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Roasted Green Beans with Garlic, Lemon, Pine Nuts & Parmesan

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Roasted green beans are a revelation, especially when tossed with chunks of garlic, lemon, pine nuts, and cheese.

Dish of roasted green beans with garlic, lemon, pine nuts, and parmesan.

While roasting is a popular cooking method for many vegetables, it’s not typically used for green beans – but it should be! Roasted green beans are truly a revelation. Unlike boiled green beans, which are bland and squeaky when you bite into them, roasted beans are tender, caramelized, slightly shriveled, and full of flavor. This version from Washington, DC chef Ris Lacoste, featured in Fine Cooking, is one of the best green bean, not to mention vegetable, dishes I’ve ever had. The beans are roasted with heaps of sliced garlic, which turn mellow and sweet, and finished with bright lemon juice and zest, nutty Parmigiano-Reggiano, and crunchy toasted pine nuts. This is a great dish for entertaining because it can be made ahead and served at room temperature.

What you’ll need to make roasted green beans with Garlic, Lemon, Pine Nuts & Parmesan

roasted green beans ingredients

To speed this recipe up, use pre-washed and trimmed beans in a bag; it’s a huge timesaver. For the cheese, be sure to use authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano. You can always tell if it’s authentic by looking at the rind, which is embossed with the “Parmigiano-Reggiano” repeatedly. If you’re buying the cheese already grated, make sure it is labeled “Parmigiano Reggiano,” rather than “Parmesan.”

Step-by-Step Instructions

To begin, in a small dry skillet over medium heat, toast the pine nuts until golden. Watch carefully and stir frequently as they can burn quickly (and they’re expensive).

toasting pine nuts in small skillet

Put the green beans in a large bowl. Add the sliced garlic, olive oil, 1 tablespoon of the lemon zest, kosher salt, pepper, and sugar.

green beans, olive oil, lemon zest, garlic, salt, pepper, and sugar in bowl

Toss well.

tossed green beans

Transfer the mixture to a prepared baking sheet. Don’t leave any flavor behind: use a rubber spatula to scrape all of the oil and seasoning out of the bowl and onto the beans.

green bean mixture on baking sheet

Roast the beans and garlic for 15 minutes. Stir with a spatula to promote even cooking, then continue roasting until the beans are tender throughout, about 10 minutes more. The beans should be fully cooked, with some lightly browned but not shriveled.

roasted green beans on baking sheetAdd the lemon juice, Parmigiano-Reggiano, remaining lemon zest, and pine nuts to the roasted green beans.

adding lemon zest, cheese, and pine nuts to the roasted green beans

Toss well, then taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

tossed roasted green beans on baking sheet

Transfer to a serving platter and serve hot or room temperature. Vegetables don’t get much better. Enjoy!

Roasted green beans in a serving dish.

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Roasted Green Beans with Garlic, Lemon, Pine Nuts & Parmesan

Roasted green beans are a revelation, especially when tossed with chunks of garlic, lemon, pine nuts, and cheese.

Servings: 6-8
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 25 Minutes
Total Time: 40 Minutes

Ingredients

  • ⅓ cup pine nuts
  • 2 pounds fresh green beans, stem ends trimmed
  • ¼ cup thinly sliced garlic, from 7 to 10 cloves, (a medium clove should yield 4 slices)
  • 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1½ tablespoons lemon zest
  • 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon sugar
  • 1½ tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 6 tablespoons coarsely shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano

Instructions

  1. Set an oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil.
  2. In a small dry skillet over medium heat, toast the pine nuts until golden. Watch carefully and stir frequently as they can burn quickly. Immediately transfer the nuts to a small bowl (don't leave them in hot pan as they will continue to cook). Set aside.
  3. Put the green beans in a large bowl. Add the sliced garlic, olive oil, 1 tablespoon of the lemon zest, kosher salt, pepper, and sugar; toss well. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking sheet (don’t leave any flavor behind: use a rubber spatula to scrape all of the oil and seasoning out of the bowl and onto the beans).
  4. Roast the beans and garlic for 15 minutes. Stir with a spatula to promote even cooking, then continue roasting until the beans are tender throughout, about 10 minutes more. The beans should be fully cooked, with some lightly browned but not overly shriveled.
  5. Add the lemon juice, Parmigiano-Reggiano, remaining ½ tablespoon lemon zest, and pine nuts to the beans and toss well. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and lemon juice if necessary. Transfer to a serving platter and serve hot or room temperature.

Nutrition Information

Powered by Edamam

  • Per serving (6 servings)
  • Calories: 264
  • Fat: 21 g
  • Saturated fat: 4 g
  • Carbohydrates: 14 g
  • Sugar: 6 g
  • Fiber: 5 g
  • Protein: 8 g
  • Sodium: 448 mg
  • Cholesterol: 6 mg

This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

Gluten-Free Adaptable Note

To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.

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Comments

  • Hi Jenn! I was planning to double your roasted green bean recipe using two cookie sheets. Can I roast all of green beans in the oven at the same time or do you think they will steam instead of roast?
    Thank you so much for sharing all of your fantastic recipes. I frequently reference your blog and your cookbook for new recipe ideas and I’m always impressed with how delicious everything turns out. Thank you for all of your hard work in creating such a beautiful blog and fantastic cookbook. Happy Holidays to you and your family!

    • Hi Michele, I think you could roast them all together on two baking sheets; they might just take a bit longer. So glad you like the recipes and happy holidays to you, too! 🙂

  • Hi Jenn cannot wait to make these! Everything I make by you is absolutely amazing! Would it be okay to use French haricot beets instead of green bean?

    • Hi Melissa, I don’t recommend haricots verts for this recipe – I think they’ll shrivel in the oven. Sorry!

  • Another a-maz-ing recipe, Jenn! Our DIL who hates to cook, loved them so much she asked for the recipe…now that’s an endorsement! Awesome hot or at room temp.

  • Jenn, these were out of control amazing! Paired them with baked sole filets and a simple arugula salad. OMG!!! My husband didn’t leave a crumb. Thank you!

    • — Maggy Makowski
    • Reply
  • This recipe has been a hit several times with my family, and today I served it cold as part of a birthday brunch. Even a non-green bean lover took seconds.

  • I made these for Thanksgiving. Not sure if it was the lemon or the roasting, but my guests could not stop eating them – like potato chips! I didn’t have pine nuts, so I used walnuts, perfect replacement. The aroma of the garlic was absolutely sinful and the lemon juice drizzle added the right spark to the dish. This is definitely a keeper. Thanks Jenn!

  • Hi Jen,
    Thank you for the recipe. Is it ok to use asparagus in place of beans?
    Thanks
    Cecile

    • Sure, Cecile – I think that sounds delicious.

  • Dear Jenn, I like to try this recipe tonight but have only a packet of frozen beans at home. Can I use frozen beans ?
    Thank you
    Evelyn Roth, Israel

    • Hi Evelyn, Unfortunately, frozen beans won’t work here. Sorry!

  • This is a great recipe! I served at a dinner party and it was a huge success! I reduced the amount of garlic to my taste, but the recipe itself was wonderful. I will be making this for Thanksgiving!

  • Absolutely love this recipe. Served it to company and they loved it. Delicious cold or hot. Thanks for another great recipe!

  • These green beans were very good. The only comment I would make is that I made this for a sit down dinner I planned for Mother’s Day and my adult son helped me put the green beans on each plate and although he tossed it before serving, sadly, the pine nuts kept going to the bottom as he was grabbing the beans with tongs to serve them only for me to find most of the pine nuts left in my baking dish. I can see this happening as well if I were to put the dish for people to serve themselves. Therefore, next time I think I will just sprinkle pine nuts on each plate after they have serve themselves to ensure each person gets a nice serving of them since they are so good. Great recipe otherwise.

    • If I’m roasting the beans in a convection oven, what temperature would you suggest?

      • — lori rothschild
      • Reply
      • Hi Lori, When using the convection setting, the rule of thumb is to reduce the temp by 25°F. Hope you enjoy!

  • This dish was PHENOMENAL! A huge hit all around at the dinner table last night and the PERFECT side dish for the bacon wrapped pork medallions. Your recipes never fail to delight!!

  • These are the best green beans that me and my husband have ever had! Thank you!

  • Jenn, My daughter in law is being baptized Sunday, and we are all going to meet at their house after church. She and I are preparing a cold lunch (ham, pot. salad. etc) after church, but I wondered would these green beans be ok served cold as a type of salad? Thanks for all your wonderful recipes.

    • — Laura Migliore
    • Reply
    • Yes definitely, Laura. They are delicious cold!

      • Thanks so much, I think I will serve them hot tomorrow night with salmon, and then make some for the cold salad on Sunday.

        • — Laura Migliore
        • Reply
  • I made this for a dinner party last night and everyone loved it. I served this as a side dish with cannelloni (which usually gets all the compliments when I serve it). But I have to say there was some cannelloni left over but the green beans were gone! Thanks for a great recipe

    • — Stefanie Capps
    • Reply
  • Going to make this as a side for Christmas Eve/Hanukkah dinner. How do you think this would turn out in my pressure cooker? Any recommendations for how long? Can’t wait to make this. Looks delish!

    • Hi Rachel, I don’t recommend making this dish in a pressure cooker – sorry!

      • Really appreciate your honesty and quick reply. I’ll prepare as directed. Can’t wait to taste! Thank you!

  • Jenn you are my “go to gal” for all of my recipes! I love your “Tested and Perfected” label. Most recipes can’t claim that. This is another recipe that shined at our Thanksgiving dinner! I made it for my husband’s request for green beans. I did make some adjustments because once again I was using what I already had and that was a 2 lb. package of French green beans from Costco that I had blanched and frozen. I steamed them just to thaw and dried them in a towel. The dish was made the day before Thanksgiving so that all I had to do was reheat it. It turned out most excellent! Thank you!

  • Made and brought this to Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone loved it! I was sad I didn’t have more leftovers.

  • This recipe looks amazing. I want to make it for Thanksgiving. Can I make it a day ahead ?

    Thanks
    Mina

    • Sure Mina that’s fine; you can just reheat them in the microwave when ready to serve.

  • Made these for dinner tonight, thinking I would have leftovers. They were fabulous and needless to say, no leftovers! Thankyou for sharing such a great recipe.

  • I made this tonight. In a word, fabulous! The sliced garlic, lemon zest, and Parmesan cheese lifts this dish head and shoulders above any other roasted green bean recipe I’ve tried. It’s going in the family recipe book. Thank you, Jenn!

  • I have a question about your very appealing green bean recipe with 10 cloves of sliced garlic in it. Do these masses of garlic pretty much permeate the house (neighbourhood?) when cooking? I’ve never used that many cloves and I’m curious as to just how powerful all that garlic is in a recipe.

    • Hi Louise, I would say yes, but it’s a good thing! Plus, there is a lot of olive oil in the recipe, which tones it down.

  • Hi Jen,

    I just tried your roasted green beans recipe last night. It was so delicious that I finished it off for breakfast this morning. My question is whether you can substitute other vegetables for the green beans. I’m supposed to bring a roasted vegetable dish to a baby shower, and I want to bring something with mixed vegetables. Thanks!

    • Hi Barbara, So glad you enjoyed it! I do think you could use different veggies (carrots, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower would all be good), but you’ll need to roast them separately as they all have different cooking times. Please let me know how it turns out!

  • This is a wonderful way (actually the best way) to serve green beans. Fancy and delicious. My whole family loved them.

  • I made These last night and am now obsessed with them. They were absolutely delicious and easy to make. My husband (not a huge fan of veggies) even loved them! I had to cook for less time than recommended as they were getting overcooked, but they were still fantastic. So just watch them carefully when roasting. Thanks so much!

  • I made these a day before Thanksgiving and reheated in the microwave for Thanksgiving (adding the toppings after reheating). The day I made them I would rate them 5 stars but they definitely lost a star after being reheated. I would make this recipe again but only if I could serve immediately.

  • Hi! Can these be made the day before and reheated in the oven for Thanksgiving? Or at least the morning of, and reheated? If so, what temp and how long? Thank you! Looking forward to making these soon.

    • Hi Kelly, Yes, these can definitely be made ahead. And, honestly, I would just reheat in the microwave.

  • Great great great recipe!!
    I’m making this for thanksgiving this year!! Very sophisticated side dish. Well done 🙂

  • Jen, my husband is soooo tired of my vegetable side dishes, always with garlic and oil. So I went to your list of vegetables and found this one! I read ALL of the
    reviews and then said”this is the one” I know my hubby and Kevin will love this and Ryan, well you know, he’ll eat anything!!!!! Say hello to your family!

  • Dear Jennifer! This comment is from a far away Helsinki, Finland! I got on your site a couple of month ago and I am absolutely in awe. I have already cooked a few dishes and they were fantastic! This one sounds amazing too! Now I am a regular visitor here 🙂 Your dishes are absolutely amazing and so is the website: stylish, beautiful, easy to use and full of love! Thank you so much for your work!

    • You’re welcome, Kira! Thank you for your sweet words, and so glad you’re enjoying the recipes!

  • This was so simple and so goo! (And had just that touch of something extraordinary that I was hoping for.) Great idea, thank you! This is a new staple in my kitchen. 🙂

  • When I made these I didn’t have pine nuts (they’re expensive!) but I used toasted walnuts instead. I also toasted in them in the oven so I could multi-task and they came out just as good. I love green beans and will be sending this recipe to my mom next time she has a dinner party. Thanks, Jenn!

  • Can you roast the beans ahead of time?

  • This sounds delicious – I’m always looking for new vegetable dishes.

  • This recipe was my first “Once Upon a Chef” endeavor and I’ve been a fan ever since. I’ve made these beans several times and my family loves it. Very flavorful!

  • While I made these a while back (for Thanksgiving dinner), I haven’t forgotten how much I enjoyed them! I don’t really like green beans (other than from the chinese buffet), but these I could easily add into my regular rotation.

  • This is my family’s favorite green bean recipe. I have lost out of how many times I’ve made it. Delicious!

  • I made this recipe with the addition of some crumbled bacon…it was fantastic! The flavors marry perfectly together!

  • These are SO good! Can’t wait to make them again.

  • Just made this with dinner and it was spectacular. Hubby said he onlywants green beans this way from now on 🙂

  • I love this recipe and blog…I posted it on my community foodie blog. Hope you can come check it out http://www.facebook.com/thefrenchiefoodie

    Also, feel free to post you’re recipes or you’re favourite foodie tips on it whenever you like!

    C

  • Made this for Thanksgiving and it was a total SUCCESS. Absolutely DELICIOUS… it will now be a regular dish in my house. Thanks!!!

  • We made this for Thanksgiving and it was absolutely delicious!

  • Was an absolute HIT for Thanksgiving with an Italian fam. So good I’m making it again tonight!

  • This might be the perfect green beab recipe!

  • Hmmmm…. It’s so easy to make and very delicious, I will defiantly it..

  • These beans are delicious! Definitely a keeper. Thanks!!

  • Hello Thanksgiving side dish! 🙂

  • I just brought some pine nuts back from my trip to Santa Fe – I’m anxious to try the “American” variety 🙂

  • sounds delicious! i am enamored by pine nuts. i also have a tendency to add red pepper flakes to everything. do you think that spicing it up a teeny bit would detract from the roasted flavor of the green beans?

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