Braised Green Beans and Potatoes

Name: Braised Green Beans and Potatoes
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: southern
Ingredients: 1 smoked ham hock or turkey leg (see Tip); 1 medium onion, chopped; 5 garlic cloves, smashed; 2 quarts chicken stock, plus more as needed; 1 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt, plus more to taste; 1/2 teaspoon paprika; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; 1/4 teaspoon onion powder; 1 fresh or dried bay leaf; 2 pounds green beans, trimmed and snapped in half; 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch cubes

Recipe from Scotty Scott

Adapted by Eric Kim

Updated Oct. 18, 2023

Braised Green Beans and Potatoes — Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Sophia Pappas.

Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Rating: 4(275)
Comments: Read comments

In this simple but powerful recipe, fresh green beans are the alpha and the omega, the bean and the broth. You know a recipe is going to be good when it calls for both onion powder and garlic powder in addition to fresh onion and fresh garlic. The muskier dried versions of these alliums aren’t redundant; they lend fortification to the savory structure that only onion and garlic can build. The potatoes, simmered until soft and fuzzy at the edges, make this holiday side dish — served, please, with a slotted spoon, as part of a buffet plate — feel more like a complete meal when enjoyed later, as leftovers. The ham hock (or smoked turkey leg) isn’t just an afterthought, said Scotty Scott, this recipe’s author and the author of “Fix Me a Plate.” Picked off the bone and chunked into a bowl with the green beans and their rich broth, the meat is a reminder of the soft but important boundary between special and ordinary. —Eric Kim

Featured in: This Southern Staple Is Pure Gold

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings

1smoked ham hock or turkey leg (see Tip)
1medium onion, chopped
5garlic cloves, smashed
2quarts chicken stock, plus more as needed
1½teaspoons seasoned salt, plus more to taste
½teaspoon paprika
½teaspoon garlic powder
¼teaspoon onion powder
1fresh or dried bay leaf
2pounds green beans, trimmed and snapped in half
2medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch cubes

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
In a large pot, add the ham hock, onion, garlic, chicken stock, seasoned salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and bay leaf. Bring to a boil over high heat.
Step 2
Place the beans in the pot, partly cover it and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer the beans, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 40 minutes to 1 hour. (They will continue to cook with the potatoes.) If the beans are exposed, add more stock to the pot to keep them covered.
Step 3
Add the potatoes, partly cover the pot again and simmer until cooked through, about 30 more minutes. The beans should be tender but still hold their shape.
Step 4
Before serving, remove the bay leaf. If desired, remove the ham hock as well, pick off the meat and add the meat back to the pot. Use a slotted spoon to serve the beans as a side dish on a plate or enjoy reheated leftovers in a bowl with the broth.

Tip

Other smoked meat products, like turkey wings or a leftover hambone, work in a pinch, but just note that there will be less meat to pick off and enjoy with the beans.

Ratings

4 out of 5

275 user ratings

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Comments

lisa1 year ago

I grew up Pennsylvania Dutch and Ham and String Beans was a favorite dinner dish during bean season, typically the summer months. We used both green beans and wax beans, fresh from the garden or farmers market. This recipe omitted my favorite ingredient, vinegar! Ham and beans was always served with apple cider vinegar on the table to add to your bowl. Heaven! And, in true PA Dutch tradition, lots of bread and butter to sop up the broth.

jody1 year ago

Hallelujah! Crisp green beans provide none of the richness that beans and potatoes cooked together in the briny broth give you. I do not want to hear my beans squeak! More squeak, less flavor.

Jamie Ballenger1 year ago

This is very much like the beans and potatoes my granny, ( Alabama girl, Coal Valley), use to fix on Sundays and holidays. Left overs with 'pot liquor' ladled over left over cornbread. I miss you, granny! Pax, jb

Kathleen5 months ago

My mother was from Whatley Alabama and we grew up having this served for big Sunday dinners and Holidays. Wonderful to see it actually printed in as a Recipe. Feels legitimate!!!!

Elle7 months ago

Oh so good. Even without the ham hock. Simple, easy. Lovely to have green beans that are actually edible.

Marissa8 months ago

Much honor to this dish - I was inspired and made some concessions. Instead of using hocks, I had a ten pound ham shank (cured) that I bought on sale after Easter this past spring. I roasted it, saved most of the abundant meat and the bone. After roasting the ham shank, I added the liquid from the roasting pan to a broad enameled cast iron Dutch oven - a few thick slices of ham, fingerling potatoes and about 3 pounds of green beans. One small white onion added along with the potatoes and beans. Water to get it all submerged. Pepper. The ham was salty enough. The final dish was incredible. I’m from Boston - Italian heritage - but I was so inspired by all of the Southern family nostalgia that surrounded this recipe. And it did not disappoint. I’ll make cornbread tomorrow for the leftovers.

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