Instant Pot Green Beans

Need a quick and easy side dish that goes well with any meal? You will love this recipe for Instant Pot Green Beans recipe!

When you have a dinner that has a main course that takes some prep time, you NEED a side dish that’s quick, easy, and no fuss. That’s exactly what this easy recipe gives you.

Green Beans are a pretty easy side dish no matter how you prepare them (Garlic Butter Green Beans with Toasted Almonds is a favorite around here) but the Instant Pot brings easy to the next level. You’ll have these on the dinner table in no time and everyone will love them!

This green beans recipe can also serve as a quick snack or as a simple side dish to hearty holiday meals–lots of options here! Of course, it’s perfect with weeknight dinners like mozzarella-stuffed chicken and pan-fried salmon.

Let’s get to the recipe for a flavorful side dish: Delicious green beans!

Recipe Ingredients–What You Need

For this instant pot green beans recipe, we need only 6 basic ingredients, including salt and water. The rest of the ingredients are simple pantry staples readily available in your kitchen.

Green Beans

The main ingredient for this easy side dish is 12 ounces of whole green beans. Make sure to wash and trim the ends of the green beans.

Green beans are low-calorie and contain many health benefits. For instance, they have antioxidant properties and contain vitamin C and flavonols that help reduce cell damage and lower the risk of several health risks. Moreover, green beans are highly beneficial during pregnancy, as 2 pounds of fresh green beans have ⅓ of the folate we need daily. Eat up!

The best green beans for this recipe are raw string beans; you cannot used canned green beans as they are already cooked.

Water 

We need 1½ cup water to steam the green beans in. However, if you’d like to add some extra flavor to this healthy vegetable side dish, you can use 1 cup chicken broth or chicken stock instead of plain water.

Olive Oil

Once the green beans are ready, we need to add some seasonings. We will start by drizzling 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil on top of it. However, you can also use melted butter. Don’t skip them both, though, as that added fat is great for flavor and satiety.

Olive oil is great for salads and side dishes, as it contains monosaturated fats and antioxidants. Plus, it has anti-inflammatory properties and helps prevent strokes.

Lemon Juice

We will also drizzle 1 teaspoon of lemon juice on this green bean side dish. Lemon juice is rich in vitamins B6 and C and potassium, which help reduce blood pressure, lower the risk of heart diseases, aid in weight loss, and prevent kidney stones. It also adds bright flavor to our green beans.

Salt

We will add ¼ teaspoon of salt to these green beans to enhance the flavor of all the other ingredients.

You can also throw in a dash of black pepper and garlic powder for added taste.

Lemon Zest

And lastly, we will sprinkle some lemon zest on the easy instant pot green beans to give the final dish a tangy flavor and enhance the brightness.

How to Make Instant Pot Green Beans

Here are the steps to make the perfect instant pot green beans:

Step 1

Place the trimmed green beans in a steamer basket. Add the water to the inner pot of the Instant Pot, then place the steamer basket on top of a trivet in the inner pot.

Step 2

Press the manual button or pressure cook button and adjust the timer to 0 minutes*.

Step 3

When the timer beeps, do a quick release to release the pressure until the float valve drops, then unlock the lid.

Step 4

Carefully remove the steamer basket from the inner pot and transfer the green beans to a bowl. Drizzle them with olive oil or melted butter, lemon juice, and salt and gently toss to coat. Top with lemon zest and serve. Enjoy!

Note: Setting the cook time to 0 minutes will yield crisp tender (perfect, in my opinion) green beans. If you’d like them very soft, you can set the timer to 1 minute.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here are some common queries to help you make the perfect instant pot green beans!

Q. What are some seasoning options for the instant pot green beans recipe?

I seasoned my instant pot green beans with olive oil, salt, lemon juice, and lemon zest. However, you can also add parmesan cheese, crushed red pepper flakes, and minced garlic.

Q. What goes well with green beans?

Instant pot bacon green beans serve as an excellent side with main dishes like pork chops, grilled chicken, Baked Bone In Chicken Breasts, or Italian Baked Chicken Breasts.

Other side dishes to complete the meal include Perfect Rice Pilaf with Vegetables, Honey Roasted Carrots and Parsnips, or Apple Cucumber Salad.

Q. How to store instant pot green beans?

You can store leftover instant pot green beans in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

If you have a lot of green beans, check out this post with 21+ Interesting Green Bean recipes for ways to use them!

If you make this Instant Pot Green Beans recipe or any of my other healthy recipes, I’d love to know about it! Please give the recipes a star rating as it helps other readers who are interested in trying it know it’s a tried and true recipe. Share your pics on  Instagram and Facebook and I’ll feature you!

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