Enjoy this simple vegetarian meal made with green beans and a silky sweet and sour creamy sauce. Perfect for a light lunch or dinner!
➜ About this green beans recipe
These are stovetop-made creamy green beans in a white sauce thickened with a roux for a velvety look and taste. The sauce is flavored with vinegar and a little sugar; the resulting dish tastes slightly sour and sweet. Creamed green beans pair perfectly with cooked potatoes and a hard-boiled egg as a side dish.
As you will see in the ingredients list below, the recipe does not include any parmesan or cream cheese, cloves of garlic, or sour cream.
NICE TO KNOW: The original recipe comes from the Czech Republic, a small country in the heart of Central Europe, where the Czech people call it “fazolky na kyselo”.
If you're wondering how to pronounce the Czech words "fazolky na kyselo," I've recorded a short audio clip for you. I am a native speaker, so you will hear the authentic Czech language!
MY TIP: If you like Czech cuisine, try this pickled sausage, a famous pub snack known as "utopenci" (it tastes fantastic!)
➜ Ingredients
For homemade creamy green beans in white sauce, you will need:
- Green beans; frozen or fresh if in season. In this recipe, I describe the method with frozen green beans. I do not recommend using canned beans for this recipe because they are already spiced in the brine and could affect the sauce's flavor.
- Whole milk
- Cream; with a minimum fat content of 12 %. Those who want a thicker and richer sauce should grab a heavy cream with a fat content of over 30 %. Do not use sour cream.
- For the roux: butter, all-purpose flour, and a small onion, or half of a larger one.
- Spices: bay leaf and allspice. If you like a bolder taste, add a little ground black pepper for the final seasoning.
- For seasoning: granulated sugar, salt, and 5% acid apple cider vinegar.
✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.
➜ Instructions with photos
STEP 1: Blanch the green beans: Let the frozen beans thaw at room temperature. Bring enough salted water to a boil in a pot, about the same as for pasta. Carefully place the beans in the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Then remove a cup of the vegetable stock from the beans and set them aside, draining off the rest. Immediately cool the beans with ice water to stop the cooking process and allow the vegetables to retain their beautiful fresh color.
This is called blanching in cooking parlance.
STEP 2: Make white sauce: In a deep skillet or a large pan, heat the butter over medium-high heat and fry the onions you have previously chopped finely. Stir until the onions are glazed. This takes about 3-5 minutes.
STEP 3: Turn down the heat and add the flour. Stir for a minute. Then remove the pot from the heat. Gradually pour in the bean broth and stir diligently to dissolve the lumps.
This stage will take a bit of work, but be patient; if you pour in the warm stock a little at a time, you will end up with a thick, lump-free mash in which only fried onion is visible. Gradually add the milk and whisk.
STEP 4: Return the pot to the stove. Increase the heat until the sauce begins to bubble. Add the bay leaf and allspice, and stir in the vinegar. Turn the heat down to low, cover, and let it simmer for 15 minutes on very low heat. The roux will cook through nicely, soften, bind the sauce together, and lose the mealy taste.
STEP 5: Finally, take the pot off the stove and stir in the cream. If the sauce is too thick, add a little milk and whisk. Add a teaspoon of sugar and, if necessary, season with salt or vinegar to your liking. Remove the spices—bay leaves and allspice.
STEP 6: If the green beans are long, cut them into pieces about 1 ½ inches in size. Put them in the sauce and let them warm up for a while. Avoid overcooking the sauce, as the cream might curdle, mainly if you use light cream with reduced fat.
TIP: Try adding a spoonful of chopped delicate dill leaves to the bean sauce just before finishing. It's great to spice up the taste!
➜ Serving
Creamed green beans taste best with boiled potatoes that you have topped with butter and sprinkled with finely chopped chives. Another option is to serve them with bread dumplings.
Also, add a halved hard-boiled egg. I place the egg in cold water to get a beautifully yellow yolk. Once the water starts to boil, I turn down the heat a bit and cook for 8 minutes. I then immediately cool off in cold water.
EXTRA TIP: These cream beans in white sauce are a vegetarian dish. For meat lovers, add fried crispy bacon bits.
➜ Useful tips
- STORAGE: Store the cooled sauce with beans in the fridge, where it will keep for up to five days.
- The sauce will thicken the next day. Add a tablespoon or two of water while reheating, and acidify or season with salt and sugar if necessary.
- If you do not blanch the beans beforehand (boiling them briefly in salted water and then cooling them with cold water), they will turn grey and lose their fresh green color.
More Czech recipes:
- Cucumber salad with vinegar (Okurkovy salat)
- Homemade dill pickles (Nakladacky)
- Sweet and sour cabbage (Prilohove zeli)
Tried this recipe?
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Green Beans in Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound green beans (450 g) frozen
- 1 onion small
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup vegetable stock taken during the blanching of beans
- 1 cup whole milk (240 ml)
- ⅓ cup heavy cream (80 ml)
- 2 allspice
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar 5% acidity
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
Blanch green beans:
- Let the frozen beans thaw at room temperature. Bring enough salted water to a boil in a pot, about the same as for pasta. Carefully place the beans in the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Then remove a cup of the vegetable stock from the beans and set them aside, draining off the rest. Immediately cool the beans with ice water to stop the cooking process and allow the vegetables to retain their beautiful fresh color.
Make white sauce:
- In a deep skillet or a large pan, heat the butter over medium-high heat and fry the onions you have previously chopped finely. Stir until the onions are glazed. This takes about 3-5 minutes.
- Turn down the heat and add the flour. Stir for a minute. Then remove the pot from the heat. Gradually pour in the bean broth and stir diligently to dissolve the lumps. Note: This stage will take a bit of work, but be patient; if you pour in the warm stock a little at a time, you will end up with a thick, lump-free mash in which only fried onion is visible. Gradually add the milk and whisk.
- Return the pot to the stove. Increase the heat until the sauce begins to bubble. Add the bay leaf and allspice, and stir in the vinegar. Turn the heat down to low, cover, and let it simmer for 15 minutes on very low heat. The roux will cook through nicely, soften, bind the sauce together, and lose the mealy taste.
- Finally, take the pot off the stove and stir in the cream. If the sauce is too thick, add a little milk and whisk. Add a teaspoon of sugar and, if necessary, season with salt or vinegar to your liking. Remove the spices—bay leaves and allspice.
- If the green beans are long, cut them into pieces about 1 ½ inch in size. Put them in the sauce and let them warm up for a while. Avoid overcooking the sauce, as the cream might curdle, mainly if you use light cream with reduced fat.
Notes
- Makes 4 portions.
- SERVING: Creamed green beans taste best with boiled potatoes that you have topped with butter and sprinkled with finely chopped chives. Another option is to serve them with bread dumplings. Also, add a halved hard-boiled egg.
- TIP: Try adding a spoonful of chopped delicate dill leaves to the bean sauce just before finishing. It's great to spice up the taste!
- STORAGE: Store the cooled sauce with beans in the fridge, where it will keep for up to five days.
- The sauce will thicken the next day. Add a tablespoon or two of water while reheating, and acidify or season with salt and sugar if necessary.
- EXTRA TIP: These cream beans in white sauce are a vegetarian dish. For meat lovers, add fried crispy bacon bits.
DISCLAIMER: Because I come from Central Europe, my recipes are based on metric units such as grams or milliliters. Check out how I convert metric units to the U.S. system:
Conversion chart
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