Quick Look at these Traeger Smoked Green Beans
- Ready In: 1 hour and 15 minutes
- Smoke Time: 1 hour
- Serves: 6
- Main Ingredients: fresh green beans, olive oil, and kosher salt.
- Dietary Info: Whole30, Paleo, Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Vegetarian, Plant-Based
- Best For: serving this side dish with a smoked main dish, like our smoked spatchcock chicken!
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Why You’ll Love This Super Easy Side Dish
- So simple – only 3 ingredients!
- A great addition to any meal that is already being made on the smoker.
- Blanching the green beans first keeps the perfect texture.
- So many options to dress them up – garlic, lemon, red pepper flakes, etc.
Key Ingredients + Substitutions
Be sure to see the recipe card below for a full listing of ingredients, instructions, and estimated nutritional information.
- Green Beans – fresh only please and make sure they are clean with the stems trimmed off.
- Olive Oil – swap out for avocado oil or any other neutral oil.
- Kosher Salt – the simple seasoning that’s always a must, but feel free to add any other flavors you want!
How To Smoke Green Beans
Step 1 – Place beans in a pot of boiling water for 2-3 minutes.
Step 2 – Immediately transfer beans to an ice bath to cool.
Pro Tip – Blanch the Green Beans!
Blanching the green beans means that you start the cooking process in boil water and then transfer to an ice bath to stop the cooking. This gives them a head start before going on the smoker. If they are not blanched first, they will be on the smoker too long and will lose their crisp texture.
Step 3 – Dry the blanched beans with a paper towel.
Step 4 – Put beans in a large aluminum foil boat, drizzle with oil, season with salt, and add butter (if using)
Step 5 – Smoke for 30-60 minutes or to your desired crispness.
Step 6 – Remove from smoker and serve!
Best Ways To Serve Smoked Green Beans
This quick and easy side dish is perfect for completing a meal that is already being cooked on the smoker. They are a great addition to our smoked meatloaf recipe, smoked pork tenderloin, or a smoked beer can chicken!
Pellet Smoked Green Bean Variations
Keep this side dish recipe super simple or add some other flavors, like cooked bacon bits, lemon zest, minced garlic, butter, or red pepper flakes for a little kick!
Smoked Green Beans FAQs
Hickory or pecan wood chips would compliment the green beans really well.
At 225 degrees F, you will want to smoke the blanched green beans for approximately 30-60 minutes (depending upon how soft you like your green beans). You can also increase the blanching time to get them softer with a shorter smoke time, but that may decrease the amount of smokey flavor.
They may have been too crowded or the temperature of the smoker got a little too high. Be sure to spread them out in an even layer and keep the temp at 225 degrees F. That is the ideal temperature for smoking most foods.
Other Simple Smoked Recipes You Might Like
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Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh green beans
- 1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, sub avocado oil
- 1-2 teaspoons kosher salt, more to taste
Optional Additions:
- 1 tablespoon butter, sub ghee or plant-based butter
- 2-3 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Prep: Set smoker temperature to 225℉. Trim 1 pound fresh green beans, as necessary, and set aside.
- Blanch Beans: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and have an ice bath ready. When water is boiling, add green beans and set timer for 2-3 minutes (the longer you blanch, the softer your green beans will be). Remove and immediately transfer to an ice bath. Let soak in the ice bath until cooled through.
- Season Beans: Prepare a grill basket or use a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil to create a tray; if using foil I recommend spraying with a non-stick cooking spray to prevent sticking. Pat green beans dry with a paper towel and then place in the basket in an even layer. Drizzle green beans with 1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle generously with 1-2 teaspoons kosher salt. Toss to coat. (optional: add some ground black pepper, garlic, lemon zest and/or 1-2 tabs of butter or ghee).
- Smoke: Place basket of prepared green beans on the smoker and close the lid. Let smoke for 30-60 minutes or until they have reached your desired doneness.*
- Serve: Remove and toss the green bean mixture in the melted butter with a pair of tongs. Enjoy!
Notes
- Blanching Green Beans: yes, this is necessary! We tested without blanching and found that by the time the green beans were done, they were so shriveled they were almost inedible. Blanching first works helps to maintain the perfect crisp texture!
- Smoke Time: the ultimate smoke time will depend upon a variety of factors including humidity, outdoor temp, hot spots on your smoker, etc. It will also depend upon how soft you like your beans.
- Cooked but a little crisp: blanch for 2 minutes and smoke for 30 minutes or so.
- In the middle: Blanch for 2 1/2 minutes and smoke for about 45 minutes.
- Softer: I would recommend blanching for 3 minutes and smoking for 45-60 minutes. The green beans may start to get a bit wrinkly with this method.
- Check along they way: given the nature of smoking, I would check their crispness along the way using these timelines as your guideline!
- Variations: feel free to add in some sliced onions, bacon or even some shredded parmesan cheese! So many different ways you can go with this base recipe.
- Pellet + Wood Chips: I would recommend hickory or pecan for this recipe, but you really can’t go wrong!
Bridget says
These were so yummy and super easy!
Erin says
Simple and delicious!