Roasted Green Beans With Almond Breadcrumbs

5 from 2 votes

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If you’re looking for an easy side dish, you have to try these roasted green beans. Tossed in a crunchy mix of toasted breadcrumbs, almonds and sunflower seeds, they have lots of fresh flavors with lemon and crumbled feta. This recipe might even have you skip the green bean casserole and do some roasting instead.

Roasted Green Beans with Almond Breadcrumbs

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Roasting is one of the best and most reliable ways to cook green beans. You can boil them, sauté them or steam them for a healthy side. With any of these methods, it’s very important not to overcook them. That’s because you want the green beans to keep some of their signature snap. Roasting makes that easy.

Green beans roast in about 12 minutes. They are a more delicate vegetable than you might think about roasting especially during the fall when your mind probably first goes to sweet potatoes and squash.

The recipe has a nutty and crunchy breadcrumb topping that’s so tasty. Before I get to the green beans, I toast a mixture of panko breadcrumbs, almonds and sunflower seeds in the oven first. This does add an extra step, but the topping works perfectly with the green beans. I like to think of it as a nutty, savory crumble.

How To Prepare Green Beans

There’s no need to trim each green bean one by one. Just line of up a group of them, and trim all those stem ends at once. Wait to trim the green beans until right before you are about to cook them because you don’t want them to dry out.

The Ingredients

Ingredients including green beans, breadcrumbs, almonds, olive oil, feta and lemon

This is what you need for this roasted green beans recipe:

  • For almond breadcrumbs:
  • Panko breadcrumbs: These Japanese style breadcrumbs are the crunchiest, so that’s why I like using them whenever I’m cooking with breadcrumbs.
  • Almonds: Chopped nuts give the topping wonderful flavor. You can substitute with walnuts.
  • Sunflower seeds: Going all in on crunch, I like the variety in taste and texture that sunflower seeds add to the mix.
  • Salt & pepper: It’s important to season the almonds, seeds and breadcrumbs.
  • Olive oil: I toss everything in oil before toasting the topping in the oven.
  • Lemon zest: For something fresh, I stir in lemon zest once the breadcrumbs have finished toasting.
  • For green beans:
  • Green beans: Fresh green beans will be bright green without any yellow or brown spots. They should also snap when you try to bend them.
  • Lemon juice: For some brightness and acidity, I toss the green beans in lemon juice along with olive oil.
  • Olive oil: Since this is a simple recipe with so few ingredients, I use high-quality extra virgin olive oil for roasting the green beans.
  • Salt & pepper: Not only do I season the almond breadcrumbs, but I also season the green beans before I roast them.
  • Feta: To finish this side dish, I sprinkle on crumbled feta cheese because I love that salty taste. If you want something more subtle, top with baked green beans with crumbled goat cheese or shaved Parmesan cheese instead.

How To Make Roasted Green Beans

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

1. Combine the panko breadcrumbs, nuts, sunflower seeds, olive oil, salt, pepper and oil in a glass pie plate.

2. Toast the breadcrumbs in the oven until lightly golden. Stir in the lemon zest.

Breadcrumbs and almonds in a pie plate before and after roasting.

Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F.

3. Drizzle the green beans with oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and spread across a baking sheet.

4. Roast the green beans until they are blistered and tender, about 12-15 minutes. The toss them with the almonds and breadcrumbs. Arrange them on a serving dish and top with crumbled feta. Also spoon on additional breadcrumbs and nuts from the sheet pan.

Raw green beans on a sheet pan. Roasted green beans tossed with toasted breadcrumbs and almonds.

Serving

Green beans are in season summer through early to mid-fall, but you can readily find them year round. This is such a fast side that I love it to go with anything from the most basic weeknight dinner with roasted chicken or salmon to something more important like Thanksgiving or another holiday meal.

They are perfect side with a dry rubbed turkey breast. You could cook them when the turkey is out of the oven and resting.

Leftovers

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 3 days. You can either eat them cold in a salad with lemon vinaigrette or warm them on a sheet pan in a 350-degree F oven for a few minutes. I don’t recommend a microwave for rewarming because it will soften and steam the green beans.

Roasted Green Beans with Almond Breadcrumbs

Recipe Tips

  • Use fresh green beans. Skip frozen or canned. When you roast fresh green beans, they will caramelize, beautifully blister in spots, and still turn out with a nice bite.
  • Spread out the green beans on the sheet pan.  You want to use every square inch of cooking surface, so they are in a single layer. Us all that space.
  • Don’t overcook your green beans. No one likes mushy green beans. Make sure not to overdo it in the oven. Roasted green beans should still have some crispness when they are cooked.

Recipe FAQs

Do you need to line the baking sheet with parchment paper to roast green beans?

It’s better not to line the pan. Since you stir the green beans with oil, this should prevent them sticking to the pan. When vegetables make contact directly with the hot metal of the baking sheet, they brown better.

Do you have to make the breadcrumb topping?

You can skip it, but you will be missing out on the texture and toasted nutty and lemon flavors that it adds to the green beans.

How do you make the recipe vegan?

Leave out the feta.

How do you make the breadcrumb topping gluten free?

Use gluten-free panko breadcrumbs.

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Roasted Green Beans With Almond Breadcrumbs

5 from 2 votes
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
Total: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Topped with toasted panko breadcrumbs, almonds, sunflower seeds, lemon and crumbled feta, these roasted green beans are a super easy side dish.

Ingredients 

For almond breadcrumbs

  • 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 1/4 cup chopped almonds
  • 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Zest of 1 lemon

For green beans

  • 1 pound green beans, trimmed
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 cup crumbled feta

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Stir together the panko breadcrumbs, almonds, sunflower seeds, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a glass pie plate. Toast in the oven until lightly golden, about 12-15 minutes. Carefully stir in the lemon zest. Set aside.
  • Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F.
  • Toss the green beans with 1 tablespoon olive oil, lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper on a sheet pan. Spread into a single layer. Roast for 12-15 until the green beans are blistered. (Make sure not to overcook the green beans.)
  • Toss the green beans with the almond breadcrumbs. Transfer to a serving dish and top with crumbled feta.

Video

Notes

You can substitute the almonds with walnuts.
If you want a more subtle cheese, then sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese or even shaved Parmesan.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days. Eat them cold in a salad or warm them on a sheet pan in a 350-degree F oven for 2-3 minutes. They are best eaten when they are freshly roasted.
To make the recipe vegan, omit the cheese.
To make the topping gluten free, use gluten free panko breadcrumbs.

Nutrition

Calories: 204kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.003g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 723mg | Potassium: 338mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 825IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 123mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
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Hi, I'm Paige.

Welcome to Last Ingredient where you will find simple seasonal recipes with plenty of fruits and vegetables, all for the home cook.

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