Green Beans Amandine with Brown Butter
Inspired by techniques from America's Test Kitchen and Serious Eats.
Almonds toasted and browned in butter with lemon, then tossed with green beans steam-cooked in the same pan.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
- 1
Toast the almonds. Put the almonds in the dry frying pan over medium-low heat and stir often for about 6 min, until just golden. Toasting first gives them a head start so they finish evenly in the butter.
- 2
Brown the butter. Add the butter and stir constantly for about 3 min, until it smells nutty and has turned golden brown with toasty specks. Pour the almonds and butter into the bowl and stir in the lemon juice, which stops the browning and sharpens the flavour.
- 3
Cook the beans. Put the beans, water and salt in the same pan, cover and cook 8-10 min, stirring now and then, until nearly tender. Remove the lid, turn the heat to medium-high and cook 3-5 min more until the water has gone, so the beans are dry enough to hold the butter.
- 4
Toss and serve. Off the heat, tip the almond butter over the beans and toss well. Serve with a lemon wedge.
Storage
Best served fresh. Refrigerate covered up to 3 days and reheat in a frying pan until piping hot (74 °C); the almonds soften on keeping. Cool leftovers in a shallow container and refrigerate within 2 hours (within 1 hour on a day above 32°C).
EU nutrition claims
- Low sugars: 3.6 g sugars per 100 g (limit ≤ 5 g)
- Source of fibre: 2.7 g fibre per 100 kcal (needs ≥ 1.5 g)
Per 100 g of the finished dish, worked out from the nutrition per serving and the lowest likely cooked weight (about 112 g a serving), so the true values are, if anything, lower. Thresholds from the Annex to EU Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. How we decide
Free sugars
0 g per serving
0 % of the 50 g daily maximum · 0 % of the ideal 25 g
Free sugars under 50 g a day, ideally about 25 g, based on WHO free-sugar guidance (not endorsed by WHO). The share shown is the share of one serving. WHO
Equipment
- 30 cm frying pan with lid
- heatproof spatula
- small bowl
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 150 kcal |
| Protein | 3.7 g |
| Carbohydrate | 9.5 g |
| of which sugars | 4 g |
| of which free sugars | 0 g |
| Fat | 12.1 g |
| of which saturates | 5.5 g |
| Fibre | 4 g |
| Salt | 0.75 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
2.5 g High Protein needs ≥ 5 g (20% of energy)
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
