Blistered & Blackened Green Beans (in 15 minutes)

Change up your green bean routine with this simple but punchy method for blackening classic to Cajun cuisine. This can be done entirely in the oven with just 4 ingredients. A little bit of sugar paired with some spice makes these blackened green beans really nice!

Blackened green beans on a rectangular blue plate

Serve these green beans alongside a blackened tuna steak, fresh crabmeat main dishes, or an oven baked trout with fennel and fresh lemon salsa.

Jump to:

Ingredients
Instructions
Helpful Tips
Green Bean Fun Facts
More Side Dishes

Ingredients

You'll need just 4 ingredients to make this easy but entertaining green bean recipe.

Cajun seasoning - Made of cayenne pepper, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, and other dried herbs, you can make this from scratch or use a store bought jar, which I did.
Sugar - This is not typically used in blackening seasonings, but I like how it offsets the spiciness of the Cajun seasoning and just gives the beans a more rounded flavor. with a hint of sweetness.

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

This recipe is especially easy because the green beans are blackened in the oven rather then sauteed in a skillet or steamed.

green beans sprinkled with seasoning on a parchment lined sheet pan

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. You can toss all the ingredients together right on the sheet pan, so you don't have an extra mixing bowl to clean.

Roasted, blackened green beans on a white parchment line sheet pan

Step 2: Spread out the green beans to a single layer on a sheet pan, so they have room to blister and blacken.

Baking sheet of green beans on a rack in the top third of an oven

Step 3: Bake on the upper third of the oven for 6 minutes. Then turn the oven to the broil setting for 2-4 minutes.

Broiled and blackened green beans on a parchment lined sheet pan

Step 4: The green beans will blacken depending on how long you leave them in the broiler. Take care not to turn them completely black.

Hint: These can be served, hot, at room temperature, or even cold. Because they have so much flavor in the seasoning, they are anything but bland, no matter the temperature.

Blackened green beans on a black rectangular plate

Helpful Tips

The green beans should be washed and dried, so they blister and don't steam from residual water left on the beans after washing.
Line the sheet pan parchment paper for easier clean up.
Omit or reduce the sugar, if you prefer. The sugar makes the green beans a little bit sweet and counters the spiciness of the Cajun seasoning.
For a richer variation, substitute melted butter for the oil. The butter will brown a bit in the oven, giving an extra toasty flavor.

Green Bean Fun Facts

Green beans with strings that need to be pulled off are not found so much in grocery stores anymore.
Blue lake beans are a stringless varietal of beans developed in the early 1900s in the Blue Lake District near Ukiah, CA. They are prized for their tenderness and crunch.
The main rival to Blue Lake beans is the varietal known as haricot vert. Those are much thinner, shorter, and slightly more delicate. They also cost more.

More Side Dishes

Looking for other side dishes recipes? Try these:

Print Recipe