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Instant Pot Green Beans with Potatoes and Bacon is a Southern comfort food from my youth! These delicious pressure cooker green beans with new potatoes, onion, and bacon are perfect for an easy, fast, tasty meal.
Instant Pot Green Beans with Potatoes and Bacon
I’m bringing you another one of my grandpa’s recipes! He didn’t have a lot of recipes, but the ones he had were very good. When the house smells like green beans and bacon, I’m right back at Nana and Grandpa’s house.
One thing to know about Southern green beans is that they are not crisp when they are finished cooking! They cook with the bacon and potatoes in broth, and they come out soft. Not mush, but nice and soft.
Of course, Grandpa didn’t have an Instant Pot! He made his in a dutch oven on the stove top. My version of his recipe is for the electric pressure cooker.
Here’s how to make Instant Pot Green Beans with Potatoes and Bacon:
The bacon in this recipe is not intended to be crisp. Grandpa told me so. It wouldn’t stay crisp after pressure cooking anyway, and it is just so good this way! I wouldn’t change a thing!
NOTES for Green Beans, Potatoes and Bacon in the Instant Pot:
– Use fresh green beans.
– You can swap out ham shanks, or diced ham, or ham hocks if you like, though that will change the flavor.
– If you want more of a smoky flavor with this recipe, add a teaspoon of liquid smoke. It’s not how I eat Green Beans, Potatoes and Bacon, but you may like that option.
– The beans are supposed to be soft, but not mushy.
One of the things I like most about Green Beans with Potatoes and Bacon is the simplicity of the recipe. Nothing fancy or hard to find. I would love to sit with my grandpa again and enjoy a bowl of this together.
Here are some morte great Instant Pot recipes:
Instant Pot Mississippi Pot Roast
Instant Pot Collard Greens
Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas
Instant Pot Cornbread Stuffing
Instant Pot Country Style Ribs
Instant Pot Green Beans with Potatoes and Bacon
Equipment
- 6-quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 - 1 ½ lbs Fresh Green Beans, ends trimmed, cut in half
- 1 ½ lbs New Potatoes (red or white. Leave very small ones whole, cut in half or quarter larger ones)
- ⅔ lb Thick Sliced Bacon, chopped
- 1 Sweet Onion, (Vidalia or Walla Walla) cut in half and sliced
- 2 cloves Garlic, minced
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Pepper
- 1 14.5 oz can Chicken Broth, low sodium
Instructions
- Prepare the green beans by cutting off the ends and cutting the beans in half. Set aside.
- If the potatoes are pretty small, leave them whole. If they are larger, either quarter or cut them in half. Set aside.
- Turn on the Sauté feature of your pot. Add the chopped bacon and the sliced onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions soften and bacon is looking mostly done.
- Add the garlic and cook for a minute, stirring.
- Add the salt, pepper, chicken broth, and stir, scraping the bottom of the pot to get up any browned bits (deglaze).
- Add the potatoes and green beans. Stir.
- Place the lid on and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
- Turn off the Sauté setting, then press the Pressure Cook/Manual button or dial. Then use the + or - button or dial to select 5 minutes. The pot will take a few minutes to come to pressure.
- When the cook time is finished, do a Quick Release of the pressure by turning the steam release knob to the Venting position.Watch it as once in a while the broth may spew out with the steam. If this happens, turn the knob back to Sealing (use a spoon handle). Then release the steam in bursts until you are sure only steam will be coming out.
- Serve with some of the "pot likker" (liquid from the pot) so you can enjoy all of that flavor. Corn bread is very good to sop up that likker with!
Notes
- Use fresh green beans
- You can swap out ham shanks, or diced ham, or ham hocks if you like, though that will change the flavor.
- If you want more of a smokey flavor with this recipe, add a teaspoon of liquid smoke. It's not how I eat them, but you may like that option.
- The green beans are supposed to be very soft, but not mushy
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Just like my southern mom and grandmother used to make, only quicker! This dish is really delicious the next day, after the flavors have had time to meld. It’s worth making ahead. Personally, I think about 10 oz of broth results in more concentrated flavor and still produces plenty of pot likker. I used less bacon and a little more salt, plus 1/4 tsp smoked paprika and a healthy pinch of red pepper.
I needed a quick side dish b4 running to a meeting. This worked for the two of us and I only had a small amount of the ingredients. I threw all of them in my 3qt Instant Pot and it was delicious!
Going shopping to make it again this week! Ty
I used frozen beans ……… most beans we get fresh are stringy and tough or woody. I did saute the bacon, onion and garlic along with some chicken base from the jar. This does really pack it with flavor. I boiled the beans in a separate pot so they didn’t get over cooked and then I combined them. This has been a favorite for a long time and of course our parents showed us this dish way back when.
Thanks for sharing