Lemon Green Beans

Lemon Green Beans have lemon juice and lemon zest, and these flavorful beans are a favorite green bean recipe that I’ve made many times. And the tasty green beans with lots of lemon flavor are a quick and easy low-carb side dish that’s delicious enough for a special meal!

PIN Lemon Green Beans to try them later!

I highly recommend you try this recipe for Lemon Green Beans, especially if you’re someone who likes those lovely thin green beans you can get almost all year at Costco! And this is a recipe for green beans that literally takes minutes to get on the table, and it’s special enough to make for a holiday meal!

Please trust me when I say this recipe is ridiculously easy but so, so good! In fact, the first time I made the Lemon Green Beans, I ended up eating a whole pound of green beans myself and calling it lunch! And through the years I’ve made these beans often when I need a special side dish for guests, and I think they would be perfect for Thanksgiving too.

Beloved recipes like this one that I’ve made over and over are the ones I love to spotlight for my Friday Favorites posts, so today I’m reminding you about this favorite way to cook green beans and urging you to make some Lemon Green Beans soon!

What ingredients do you need?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)

• salt
• fresh green beans
• lemon for lemon zest and lemon juice
• Olive Oil (affiliate link)
• salt and black pepper

Can you make the Lemon Green Beans with thicker green beans?

If you have green beans that seem a lot thicker than the ones in my photos, I’d just increase the cooking time for about a minute.

Can you make Lemon Green Beans without a lemon zester or squeezer?

Using a fresh lemon is one thing that makes this recipe so good! But if you don’t have a lemon zester (affiliate link) or a lemon juice squeezer (affiliate link) like you see in my pictures, you can zest the lemon with the fine side of a cheese grater and just squeeze the lemon by hand.

How low in carbs are the green beans with lemon?

The delightfully lemon flavored green beans have only 5.2 net carbs per serving!

How to Make Lemon Green Beans:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. Trim both ends of the beans. I take a handful of beans, stand them up in my hand, then let them fall down on to the cutting board to line up the ends.
2. Bring salt and water to boil in a wide saucepan, then cook beans for about 5 minutes, or until barely tender-crisp.
3. While beans cook, zest and squeeze the juice of one lemon. (I used all the juice, but I like things really lemony.)
4. Drain beans in a colander placed in the sink.
5. Heat the olive oil in the same pan you cooked the beans in, then add the beans and cook about 1 minutes.
6. Pour over the lemon juice, season with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and cook about 1 minute more (just long enough to get the beans infused with lemon flavor.)
7. Put beans on a serving dish and sprinkle with lemon zest.
8. Serve Lemon Green Beans hot, and wait for compliments!

Make it for a low-carb meal:

Even though I think these green beans are great for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, I would make this for a special meal any time of year. Here are some low-carb main dishes that would be great with the beans:

Want more low-carb vegetable side dishes ideas for special dinners?

You can use Green Beans to find more recipes like this one. Or check out Keto Vegetable Recipes for Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipes (Low-Carb and Gluten-Free) for lots more tasty ideas with Green Beans.