French Style Green Beans Almondine

I continue my series of veganized French recipes with these French-style green beans, following my Vegan Crepes, Vegan Almond Croissant Pastry, and Vegan Madeleines. The secret of French Green Beans is to cook the green beans in extra-virgin olive oil, not in butter! Plus, French people cook green beans in sautéed shallots instead of onions and top their green beans with toasted sliced almonds. I grew up eating green beans cooked this way, and I really think that shallots, olive oil, and almonds make green beans so much tastier! Some people call them Green bean almondine or haricot vert amandine in French. Call them as you like. These vegan green beans are a must-try!

Ingredients and Substitutions

Let’s see what you need to make these crunchy green beans with toasted almonds.

Thin Fresh Green Beans – use thin long, bright green beans, not the odd bunches that often get strings and are not as appellant and tasty. Extra Virgin Olive Oil – this is the best oil to cook green beans as it contains less saturated fat and healthy omega sources. Sliced Almonds – or crushed almonds if you prefer. Salt and Ground Pepper – to taste. Vegetable Stock or cold water Chopped Parsley – for taste and color. Crushed Garlic – You can also use powdered garlic. Shallots – This is the secret ingredient to make the best green beans! Shallots look like small onions, but they have a light purple color and a much less strong flavor. While you can use white onion instead in this recipe, I highly recommend the shallots for the best flavors.

How To Make French Green Beans

It’s so easy to make this green bean recipe, it takes just 15 minutes, and it’s absolutely amazing as a simple vegan meal or vegan side dish. There are two schools of thought when it comes to green beans recipes. Some people keep the ends of the green beans, and others trim the green beans. I personally think you should always trim green beans because their ends are not tasty at all. Below I show you my technique to quickly trim green beans. I line them up on the chopping board so I can trim them by bunch instead of one by one. This is so much faster!

Storage Instructions

You can store these French green beans for up to 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge. In the next few days, rewarm your green beans in a casserole in the oven or in the microwave, or in a saucepan until hot. You can also freeze these green bean almondine and thaw them in the fridge the day before serving.