- 1 Tbsp oil for diced veggies
- ½ lb green beans fresh
- 1 Tbsp oil for green beans
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp basil
- 2 Tbsp oil for final cooking
- ½ cup parmesan cheese shredded or grated
Instructions
- Rinse and cutup potatoes in about 1-inch size pieces. Rinse in a colander again and add to a pot of boiling water, covering all potatoes. Cook on a medium boil until done, usually in about 20 minutes.2 medium potatoes
- While potatoes are cooking: In a a preheated (medium heat) large frying pan or skillet, add in the diced onions, celery, and carrots and cook in about 1 tbsp. of oil. While diced veggies are cooking and being stirred, for about 5 minutes, prep the green beans.¼ medium sweet onion, 1 stalk celery, 6 pieces baby carrots, 1 Tbsp oil
- While veggies are cooking, rinse green beans (pinch off string ends, if needed). When veggies cook time is done, toss in the green beans, about 1 tbsp. of oil, and cook all for about 5 more minutes, turning as needed.½ lb green beans, 1 Tbsp oil
- When potatoes are tender and done, drain in a colander and add to skillet of other veggies. Add spices. Pour in about 2 tbsp. of oil and gently turn to intermix all vegetables, cooking for about 5 minutes.½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper, 1 tsp garlic powder, 2 Tbsp oil, ¼ tsp basil
- Turn off heat. Sprinkle veggies top with parmesan cheese. Then, gently toss to mix all together and serve.½ cup parmesan cheese
