Cranberry Balsamic Glazed Green Beans
Crisp, glazed balsamic green beans get a festive touch with shallots, tangy goat cheese, and sweet-tart cranberries. These green beans are a quick and easy side dish, perfect for Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner. They’re delicious served hot from the skillet on a weeknight, too!
If you love these sautéed green beans as a side, you might also like my green beans with bacon or these creamy green beans and mushrooms.
Originally published November 21, 2012. Updated with new photos and more helpful information.
My family loves a classic green bean casserole, and as the holiday season approaches, I’m dreaming of casseroles and all the other ways to turn humble string beans into delicious sides. These sautéed balsamic green beans are a fresher, lighter green bean side dish, tossed with browned onions, juicy cranberries, and a tangy Dijon-balsamic glaze.
Why Balsamic Green Beans Make the Perfect Side Dish
- Sweet, savory, tangy. I love the combination of crisp, fresh green beans with balsamic caramelized onions (or shallots) and rich, creamy goat cheese. Meanwhile, dried cranberries add a perfect, festive touch.
- Ready in 25 minutes. I’ll show you how to parboil green beans, then sauté them with a quick balsamic glaze until they’re tender-crisp and packed with flavor.
- Versatile. Serve these balsamic green beans straight from the skillet for a family dinner, or plate them for a holiday meal. They look great next to a Thanksgiving turkey or a Christmas roast.
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make This Recipe
Scroll to the printable recipe card below for the full recipe amounts and details.
- Green beans – I love to use French green beans (haricots verts), which are a bit longer, slimmer, and tend to be more flavorful than regular green beans. Regular beans will taste great, too! These should be washed, and the stem ends snipped off. You can also use frozen green beans or a bag of microwaveable green beans if you’d like. If you’re using frozen, thaw them first.
- Olive oil – Or your choice of cooking oil, for sautéeing.
- Shallot – If shallot isn’t available, you can substitute finely minced red onion or white Vidalia onion.
- Balsamic vinegar – The better quality of balsamic vinegar you use, the better your green beans will taste. In the grocery store, look for IGP (indication of geographic protection) balsamic vinegar, which certifies that the vinegar was processed in Modena, Italy. DOP (protected designation of origin) is even higher in quality, but it’s expensive, so I recommend DOP vinegar for drizzling and IGP for sautéeing!
- Dijon mustard – You could also use yellow mustard or hot brown mustard for extra heat.
- Dried cranberries – These can be substituted with fresh or frozen cranberries if you’d like. The flavor will be more tart and tangy.
- Crumbled goat cheese – This is optional, but it adds a nice tangy flavor and a bit of creaminess. Good alternatives are feta and shaved parmesan.
How to Parboil Green Beans
Parboiling is a way of pre-cooking vegetables (green beans, broccoli, carrots, etc.) by boiling them in water to bring out their color and flavor.
- To parboil green beans, you’ll trim the ends and add the fresh beans to a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes, until they’re tender but still have a bit of crunch. Right after, drain and rinse the green beans under cold water or place them in an ice bath. You can transfer the beans to the fridge until it’s time to sauté them.
Sauté the Green Beans With Balsamic Glaze
Now, it’s time to transform your parboiled green beans into the best holiday dish!
- Sauté the shallots. Start by cooking the shallots in olive oil with salt and pepper until they’re softened and starting to caramelize.
- Next, make the balsamic glaze. Stir in the balsamic vinegar, mustard, and cranberries. Simmer the sauce, allowing it to reduce slightly. This also softens and plumps up the cranberries.
- Add the green beans. Add the green beans to the pan and toss to coat, then let everything heat through. Serve your balsamic green beans as-is or sprinkled with goat cheese, and enjoy.
Cooking for a Crowd?
This green bean recipe is easily doubled or tripled if you are adding it to your holiday menu or cooking for a large group. Scale the ingredients as needed, and you may just need to use a larger skillet!
Make-Ahead, Storage, and Reheating
- Refrigerate leftovers. Transfer your leftovers to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 or 4 days. It is best to refrigerate portions that do not have the goat cheese added, but you can do that. When you reheat it, the goat cheese will melt and turn into more of a creamy sauce. I do not recommend freezing cooked green beans.
- Reheat. Warm leftover balsamic green beans in the microwave or in a skillet on the stove. It is best to reheat portions without the goat cheese already added.
- Make-ahead. You have a few options to make this dish in advance. You can parboil the beans, dunk them in ice water, and refrigerate them. Then, make the balsamic glaze right before serving. Or you can sauté the green beans with the glaze, shallots, and cranberries, and refrigerate. Reheat in a skillet and add the goat cheese right before serving, if desired.
Make it a Meal
I make these flavorful balsamic green beans every year to serve with our Christmas prime rib, with mashed potatoes and honey roast carrots. They’re also a favorite at Thanksgiving, paired with more holiday sides like melting sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce.
Enjoy these flavorful balsamic green beans any night of the week with French onion stuffed meatloaf or air fryer rotisserie chicken, and a side of baked potatoes.
Shop the Recipe
- Because the balsamic glaze can get a bit sticky, I like to use my All-Clad 10-inch nonstick skillet.
- I like to use my wooden tongs for serving, but when tossing the beans in a nonstick skillet, be sure to use tongs with rubber ends so you don’t scratch the surface.
- White rectangular serving platters look so elegant for serving green beans.
Balsamic Green Beans
Ingredients
- 1 lb. green beans
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 shallot, minced (or about 2 Tablespoons minced red onion)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese, optional
Instructions
- Fill a large pot of water and ad a good pinch of salt. Place it over medium heat and bring to a boil.
- While it comes to a boil, wash and trim the ends off of the green beans.
- Add the beans to the pot, and boil for 10-12 minutes, or until just slightly firmer than you like to eat them.
- Remove the beans from the pot and run under cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil, shallot, salt, and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until shallots are tender and starting to caramelize.
- Add balsamic vinegar, mustard, and dried cranberries. Bring to a simmer, and reduce and caramelize for another 3-5 minutes.
- Add the beans to the pan and stir to coat and heat the beans through.
- Remove the beans from the heat, and top with or toss with the goat cheese. if desired.
Notes
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This looks so good! We featured it on our blog – check it out! And thanks so much!
http://www.templesquarehospitality.com/blogs/weddings/?p=2702
YUM! I tried making something like this last year and it didn’t turn out. Totally gonna try yours this year, can’t wait! Love the combination of balsamic and goat cheese. 🙂 Pinning!
It is a great combo! Hope it works out better for you this year!
I really don’t feel like Thanksgiving would be complete without green bean casserole. I remember first tasting at my Aunt’s and thinking it was very fancy! My how times have changed 🙂
Your green beans with cranberries and goat cheese look delicious. I love all the ingredients but have never combined them. Have bookmarked this to try soon.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I love green beans, especially on holidays, but I do prefer less heavy preparations, like the green beans & mushrooms we have for Christmas Eve. Hope you enjoy this recipe!
Hey brilliant minds think alike…in the green bean casserole dept! Love the add of goat cheese & all your green bean family history.
Definitely one of the common holiday dishes most in need of a makeover!
This is my kind of side! It looks and sounds delicious.
Thank you!
Brianne – So great to have you back with ReDux! Loved reading about your grandmother – I figure when you get older, why not do exactly what you want to do, right? These green beans look AMAZING – I can’t wait to try them out. We host Christmas so I think I may make them then!
Happy to be back! Now I just have to read through the posts (I have been sick, so I am behind) to get some healthier ideas for Christmas. Thanks – I am really loving this recipe.
I love your recipe. I created a made-over green bean casserole for the Recipe Redux, so I can certainly relate. This recipe is definitely on my to-make list. We are big goat cheese fans at my house 🙂
I will have to check out your redux. I have been sick since before Thanksgiving, so am a bit behind. It is certainly a dish in need of a makeover. Even the homemade versions are pretty heavy.
YUM!! I love anything with goat cheese, balsamic, and goat cheese, so this looks like an amazing combo!
Thank you. I am seriously a sucker for anything goat cheese.
As am I!