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Instant Pot Green Beans are a lightning-fast, easy side that will go well with any meal. A touch of garlic and butter makes these green beans absolutely irresistible.
Green beans are the perfect side dish for all your favorite dinners. I always make them in my Instant Pot to go with my Apricot Chicken or Country Style Ribs. Or use this method to cook green beans for my Mediterranean Green Bean Salad.
Table of Contents
Why We Love This Recipe
- Fast Cooking – Cooking green beans in the Instant Pot is crazy fast!
- Garlic Butter – Sauteing the green beans after cooking in an easy garlic butter takes them over the top.
- Easy Prep – If you buy French green beans then you don’t even need to trim them!
Key Ingredients
You only need 3 ingredients (plus salt and pepper) to make super easy and tender, flavorful green beans.
- Fresh French Green Beans – You can also use regular green beans. Do NOT use canned or frozen green beans as they will turn mush.
- Water – this is so the Instant Pot comes to pressure.
- Butter
- Minced Garlic – Freshly minced is best! The garlic can easily be omitted if your family isn’t a fan.
- Lemon Wedges – optional, for serving.
How To Make Instant Pot Green Beans
See recipe card below for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Prep – Wash your green beans and trim them, if needed. The easiest way to trim green beans is to pile them up in batches and chop the ends, then turn them and do the other end. I love French green beans because they don’t need to be trimmed.
Add to Instant Pot – Add the water to the Instant Pot then add the green beans in a steamer basket.
Pressure Cook – Set the lid to sealing and set the cook time to 0 minutes on high pressure. The cook time is 0 minutes, because the 10 minutes it takes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure is all that’s needed to cook them.
Quick Release – Immediately quick release the pressure. Rinse the green beans under cold water or transfer to an ice bath. Season with salt and pepper and serve, or do the optional saute step to flavor with butter and garlic (highly recommended).
Saute – To add extra flavor, set your Instant Pot to saute and add cook the butter and garlic. Turn off the pot and add the green beans. Toss the beans in the pot to coat, season with salt and pepper, and serve immediately.
Recipe FAQs
Green beans are cooked on High in the pressure cooker or Instant Pot and they cook fast!
French green beans are very tender and do not need to be trimmed. Traditional, larger green beans need the tough ends trimmed off, and the string removed before cooking.
Quickly tossing the cooked green beans in garlic butter adds lots of flavor. You can also add other spices like garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, or herbs.
Using frozen or canned green beans is not recommended for this method. The cook time is quick, but because frozen and canned green beans are already cooked it will just turn them to mush.
Quick release the pressure and immediately transfer the beans to an ice bath to retain their crispness. Then rewarm them in the sauteed butter and garlic.
Storage
Store leftover green beans in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat leftovers in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time until heated through, or in a covered saute pan on medium-low heat.
Helpful Tips
- Use a steamer basket – Placing the green beans in a steamer basket helps elevate them from the bottom of the Instant Pot, allowing for more even cooking.
- No steamer? If you don’t have a steamer basket, place an Instant Pot trivet in the bottom of the pot and carefully lay the beans across it. You can also just put the beans directly in the pot, but the beans will become much softer.
- For very soft beans – For very soft beans, set the timer to 1 minute, then do a quick pressure release.
- For a more crisp bean – Do not pressure cook the beans. Add 1 cup water to the insert and use the saute function to bring to a boil. Add the green beans and cook until crisp tender; about 2 minutes. Drain, and proceed with sauteing the garlic.
- Other seasonings – Besides the butter and garlic, I love using freshly grated Parmesan cheese, crushed red pepper flakes, and lemon zest.
- Trim the ends of the beans for a neater presentation and to remove any tough or woody parts.
- Perform a quick pressure release – Once the cooking time is up, quickly release the pressure manually to prevent the green beans from overcooking.
- Serve immediately or keep warm – Enjoy right away as a side dish or keep them warm in the Instant Pot using the “Keep Warm” function until ready to serve.
More Instant Pot Recipes
Instant Pot Green Beans
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh French green beans
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cloves fresh garlic minced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Lemon wedges optional for serving
Instructions
- Wash green beans, and trim ends if desired.
- Add 1 cup water to the bottom of the Instant Pot insert.
- Place green beans in a steamer basket in the insert. Place the lid on pot, set the cook time to 0 minutes, on high pressure.
- Immediately do a quick pressure release when the timer beeps. Remove the green beans and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process, or shock them in a large bowl of ice water.
- Press the saute button. Once hot, add in the butter and garlic, saute until it just begins to to brown, less than 1 minute. Add the green beans and turn the pot off. Season with salt and pepper and gently toss to coat in the garlic butter and warm the beans through. Serve immediately.
Notes
- This recipe will not work with canned or frozen green beans, they are already very soft and will turn to mush.
- If you don’t have a steam basket, place an Instant Pot trivet in the bottom of the pot and carefully lay the beans across it. You can also just put the beans directly in the pot, but the beans will become much softer.
