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These Bacon Wrapped Green Beans are extraordinarily delicious and, even better, they can be prepped a day in advance for easy entertaining!
I can't believe I haven't shared these wonderful Bacon Wrapped Green Beans with you before. My daughter-in-law, Lindsay, has been bringing this delicious veggie side to our Thanksgiving celebration for years. She preps them at home and all we have to do is pop the pretty little bundles into the oven twenty minutes before dinner. They're always a crowd pleaser and are enjoyed by guests of all ages.
So... without further ado, here you go: Make-Ahead Bacon Wrapped Green Beans!
When you're shopping, look for the long, skinny green beans, also known as French green beans or haricots verts. They used to be found only at specialty stores but now French green beans can be found at almost any larger grocery store. I usually buy them at Costco or Trader Joes as they have nice size bags for a great price. In a pinch, you could use regular green beans but the baking time will be a bit longer.
There are lots of variations of these bacon-wrapped green beans out there. I decided to keep mine pretty simple, letting the delicious flavors of the green beans and bacon shine through. The beans are blanched and can then be refrigerated for up to 24 hours. The bacon is precooked so it will get nice and crisp when roasted around the beans. A small sprinkle of brown sugar and finely chopped fresh rosemary is sprinkled over each little bundle before baking.
What is blanching?
You might not be familiar with the term blanching. Blanching is a classic cooking technique. It involves boiling something vegetables (or fruit) for a short time and then quickly cooling them in cold water to stop the cooking process. It's often used when freezing fruits and vegetables to help them keep their optimal color and nutritional value.
Why blanch?
You might be wondering why one would go through the trouble of blanching the beans, especially when you're going to roast them. Can't you just throw the bean bundles in the oven and let all the work be done there?
Good question! The answer involves a bit of science as we need to look at what actually happens inside the beans when they're immersed in the boiling water and quickly cooled. To keep it simple, blanching breaks down and destroys enzymes and bacteria in the beans (or other veggies) that can alter flavor, color and vitamin content. In other words, your beans will taste more delicious, keep their bright green color and have better nutritional value! A win-win-win!
The other reason to blanch before baking in this recipe is that raw beans take a long time to get tender. The blanching gets the cooking process started and the beans don't have to be in the oven as long, another reason they keep their pretty green hue.
Prep ahead!
Prepping these Bacon Wrapped Green Beans in advance is a wonderful way to keep entertaining stress to a minimum. There are a few steps for the prep but they won't take long. While you're blanching the beans, crank up the oven and precook the bacon. You don't want it fully cooked, just starting to brown on the edges but still soft and flexible. This will ensure nice crisp bacon around your baked bundles.
Once the beans are blanched and the bacon is par-cooked it's time to roll the little bundles. Separate the beans into stacks of 10-12. Wrap each with a strip of bacon and secure with a toothpick. That's it, you're done with the prep. Store the prepped beans in the fridge.
Twenty minutes before serving, sprinkle each bundle with a teaspoon of brown sugar (combined with fresh finely minced rosemary). To finish, set a timer and pop the pan into a hot oven. Oh yeah, and wait for a wonderful aroma to fill the house!
When the timer goes off and you peek in the oven, a beautiful pan of deliciousness will greet your eyes (and the hungry eyes of every guest around your table)! Check out this video to see just how simple this side is to make!
Put these guys on your holiday menu! You won't be disappointed!
Café Tips for making these Make-Ahead Bacon Wrapped Green Beans
- Look for French green beans. These are the long, skinny beans you see at the market, usually pre-packaged in clear bags.
- You could use regular green beans in a pinch but you will have to add 5 minutes or so onto the baking time.
- Don't use thick-cut bacon for this recipe. I love the thicker types of bacon but they will take too long to bake and the underside will stay a bit raw.
- I like to use a smokey bacon for these Bacon-Wrapped Green Beans. My favorite is applewood-smoked but other smoked varieties will also work well.
- When you buy bacon for this recipe, look for a package that is fairly uniform in width for the whole length of the strips. Some bacon strips are thin on one end and wider on the other. This won't work as well for this recipe as you want the bundles to have a consistent appearance for a pretty presentation.
- You can prep these Bacon Wrapped Green Beans as far as 24 hours in advance. Follow steps 1-5 below then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate till ready to bake. Remove from refrigerator and proceed with steps 6 and 7.
- For a nice presentation (and because I'm a food blogger) I like to arrange my bundles with the tips of the beans all facing in the same direction. This isn't necessary, it just looks pretty!
Thought for the day:
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Indeed, I count everything as loss
because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
Philippians 3:7-8
What we're listening to for inspiration:
If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear your results, adaptations and ideas for variations.
- 1 ½ pounds French green beans also known as haricot verts
- 12 slices smoky bacon not thick cut
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic salt
- ¼ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh rosemary plus more for garnish, if desired
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Preheat oven to 400˚F. Place several thicknesses of paper toweling on a work surface near the oven. Line a sheet pan with foil for easy cleanup.
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Arrange bacon strips on foil so they aren’t overlapping. Bake for 10 minutes or until strips are beginning to turn golden, but are still soft. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer bacon to paper towels to drain.
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While bacon is baking, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add beans, cover and cook for 1 minute. Place a strainer in the sink and drain beans. Immediate rinse beans with cold water for 1 full minute. Drain well and then transfer beans to a clean kitchen towel. Pat with the towel to remove as much water as possible.
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Place beans in a medium-size bowl. Combine olive oil and garlic salt. Drizzle oil over the beans and toss to coat.
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Arrange beans in 12 bundles of 10-12 beans. Place one bacon strip on a work surface. Place a bundle of beans on one end of the bacon strip. Roll bacon around the bundle and secure with a toothpick. Repeat with remaining bacon and bundles of beans. Arrange beans on a sheet pan lined with clean foil.
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Combine brown sugar and rosemary in a small bowl and stir well. Sprinkle one teaspoon of the brown sugar mixture over each bean/bacon bundle.
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Bake bundles for 15-20 minutes at 400˚F or until bacon is golden brown and beans are tender. Remove from oven and serve warm. Remove toothpicks and garnish with more finely chopped fresh rosemary, if desired.
See Café Tips above for more detailed instructions and tips.
- To make ahead, proceed through step 5 then cover and refrigerate until ready to bake. Remove from refrigerator and proceed with steps 6 and 7.
Al says
I made this for Thanksgiving and adored them! What a clever recipe! I can always count on you guys. Even though I have to be gluten free, so many of your recipes are either easily adaptable or gluten free already.. Thank you very much.
Chris Scheuer says
Awesome! Thanks so much for letting us know, Al!
Jaye says
Hi I'm wondering, when making this a dayahead and only cooking baking 10 min is that enough to avoid any potential bacteria?
Jaye says
* I meant cooking bacon for only 10 minutes... sorry!
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Jaye, the bacon is pre-cooked so 10 minutes at 400˚F is just perfect to finish it off.
Lisa says
Oh my goodness these are amazing. I made these for Thanksgiving and I did the day ahead prep. So easy to do. Thanksgiving day I pulled them out of the fridge and brought them up to room temperature and finished baking them. Oh WOW!! New item for Thanksgiving menu. They also reheat so nicely. Thank you for this amazing recipe!!
Chris Scheuer says
Awesome! Thanks for letting us know, Lisa!
Trisha says
Yum, yum, yum! I live overseas so I had to make a few substitutions but these turned out great. I used frozen green beans (can’t get fresh here) and put them on a towel to dry out and I can’t get rosemary so I left it out. We are getting together with a large group, so I cut the bacon in half and made smaller bundles (4-5 beans). Everyone loved them! P.S. I forgot about the toothpicks and just rolled them and it worked fine. I would post a picture but there’s only an empty plate left!
Chris Scheuer says
Haha! Thanks for sharing your results, Trisha! So happy you enjoyed this recipe!
Dana J. says
Your "thought for the day" just warmed my heart! I've made these in the past and they were a HUGE HIT at the holidays.. I came here again to get an accurate cooking recommendation since I'm making an edible 'thank you' gift for a gluten-intolerant friend and want her to easily bake them fresh. This is so perfect, I really appreciate your blog!
Chris Scheuer says
Thank you for the kind words, Dana!
Tulsi says
Thank you, Chris, for posting this easy make-ahead recipe again in time to try it out for Thanksgiving. I made this tonight and it was excellent.
Chris Scheuer says
Yay! Thanks for letting us know, Tulsi!
Denise says
Denise LaGasse here: Look, you two need to compose a cookbook (said the intellectual property and licensing attorney). Just another note of encouragement, but I am sure that you could secure a fan club to help with such an endeavor.
Chris Scheuer says
Thank you, Denise. I really appreciate your kind words. I've had a few cookbook offers but I felt like, right now, that would interfere with my priorities which are my faith, my family and my community, which includes the blog.
Dru says
Can these be made ahead and frozen instead of refrigerated?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Dru, I'm afraid they would get really soggy if you froze them. It's better to prep them the night before or early in the day.
Bill says
What Temp do you do the final bake? 350?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Bill, continue to bake at 400˚F.
Liz says
I made these as a test run a few weeks ago and they were fantastic. How do you think these will do if I bake and then put in a warming tray? I’m limited in oven space.
Chris Scheuer says
I'm so happy you enjoyed them! I think that would work fine to keep them in a warming drawer.
Celine Burk says
Looks wonderful. and would love to have on our Thanksgiving table. Since we do not eat pork, what could you recommend for a bacon substitute? Would turkey bacon work (or something else?)
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Celine, yes you could use turkey bacon!
Bekki says
I can’t seem to find any fresh rosemary anywhere. Do you think they’d still be good if I subbed the TBSP of fresh with a tsp of dried rosemary instead?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Bekki, yes you can do that, just crush the dried rosemary between your fingers so it breaks up.
Peg says
I'd like to make this for a neighborhood potluck. Is there a way to partially bake these before taking to the dinner and then just pop in the host's oven at the last minute to "reheat" them? If that doesn't seem ideal, I'll see if I can borrow a corner of the host oven for the full 15-20 minute timeframe. Thanks in advance for the help!
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Peg, yes you could definitely partially bake these. I'd probably do about 15-18 minutes at home and then do the last 5 minutes right before dinner. Enjoy!
peg says
Thanks so much, Chris. I think I'll try this approach in a "test dose" before the event. I'll let you know how it goes!
Marilyn says
Amazing! Thank you!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, Marilyn!
Benita says
I noticed the toothpicks were not in the final presentation pictures. Will the bundles hold together, after baking, if the toothpicks are removed?
Chris Scheuer says
Good question Benita! Yes, they definitely hold together well. I will add that to the recipe, thanks!
Susan says
I love buying French green beans at Costco and I prepare them every which way. Yours are picture perfect and I love ideas that help get prep work done ahead of time. Whew! It was a whirlwind week through Thursday. Now, on to Christmas! 🙂
Patty says
The bacon wrapped green beans were not only delicious they looked beautiful too. I especially like that it was a dish I could prepare the day before. Popped them into the oven along with the rolls. A big hit for Thanksgiving. Will definitely be making these again. Thank you for another great recipe!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, Patty! So glad you enjoyed them!
Pat says
I don't have any rosemary, is there another seasoning that can substitute ?
Chris Scheuer says
Thyme would be delicious!
Alice says
Chris these are amazing! I made them for Thanksgiving and they were a big hit. It was so nice to have them done in advance. Keep up the great work. Love your recipes.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, Alice! I appreciate you taking the time to share your results. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Barb Bowen says
Did the bacon wrapped beans and sweet potatoes along with Ina Garten's lemon chicken thighs, FABULOUS!!
Luckily the haricots are on special..so bought more to do again. Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving. Up here in Canada we have had ours.. but am enjoying all the tasty recipes.
Chris...when are you going to write a cookbook?? My file with recipes from you is overflowing!! barb
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, Barb! I'm so happy you enjoyed them!
I would love to write a cookbook, it's just hard to find the time with everything else. I really appreciate your encouragement. Maybe life will slow down one of these days...
Kathleen says
Yes the bacon wrapped beans look awesome and will make for Christmas since T-giving veggie already planned! Do you think I could substitute thyme for the rosemary?
Thanks and Happy T-giving!
Chris Scheuer says
Thank you, Kathleen! And Happy Thanksgiving to you too! Yes, thyme would also be delicious.
Pat says
I don't have any rosemary, is there another seasoning that can substitute ?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Pat, try a little Italian seasoning, about 1 teaspoon.
Mary Ann | The Beach House Kitchen says
What a pretty side Chris! So perfect for both Thanksgiving and Christmas! And they sound just delicious!
Liz says
I adore these! But I haven't made them in years. All your tips will make my next batch the best ever!!! xo
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers says
These are so pretty! They'd look fabulous on a holiday plate. And bacon wrapped is always good 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving!
angiesrecipes says
They look so inviting and delicious! I love how you presented them too.
Tricia @ Saving Room for Dessert says
How pretty! I want to try these next time we have family dinner. We're having our Thanksgiving tomorrow so I've already got the plan well under way. But next time I'm making these - thanks Lindsay and Chris!
Holly Seymour says
Thank you for your inspiration! You have become my go-to site for ideas for Thanksgiving dinner. Your recipes are fantastic!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, Holly! Happy Thanksgiving!