Editor's Note: this post was updated in 2025 with fresh photos, tips, and content!
With summer being in full swing Amish gardens are bursting with a bounty of beans, tomatoes, melons, and more. We bought some green beans at the Amish-run Wayne County Produce Auction in Indiana and then promptly put them to good use in a wonderful summer skillet meal. This is a very colorful, hearty dish!
🫘 The Amish and Green Beans
The Amish have been growing green beans for generations, and most families have their own traditions for how they prepare them. And in every Amish garden I've visited, you'll find neat rows of green beans climbing up wooden stakes or sprawling across the ground - varieties passed down through families that you won't find in any seed catalog.
What really sets Amish green bean cooking apart is their patience and their cast iron. They don't rush the process. These beans get picked at just the right moment - when they snap cleanly but aren't tough - and they're usually on the table within hours of being harvested. No sitting in refrigerators for days like store-bought beans.
The iron skillet method I'm sharing today comes from watching countless Amish cooks work their magic. They heat that skillet until it's good and hot, add a little bacon grease or butter, and let those beans get acquainted with the iron. The result? Green beans with a flavor that's both familiar and somehow better than what most of us grew up eating.
SIGH, do wish I had taken better photos when doing this.
Step-by-Step Iron Skillet Green Beans
Start with about 2 pounds of fresh green beans - the younger and more tender, the better. Snap off the stem ends and remove any strings. I like to snap them into 2-inch pieces, though some Amish cooks leave them longer. Rinse them in cold water and set aside to drain.
Heat Your Iron Skillet Place: your cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and let it get good and hot - this usually takes about 3-4 minutes. You'll know it's ready when a drop of water sizzles and dances across the surface.
Add Your Fat: No, not the kind that I carry in my belly from eating too many Amish baked goods! Instead, add 2-3 tablespoons of bacon grease, butter, or a combination of both to the hot skillet.
Add the Green Beans: Carefully add your green beans to the hot skillet - they should sizzle immediately. Don't overcrowd them; work in batches if needed. Let them sit undisturbed for 2-3 minutes to get that first bit of caramelization.
Step 5: Season and Stir Add salt, pepper, and a pinch of garlic powder if you like. Now give them a good stir, making sure all the beans get coated with the fat and seasonings
Step 6: Cook Until Tender Continue cooking for 8-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender but still have a slight bite. They should have some beautiful brown spots from the iron skillet.
Step 7: Taste and Adjust Give them a taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Some Amish cooks add a splash of water near the end if they want them more tender, but I like that slight firmness you get from the skillet method.Retry
🍲 Additional Amish Bean Recipes
🖨️ Full Recipe
Fresh Garden Green Beans: Traditional Amish Iron Skillet Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium onion,thinly sliced
- 2 pounds green beans
- 1 1 /2 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
Instructions
- In a heavy cast iron skillet, sautee onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
- Add beans and tomatoes and turn down heat halfway.
- Cover and let cook for abut an hour stirring every minute few minutes.
- Season to taste and serve,
Kentuckylady717
These look really good, but I break my beans up, or as some people say, they cut them.....and I put some bacon in it....and cook the little potatoes with the beans.....and they are yummy....this is what you call southern beans 🙂 and make a pan of cornbread and have fresh tomatoes, green onions, maybe corn on the cob, maybe even some fried green tomatoes....and you don't even need any meat 🙂 any southerns out there who cook like I do ? LOL
Charl
Last night I had green beans cooked in the iron skillet with potatoes and onion. I was wishing for a good piece of crusty cornbread, but didn't make it because of adding the extra carbs to the meal. I have a diabetic family member. I also served BBQ Ribs and sliced garden tomatoes. Sure did miss my cornbread though.
Denise
The acidic tomatoes will pull some iron out of the cast iron skillet, and with their vitamin c, will be
extra healthful for Rachel, baby and you! Can't beat the old ways.
brenda
not only looks positively yummy but how healthy. Perfect for some leftovers for next day salad.
Nancy Ellis
I'm a southern cook, and I would have fresh veggies over meat any day! I add bacon to my green beans, I also dice up a potato when I don't have the smaller ones, cornbread is cooked with veggie meals is a given, purple hull peas with bacon, sliced tomatoes. I must share with you an awesome end of gardening season stir fry that is a meal in itself. Look forward to all your recipe emails, so glad I signed up for them!
Kevin Williams
Thank you, Nancy, for your comments...so nice to have you hear, I worry sometimes that new readers might not be able to follow some of ramblings, but I am glad you like them, I hope you stick around for a long time!