Name: Green Beans with Bacon and Onion
Total time: 40 min
Cuisine: US & Canada
Ingredients: 6 slices bacon , cut into ½-inch pieces; 1 onion , halved and sliced thin; 1 teaspoon packed brown sugar; Salt and pepper; 2 pounds green beans , trimmed; 1/2 cup water; 2 garlic cloves , sliced thin

Why This Recipe Works

Sautéed green beans are a good side dish all on their own with just a little melted butter to coat them. But they're even better when combined with savory bacon and sweet caramelized onion. The secret to this dish is getting all the components done at the same time. The solution, we found, was to stagger the cooking: bacon first, onion second, green beans last. We first cooked the bacon, transferred it to a paper towel–lined plate to drain, and then added the onion to the skillet and cooked it in some of the rendered bacon fat for flavor. Once the onion was softened and beginning to brown, we added the green beans, covered the skillet so that they would steam and cook through, and then removed the cover to cook off any residual liquid. We then sprinkled the crispy bacon pieces over the green beans before serving.

Before You Begin

To trim the green beans quickly, line up a handful so the stem ends are even, and then cut off the stems with one swipe of the knife.

Instructions

Cook bacon in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until crispy, 5 to 7 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel–lined plate. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet.

Add onion, sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper to fat left in skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.

Add green beans, water, garlic, and ½ teaspoon salt and increase heat to medium-high. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until water has nearly evaporated and green beans are bright green, about 8 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook until water has completely evaporated and green beans are just spotty brown, 2 to 4 minutes longer. Transfer to serving platter and sprinkle with bacon. Serve.