• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Join the Fit Cookie Club!

Join
Login
contact
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
YouTube
TikTok

Lauren Fit Foodie

Healthy and Easy, but make it Delicious!

  • Start Here
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • By Course
      • Appetizers
      • Breakfast
      • Desserts
      • Drinks
      • Main Entrees
      • Sauces & Dressings
      • Side Dishes
      • Snacks
    • By Diet
      • Dairy-Free
      • Gluten-Free
      • High Protein
      • Macro-friendly
      • Vegan
      • Vegetarian
    • By Protein
      • Beef
      • Chicken
      • Eggs/Egg Whites
      • Ham/Pork
      • Meatless
      • Protein Powder
      • Seafood
      • Turkey
    • By Method
      • Air Fryer
      • Crock-Pot
      • Grill
      • Microwave
      • No-Bake
      • Oven-Baked
      • Stovetop
    • By Type
      • Casserole
      • One Pot/One Pan/One Dish
      • Meal Prep
      • Sheet Pan
      • 30 Minutes or Less
    • Most Popular
    • Roundups & Guides
  • Cookbooks
  • Shop
  • About
    • About Lauren
Display Search Bar
5 from 4 votes
Home By Course Side Dishes

Sautéed French Green Beans with Parmesan and Pine Nuts

This Sautéed French Green Beans with Parmesan and Pine Nuts recipe is elegant and packed with flavor, but so simple to make! Serve them with Thanksgiving dinner or alongside meatloaf during the week. No matter the occasion, they’re a real crowd pleaser!

Jump to RecipeRatePrint Share

Share on:

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email
Lauren
By: Lauren published: Nov. 18, 2021 updated: Mar. 18, 2024 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

Contents hide
About This Recipe
Why You’ll Love These French Green Beans With Pine Nuts
Ingredients and Substitutions
How To Make
The Secret To Beautiful Vegetables
FAQ: French Green Beans With Pine Nuts
More Healthy Side Dish Recipes To Try
Sautéed French Green Beans with Parmesan and Pine Nuts
MyFitnessPal Entry
Did You Make This?

About This Recipe

Need an easy delicious side dish that’s guaranteed to impress? I gotchu! These Sautéed French Green Beans taste like something you’d get at a 5 star restaurant, but are actually so easy to make.

Not only do they taste incredible, flavored with fresh herbs, garlic, and lemon, but they also have a beautiful presentation!

These delicious green beans are complemented by toasted pine nuts and rich parmesan cheese. The flavors melt in your mouth so well that you may forget you are eating a vegetable! The way veggie dishes should be.

Looking for more Thanksgiving recipes? Try my Healthy Green Bean Casserole, Maple Ginger Glazed Carrots or my Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole!

Why You’ll Love These French Green Beans With Pine Nuts

  • Packed with the delicious flavor of lemon, fresh herbs, and cheese!
  • This recipe is quick and easy.
  • Despite how simple it is, this dish is guaranteed to impress!
  • Makes a great side dish to literally anything!
  • It’s lighter in calories and fat than most green bean dishes.

Ingredients and Substitutions

  • French green beans – These are longer and thinner than regular green beans. However, you really could use either.
  • Garlic cloves – Dice up some cloves or used minced garlic from a jar. You could just use garlic powder, but the fresh garlic really packs a lot flavor.
  • Olive oil – You can substitute with any oil of your choice if needed.
  • Pine nuts – These taste delicious when toasted!
  • Lemons – We’ll use the juice and zest for more flavor.
  • Fresh herbs – You can use any herbs of your choice here.
  • Parmesan cheese – Fresh grated is best!

How To Make

  1. Prepare green beans by washing and trimming the ends. 
  2. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add a pinch of salt. Add the beans and cook for 2-4 minutes until tender. Then, remove and run under cold water or put in a bowl of iced water. Drain the beans and set aside.
  3. Warm a medium skillet over medium heat and add the pine nuts. Toast the pine nuts until golden. Watch carefully and stir frequently as they can burn quickly! Immediately transfer to a small bowl. You don’t want to leave them in the hot pan as they will continue to cook.
  4. In the same skillet, add the oil and minced garlic. Let garlic sauté for a minute. Then, add the green beans. Cook, moving around frequently, for 2-4 minutes. 
  5. Remove skillet from the heat and then add lemon zest, lemon juice, parsley, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and toasted pine nuts. Toss around until everything is mixed well.
  6. Transfer to a platter for serving.

The Secret To Beautiful Vegetables

The secret: blanching!

What is blanching? Blanching involves putting the green beans in an ice bath immediately after boiling them. This will help maintain their color, brightness, and flavor. The process also helps remove dirt and microorganisms, so you can be sure you’re eating clean veggies.

FAQ: French Green Beans With Pine Nuts

Why do you need to cool the green beans off with cold water or in an ice bath?

The quick blanching helps cook and tenderize the green beans, but shocking them right after in a large ice water bath stops the cooking and any further change in color. The result is crisp, tender, gorgeous, and green vegetables.

Do you wash green beans before cooking?

Yes. Like all veggies, you should wash them before cooking.

Can I use canned or frozen green beans?

While I have nothing against either, this is one case where fresh is best! Canned green beans just aren’t going to turn out quite the same. If frozen is your only option, you can give it a try, but you can expect to sacrifice the recipe’s texture.

Do I need to blanch the green beans before sautéing them?

Blanching helps make the green beans soft while keeping their color. But you can sauté green beans without blanching, so just skip it if you’re OK with firmer beans.

More Healthy Side Dish Recipes To Try

Air Fryer Green Beans (The BEST Charred – Just 15 Minutes!)

Healthy Green Bean Casserole without Mushroom Soup

Easy Roasted Cauliflower and Carrots

Maple Ginger Glazed Carrots (Oven Roasted)

Did you make this? If you snap a photo, please be sure leave a review, tag me on Instagram or TikTok at @LaurenFitFoodie or hashtag #LaurenFitFoodie so I can see your creations!

Rate Recipe Print Pin for Later Share
5 from 4 votes

Sautéed French Green Beans with Parmesan and Pine Nuts

? Dairy-Free ? Gluten-Free ? Low Carb ? Macro-friendly ? Vegetarian
This Sautéed French Green Beans with Parmesan and Pine Nuts recipe is elegant and packed with flavor, but so simple to make! Serve them with Thanksgiving dinner or alongside meatloaf during the week. No matter the occasion, they’re a real crowd pleaser!
Yield: 6
Prep: 10 minutes mins
Additional Time: 5 minutes mins
Cook: 10 minutes mins
Total: 25 minutes mins
Calories: 67kcal
Protein: 2.8g
Fat: 3.7g
Carbs: 5.5g

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. french green beans trimmed
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/2 Tbsp olive oil (7g)
  • 2 Tbsp pine nuts (16g)
  • 1 Tbsp lemon zest
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (15g)
  • 3 Tbsp fresh parsley finely chopped
  • 3 Tbsp parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 tsp salt + 1 pinch for boiling
  • 1/4 tsp pepper

Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes. Scroll for macros and MyFitnessPal code.

Instructions

  • Prepare green beans by washing and trimming ends if needed. 
  • Bring a pot of water to a boil and add a pinch of salt. Add the beans and cook for 2-4 minutes until just tender then remove and either run under cold water or put in a bowl of iced water. Drain the beans and set aside.
  • Warm a medium skillet over medium heat and add the pine nuts. Toast the pine nuts until golden. Watch carefully and stir frequently as they can burn quickly! Immediately transfer to a small bowl (don’t leave them in the hot pan as they will continue to cook).
  • In the same skillet, add the oil and minced garlic. Let garlic saute for a minute then add the green beans. Cook, moving around frequently, for around 2-4 minutes. 
  • Remove skillet from heat and the lemon zest, lemon juice, parsley, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and toasted pine nuts. Toss around until everything is mixed well, then transfer to a platter for serving.

Notes

Why blanch the green beans? The quick blanching helps cook and tenderize the green beans, but shocking them right after in a large ice water bath stops the cooking and any further change in color. The result is crisp, tender, gorgeous, and green vegetables.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1/6 of skillet (82g), Calories: 67kcal (3%), Carbohydrates: 5.5g (2%), Protein: 2.8g (6%), Fat: 3.7g (6%), Saturated Fat: 0.8g (5%), Fiber: 1.8g (8%), Sugar: 2.5g (3%)

Nutrition is hand-calculated and accurate. No autocalulations! However, note that values can vary based on the brands you use and if you substitute ingredients.

MyFitnessPal Entry

LFF French Green Beans with Parmesan and Pine Nuts

© Author: Lauren

Did You Make This?

We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram or TikTok at @LaurenFitFoodie or hashtag #LaurenFitFoodie so we can see your creations!

Rate Recipe
Tag on Instagram
155 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email
Lauren

Lauren

Lauren lives with her husband, Simon and two dogs, Finley and Cookie, in the Carolina’s. She has college degrees in Nursing and Exercise Science, is a NASM certified trainer and spent many years as a macro coach before transitioning to full time blogging. She loves staying active, being creative and recreating her favorite comfort food dishes into healthier, lightened up versions. Desserts are her speciality!

Read More
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
Recipe Rating




guest
Recipe Rating




0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

sidebar

Hey There!

I’m Lauren, a food lover sharing healthy, macro-friendly recipes that taste good and you can feel good about eating. Here you’ll find everything from breakfasts to easy dinners to lightened up desserts because desserts are absolutely mandatory around here!

Read More

Subscribe to email updates!

Loading

By subscribing, you agree to our privacy policy.

new!

Weekly Meal Plans

In a meal prep rut and need some healthy meal inspiration? Get new downloadable macro-friendly meal plans & exclusive recipes sent to your inbox EVERY week for just $10/month!

join now!

Reader Favorites

Crockpot taco pasta on a plate with a fork.

Super Easy Crockpot Taco Pasta (10-Minute Prep!)

Slices of skinny chocolate chip banana bread on a plate with banana slices and chocolate chips.

Skinny Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (Low Calorie + One Banana)

Two high protein chicken enchiladas topped with cilantro on a plate with a fork.

High Protein Chicken Enchiladas (30 minutes, 7 ingredients)

Low calorie egg salad on a sandwich with greens, cut in halves and stacked vertically.

Low Calorie Egg Salad (Higher Protein, Lower Fat)

Healthy chicken curry with rice and pita bread in a bowl.

The Most Yummy Healthy Chicken Curry (Slow Cooker Recipe)

Starbucks spinach feta wraps stacked on a plate.

Copycat Starbucks Spinach Feta Wrap Recipe (Double the Protein!)

Ninja creami vanilla protein ice cream topped with chocolate chip cookie pieces and rainbow sprinkles in a glass bowl.

Ninja Creami Vanilla Protein Ice Cream Recipe (The Perfect Base!)

Healthy Crockpot White Chicken Chili topped with shredded cheese, avocado, and sour cream in a bowl with a spoon.

Healthy Crockpot White Chicken Chili (High-Protein!)

Meal Prep Recipes

Chicken Caesar Pinwheels on a tray.

Chicken Caesar Pinwheels

Hawaiian Pineapple Chicken Rice Bowls

Sheet Pan Chicken Cornflake Dinner on a baking sheet with foil.

Sheet Pan Cornflake Chicken Dinner

Spinach Feta Turkey Meatballs (30-Minute, High Protein)

Rainbow chicken salad on two pieces of toast and greens.

Rainbow Chicken Salad (Lightened-Up)

Sheet Pan Eggs-in-a-Hole in a platter.

Sheet Pan Eggs-in-a-Hole

Elote Ground Turkey Skillet topped with sour cream on a plate with a fork.

Elote Ground Turkey Enchilada Skillet (High protein!)

Sausage pancake breakfast bake with blueberries in a baking dish being served.

Blueberry Sausage Pancake Breakfast Bake (Easy Meal Prep!)

Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowls with

Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowls

Cottage cheese egg bake with a side of greens on a plate.

Cottage Cheese Egg Bake (High Protein)

NEW!

Join the Fit Cookie Club!

In a meal prep rut and needs some inspiration? Get new weekly healthy meal plans and exclusive recipes for just $10/month!

Subscribe now!

follow along

Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
YouTube
TikTok

recipes

Breakfast
Lunch & Dinner
Dessert
Meal Prep

explore

New? Start Here
Cookbooks
Dessert
Fit Cookie Club

get my cookbooks!

Get ALL the recipes in both my macro-friendly cookbooks when you join Fit Cookie club!

Join now!
Back to Top
Privacy Policy
Disclosure
Accessibility
Contact
Back to Top
© 2025 Lauren Fit Foodie
Site Credits
Designed by Melissa Rose Design Developed by Once Coupled
155 shares
wpDiscuz