• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Metemgee
  • Althea Brown — A Look at the Woman Behind Metemgee
  • Recipes
  • Shop
  • Contact Me
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Althea Brown — A Look at the Woman Behind Metemgee
  • Recipes
  • Shop
  • Contact Me
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Althea Brown — A Look at the Woman Behind Metemgee
    • Recipes
    • Shop
    • Contact Me
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×

    "Home" » Vegetarian

    Brown Sugar Green Beans

    Published: Nov 13, 2017 · Modified: May 12, 2022 by Althea Brown · This post may contain affiliate links · 3 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    I love vegetables and try to have a vegetable side with every meal. During the holidays it is sometimes very hard to include a vegetable side with all of the rich and decadent foods, but I've learnt that if you keep your vegetables simple but tasty it lessens it becomes a little easier to include them. These Brown Sugar Green Beans are simple but loaded with flavor. I make these green beans for every holiday gathering because they require minimum effort to make and can be prepped ahead of time. I've made them with peppers, without peppers, with julienne carrots or julienned zucchini and with julienned yellow squash. Feel free to mix it up!

    To make this simple dish, I start by blanching my green beans. I added about a pound of green beans to a pot of salted boiling water and cooked them for about 3 minutes.



    Then I transfered the green beans to a bowl of ice and water and let it cool. This step is important to stop the beans from cooking and help them to retain some of their crunchiness. Try this is you prefer crunchy green beans versus mushy green beans.


    Next, I added some olive oil to a deep pot or stir fry pan on medium heat. In the picture above I am using a cast iron dutch oven. I use it for almost everything I cook, I highly recommend getting one.

    When the oil is hot, I added the brown sugar and garlic. I let the brown sugar and garlic cook in the oil for about a minute or so. I am not trying to make "burn sugar" the way Guyanese do for stews, but I am making a light caramel that still retains some of its sweetness.





    For the next step I added the julienned red and yellow bell peppers. You can choose any color bell pepper but I like this combination because it makes the dish very colorful and festive and has a very Caribbean feel.

    I added the blanched green beans and a bit of salt immediately after adding the peppers and I sautéd the veggies for about 5 minutes. I constantly tossed the veggies to ensure even cooking.




    As a final step I added about a teaspoon of garlic powder. The garlic powder coats the veggies and adds a nice contrast of flavor to the sweetness of the brown sugar. I do have to say that it makes the beans look a bit fuzzy and dirty, so if you're a purist and don't want garlic powder over your beans, feel free to leave it out. But look at how beautiful these beans look! They are still crisp, with a big garlic flavor and sweetness from the brown sugar.




    Printable Recipe Card

    Brown Sugar Green Beans

    Althea Brown
    Green beans sautéed in garlic and brown sugar.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 5 minutes mins
    Cook Time 15 minutes mins
    Total Time 20 minutes mins
    Course Vegetable Side Dish
    Cuisine American
    Servings 6

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 lb green beans
    • 2 Bell peppers 1 red and 1 yellow julienned
    • 3 cloves of garlic sliced
    • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 2 tablespoons olive oil
    • 2 tablespoons brown sugar

    Instructions
     

    • Blanch green beans: Bring enough water to cover the green beans to a boil, in a large pot.
    • Add ½ teaspoon of salt to the water.
    • Then add the green beans and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.
    • Next, transfer the green beans to a bowl with ice and water after 5 minutes.
    • Warm the olive oil in a large sauté pan on medium heat.
    • Add brown sugar and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes or until brown sugar starts to caramelize.
    • Add julienned bell peppers, followed by the green beans (drain iced water from green beans before adding).
    • Add ½ teaspoon of salt and the garlic powder.
    • Sauté for about 3 to 5 minutes, constantly stirring to ensure even cooking.
    • Remove from the heat and serve hot.
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

     

    More Vegetarian

    • gluten free doubles on brown parchment paper.
      Gluten Free Doubles
    • A small mason jar filled with burnt sugar (browning)with a brown twine around the mouth of the jar.
      Caribbean Burnt Sugar (Browning)
    • Sago Porridge
    • callaloo cook up rice in blue bowl
      Callaloo Cauliflower Cook-Up Rice

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. natalia says

      January 12, 2021 at 2:28 pm

      I used to think green beans was such a boring dish! You have added so much flavor to this recipe and I love it! Thank you!!!

      Reply
      • Althea Brown says

        January 12, 2021 at 5:00 pm

        Thank you

        Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. 2languor says:
      January 12, 2022 at 5:04 pm

      2measurable

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Hi, I'm Althea! I have a real passion for cooking, especially traditional Caribbean recipes with deep roots! I was born and raised in Georgetown, Guyana and now live in Denver, Colorado with my husband and 3 kids. I am a Whole30 Certified Coach and love sharing wholesome remixes to traditional Guyanese and Caribbean dishes.

    More about me →

    New Recipes

    • How to break down a whole chicken over cut up chicken
      How to Break Down a Whole Chicken
    • plated gluten free Guyanese pholourie with dipping sauce
      Gluten Free Guyanese Pholourie
    • Malasadas (Guyanese Pancakes)
    • Non-alcoholic Guyanese Black Cake

    Wholesome Faves

    • Boneless Brown Stew Chicken
    • Dhal in a wooden bowl with a red wiri wiri pepper floating on top
      Instant Pot Dhal {Whole30}
    • Gluten Free and Grain Free Guyanese Roti (Paleo)
    • parasad, pomegranate and dragon fruit on a gray plate
      Guyanese Parsad

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Meet Althea
    • Privacy Policy
    • Recipes

    Newsletter

    • Sign up to stay connected!

    Contact

    • Get In Touch

    Copyright © 2022 Metemgee, LLC