Candied pecan green beans are the best way to do beans. Green beans have always been a favorite of mine and these sweet crunchy candied pecan green beans are ideal for leveling up the green bean game.
Sweet and savory, stove-top sautéed green beans tossed in shallot and garlic topped with homemade sweet candied pecans, ideal for the holidays.
The perfect crunch! It adds so much flavor and texture.
Making Homemade Candied Pecans
I’ll start this by saying that candied pecans are so incredibly easy to make and they make the perfect snack – sweet, crunchy, nutty, absolutely satisfying.
The thought of making homemade candied pecans can be intimidating, I’ll walk you through it step-by-step. It takes about 5 minutes of uninterrupted time. You don’t want to step away and risk burning your sugar.
The idea is to make hot brown sugar caramel, then add your pecans to coat. The trick is that the brown sugar caramel needs to reach 300F (“hard crack” temperature on a food thermometer) for it to harden on the pecans without burning the sugar. This will need your undivided attention.
Make sure you have all your ingredients measured and ready. The recipe below makes 1 1/2 cups of pecans (7oz).
To make candied pecans, over medium low heat, melt your butter and let it start to brown, slightly. Add in brown sugar and let it dissolve into the butter, stirring to keep it from burning. Turn the heat up to medium and add in your pecans, stir to coat the pecans. Remove from the heat, give it one more toss to coat and then lay them out on a sheet pan with parchment paper to cool and harden.
Make these ahead! You can make the candied pecans 24 hours ahead. Once they are cooled, break them apart and store in a zip lock bag or air tight container in the fridge until you are ready to make the green beans.
Tip for burning:
If you burn the brown sugar caramel, or you have residual caramel after coating your pecans and the caramel hardens onto your pan, add water to cover the stuck on caramel and bring to a boil. The boiling water will re-melt the caramel and incorporate it into the water. Then you can pour it down your kitchen sink drain.
Tip for storing pecans: If you have left over pecans, you can store them in the freezer. Storing nuts in a dark cold area prevents their oils from releasing and keeps them fresh the longest. When you’re ready to use more pecans, no need to defrost, they are ready to go straight out of the freezer.
Snapping Green Beans
Cleaning fresh green beans, you can snap the ends and the bean will naturally snap at it’s breaking point, or you can line them up and use a chef’s knife to eye-ball and cut off the ends all at once.
Candied Pecan Green Beans
Ingredients
Homemade Candied Pecans
- 2 TBSP Butter
- 1½ cups Pecans (7oz)
- ¼ cup Brown Sugar (packed)
Sautéed Green Beans
- 1 Shallot - thinly sliced
- 3 cloves Garlic - thinly sliced
- 2 TBSP Butter
- 1 lb Fresh Green Beans - cleaned and trimmed
- Salt
Instructions
Homemade Candied Pecans (See blog post for tips, see video for demo)
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a pan over medium low heat, add in your butter and let it melt and brown slightly.
- Add in the brown sugar and stir until dissolved and starts to thicken.
- Increase the heat to medium, add in the pecans immediately and stir to coat the pecans with the melted sugar.
- Turn off the heat, stir one more time to cover the pecans with the melted sugar.
- Pour out into a single layer onto a prepared sheet pan and let it cool. The sugar will harden and coat the candied pecans. Once cool, break apart and set aside.
Sautéed Green Beans
- In a pan, over medium heat, add the butter, shallot, garlic, green beans and a pinch of salt. Toss. Place the lid over it and let it cook and steam (to keep the green beans bright green) for about 10-13 minutes, tossing them every 5 minutes or so. If the beans are browning too much, turn down the heat.
- Remove from the heat. Chop and add in the candied pecans.
Video
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