Vegetarian Southern Green Beans and New Potatoes
Green Beans and New Potatoes are a classic, easy side or main dish that consists of 4 ingredients. Fresh green beans, new potatoes, butter, and some salt. This southern dish is vegetarian (without fat meat or bacon) and comforting. Great any time of the year but even better with fresh garden beans and potatoes. This recipe makes 6 to 8 servings.
This is one of the best summer meals. Fresh green beans and potatoes in a flavorful broth. New potatoes are baby potatoes that haven’t developed a thick skin yet so they’re made with the skins on and they are super tender when done right. They can be just about any variety– I recommend Yukons but red potatoes are good, too.
This Green Bean and Potato recipe is:
- Simple and delicious (no fancy ingredients needed to make this classic!)
- Healthy (158 calories for 1 serving)
- Comforting– hearty and perfect year-round
- Easy! Put the pot on then cook about an hour, stirring occasionally
- Great for meal planning- the leftovers are amazing!
This recipe is vegetarian because it uses butter as the fat. Southern style green beans and potatoes typically use fatback or bacon but my grandparents always used butter (in place of the fat meat) so that’s what I do. The butter makes the potatoes SO GOOD and it flavors the water perfectly. This dish is the perfect and easy comfort food. Fresh veggies in a buttery broth– win!
To make vegan green beans and potatoes: try a quality vegan butter such as Miyoko’s with salt. It’s a great substitute in homestyle cooking.
Vegetarian Southern Green Beans and New Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 lbs fresh green beans
- 1½ lbs new potatoes baby Yukons or similar
- 6 Tbsp butter
- water, enough to cover veggies ~7-8 cups
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- Wash green beans and trim ends. Snap or cut into 2 inch pieces. Wash potatoes and cut in half.
- Add veggies to a large pot and add enough water to submerge veggies by 1-2 inches. Add in butter and salt liberally.
- Turn heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are fork tender and green beans are soft and no longer bright–about 1 hour.
- Remove pot from heat and let stand 5-10 minutes before serving. Do not drain. Serve with a little of the broth, salt and some pepper, if desired.
- Keep leftovers refrigerated and enjoy within 4 days.
Notes
- Potatoes should be tender but not mashed. Some potatoes may begin to fall apart.
- Don’t be shy with the salt! Add a good bit before cooking then add during cooking, if needed.
Nutrition
I’ll be adding more classics on here in the future 🙂 I’ve always bonded with my grandparents over recipes but talking to them lately has been really comforting. I miss our Sunday dinners so I’m trying to fix some of that here for me and Andrew. Some recipes seem so simple and like everyone just *knows* them that maybe they aren’t even ‘recipes’ but I want to keep some of our traditions going. I’m not afraid to admit I have to call Grandma sometimes for the basics 🙂
I also just need to shoutout to Grandma Ree for wanting to help me find the best vegetarian and vegan way to make some southern classics 🙂 She’s a gem who I love dearly!
Hope y’all have a great week! If you’re not already following me on Instagram–come join me! (@thedachshundmom)
-Emma