Easy Southern Green Beans (Soul Food Recipe)

This classic southern green beans recipe with ham hock is the epitome of old fashioned cooking. Fresh green beans are slow-cooked in a delicious aromatic broth with smoky ham hocks, soaking all those good flavors right in. It's one of my favorite side dishes and it's one that the whole family will absolutely love.

Love Southern food as much as I do? Try my cozy Dutch Oven Chicken and Dumplings, Old Fashioned Candied Yams, Buttermilk Biscuits, or restaurant-worthy Fried Chicken and Waffles.

Old Fashioned Southern Green Beans Passed Down for Generations

Some of my best childhood memories revolve around snapping fresh beans into a woven bowl with my mama and grandmama. Seeing the green beans I helped prepare for Thanksgiving dinner on the table made me immensely proud as a little girl.

Continuing this tradition with my family, snapping beans with Greyson while watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade, I hope this simple yet meaningful ritual will continue to be cherished memories for my children, just as it has for me.

So this dish? They're the real deal, an authentic southern recipe: tender and buttery, smoky and savory, they're the best green beans I have ever eaten hands down. They only need a handful of ingredients and have so much flavor! 

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Jump to:

• Old Fashioned Southern Green Beans Passed Down for Generations
• Why You’ll Love These Green Beans
• What is the origin of Southern Green Beans?
• Equipment
• Ingredients for Soul Food Green Beans
• What about Bacon?
• How to make Southern Green Beans
• Variations and Substitutions
• What to Serve with Crock Pot Green Beans
• Pro Tips
• Storage and Reheating Your String Beans
• FAQs
• 📖 Recipe

Why You’ll Love These Green Beans

• Classic Southern Side Dish Recipe - my authentic southern green beans come from generations of award-winning cooks (my mama and grandma!). These beans are from the country, honey!
• Even Kids Want to Eat These Veggies - that good potlikker and smoked ham hocks perfectly season these beans. The beans are tender, they taste like smoked meat, there's plenty of nutrients (just don't tell the kids) and there's meat to nibble on!
• Easy, Hands-Off, and Mess-Free - literally the easiest side dish you'll ever make. Toss everything into a lined slow cooker and leave it alone for a few hours. And when you're done, toss the liner out for a clean crock pot. So simple!

What is the origin of Southern Green Beans?

Slow-cooked green beans are a significant part of soul food and black culture. This tradition dates back to enslaved Africans who, with limited resources, simmered greens and beans in a nourishing broth, known as 'potlikker' or 'pot liquor.' 

These slow-cooked dishes, often made with leftover vegetables and undesirable meat parts, provided essential nutrients, calories, and energy for their labor. 

This practice became widespread in the South by the late 1870s, with various fatty pork parts like bacon and ham hock being used, eventually making their way into cookbooks of the 19th century.

Ever since, Black folks and southerners have eaten this melt-in-your-mouth tender comfort food with our sunday supper, as a side for all holiday meals, basically all special occasions!

Equipment

• Slow Cooker
• Chef's Knife and Cutting Board - for chopping up the onions!

Ingredients for Soul Food Green Beans

Full ingredients, measurements, and printable instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• Fresh Green Beans - Your local grocery store should keep fresh green beans loose or in large pre-packaged bags in the refrigerated produce section. I've even seen them come pre-snapped in those bags!
• Smoked Meat - for black folks, it comes to two options: smoked ham hocks or smoked turkey necks and wings. These were often 'undesired' parts of the animal in the mainstream food world until pretty recently, and they're traditional in southern cooking. 
• Yellow Onion - dice 'em small so they basically melt in your broth as they give up their flavor.
• Garlic Powder - garlic tastes differently when it's boiled or cooked in water than when it's hit with heat or cooked in oil. Garlic powder is already cooked before being powdered, and has that savory flavor we want from garlic.
• Chicken Broth
• Red Wine Vinegar - this gives us a little brightness, some acidity to cut through the rich taste of the smoked meat.
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Salt and Black Pepper

What about Bacon?

I've seen and had plenty of country-style green beans with bacon. It's usually for a recipe on the stove top, using the rendered bacon grease in the dish for extra flavor and sprinkling the crispy bacon pieces on top.

As nice as it tastes, I love green beans that are cooked with the smoked meats. It's hearty, it's filling, it gives way more flavor, in my opinion.

And I don't have to dirty any pans, either!

How to make Southern Green Beans

Pro Tip: The ham hocks are great indicators of when it's ready: when they are tender and you can pull the meat off the bone, your green beans are done!

Variations and Substitutions

• Add Potatoes - green beans and potatoes is a staple in many southerners' home, it's filling and delish. Add some baby gold potatoes or red potatoes to the crock pot and let it cook with the beans. The result is soft and creamy potatoes that have absorbed tons of tasty flavor! 
• Stove Top Green Beans - you can make this recipe in a dutch oven on the stove top on medium-low heat until the ham hocks are tender and the green beans are soft and flavorful.

What to Serve with Crock Pot Green Beans

• During the Holiday Season - we serve these southern style green beans with classic holiday faire: a roast turkey, sweet potato casserole, creamy mashed potatoes, buttery dinner rolls, and sparkling apple cider sangria.
• With Soul Food - imagine these savory beans on a plate piled high with cornbread, creamy mac and cheese, buttermilk fried chicken, and a side plate of peach cobbler with a glass of lemonade. Heaven on earth!
• At a Cookout - they're a perfect side in the summer along with grilled corn, smoked brisket sandwiches, saucy baked beans, and refreshing watermelon agua fresca.
• For a cozy Sunday Dinner - there's nothing like a cozy pot roast on your fork with tender green beans on a cold autumn day with fresh homemade bread, a yummy salad, and a delicious glass of pumpkin cider!

Pro Tips

• Use fresh green beans - do not use frozen green beans or canned green beans. Canned green beans are soft already and frozen green beans' texture is compromised from being frozen. Fresh is best!
• ​Can't find ham hock? Salt pork or smoked turkey wings work, too!
• Don't eat pork? - Smoked turkey necks and turkey bacon have been a widely used pork substitute for collard greens and green beans. They still give a delicious smoky, meaty flavor and are a big part of southern cooking.
• Snap your green beans instead of cutting them - Bending the stems and snapping them in half lets you assess their freshness and quality. It's not just a lovely tradition but ensures each bean is firm, bright green, and critter-free, guaranteeing the most tender green beans for your meal.

Storage and Reheating Your String Beans

Preparing your old fashioned southern green beans before a big feast like Thanksgiving is a breeze. These green beans stay in your fridge for up to 7 days when stored correctly in an airtight container inside your fridge (not the door). Store the beans and meat in the broth to keep them from drying out.

To freeze the leftover green beans, add about 2-4 servings each into gallon sized, freezer-safe, zip-top bags. Freeze them as flat as you can, this helps them thaw faster.

Thaw your beans in the fridge overnight and reheat them on the stove top in a saucepan or in the slow cooker until heated through.

FAQs