Easy homemade Crock Pot Green Beans with bacon are one of our favorite side dish recipes. Made with fresh green beans, bacon, onion and a few seasonings in the slow cooker.
Fresh green beans tastes so much better than canned green beans. Plus green beans with bacon have so much flavor.
This southern old fashioned style green beans recipe uses just eight ingredients and can be done in four hours when you cook them in a slow cooker.
You can double up the ingredients to make them for a crowd.
This recipe was originally shared on December 6, 2013 but has been updated September 24, 2021 with new photos and info.
Crock Pot Green Beans for a crowd
This easy green beans recipe is a perfect side dish for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
It is easy to make enough to feed a crowd by doubling all the ingredients and cooking them in a larger slow cooker. If you need to you could use two 8 quart slow cookers if you don't have one big enough.
How to make Easy Crock Pot Green Beans
Crockpot greens beans are very easy to make. Prep the fresh green beans by washing them and trimming the ends. Combine all the ingredients in a slow cooker and let them simmer for about 4 hours.
Ingredients
You only need a few ingredients to make delicious a delicious side dish of fresh green beans.
- fresh green beans
- onion
- bacon, a chunk of fat back (salt pork), a ham hock or a leftover ham bone with meat attached
- chicken broth or water
- garlic
- butter
- salt
- ground black pepper
Step by step directions
Prep: Wash the fresh green beans under running cold water, drain and trim the ends.
Step 1: Put the green beans into the bottom of a 8 quart slow cooker.
Step 2: Add the diced onion, diced bacon, minced garlic, salt and ground pepper to the crock pot.
Step 3: Pour the chicken broth in covering the green beans.
Step 4: Place the lid on the slow cooker. Cook the fresh beans on high for 4 hours. Or on low for 6-8 hours or until the green beans are tender.
Step 5: Occasionally stir the green beans as they cook. Adjust the salt and pepper before serving if needed.
Step 6: Serve with your Thanksgiving or Christmas meal. Fresh green beans are a great side dish any time of the year.
Recipe FAQS
Recipe Expert Tips
- Green beans: Use the freshest green beans you can find for the tenderest beans.
- Use a slow cooker that is large enough to hold all of the ingredients plus have some extra space. I used an 8 quart crock pot to cook one pound of green beans. It was the perfect size for the amount of ingredients.
- Bacon: You can substitute ham hock, fat back, or a ham bone with meat attached for the bacon.
- Chicken broth: you can substitute water for the chicken broth if need be. You may need to adjust the salt and pepper if you use water. Broth give the best flavor.
More crock pot side dish recipes
Check out some of these other crock pot side dish recipes perfect for the holidays.
Easy Crock Pot Green Beans with Bacon
Ingredients
- 1 lbs fresh green beans (rinsed and trimmed)
- 1 medium onion (peeled and diced)
- 8 ounces bacon, diced or (a chunk of fat back, ham hock or leftover ham bone with meat attached)
- 7 cups chicken broth or water ((see notes))
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Layer the green beans, diced onion, diced bacon, minced garlic, butter, salt and black pepper in a 8 quart slow cooker.
- Pour the chicken broth or water over the ingredients.
- With a spoon stir the ingredients to combine.
- Turn the crock pot on high. Place the lid on the crock pot.
- Slow cook the fresh green beans for 4 hours on high or 6 to 8 hours on low. Or until the green beans are tender.
- Occasionally stir the green beans as they cook.
- Adjust the salt and pepper if needed before serving.
- Serve the green beans as a side dish with any meal.
MARTI L.
I MADE THIS RECIPE FOR THANKSGIVING AND EVERYONE LOVED IT.I PLAN ON MAKING IT AGAIN FOR EASTER.THE ONLY THING I CHANGED WAS I USED 3LBS FRESH GREEN BEANS AND STILL USED 7 CUPS OF LOW SALT CHICKEN BROTH AND COOKED IT ON HIGH FOR 4HRS. THIS IS A KEEPER!!
Roxann
I would use it for chocolate chip cookies.
Breanne
I'd like to make sugar cookies
Laurie Emerson
I would make some Gingerbread men.
Christine
gingerbread cookies
adina
sugar cookies!
Crystal Renee
I would love to try it out on my browned butter chocolate chip cookies!
Kimberly Hilbert
I'd love to make some sugar cookies. I need a good mat for that.
Tommy Gunn
I'd make some sugar cookies!
Teresa Thompson
I would bake sugar cookies with my granddaughters.
Kristin
I am a frosted sugar cookie junkie, so my first thought is that I'd like to use it to make those, but I just found a FABULOUS looking recipe for Pumpkin Swirl Sugar Cookies. They have chocolate chips and mini marshmallows in them and you roll them kind of like cinnamon rolls and then slice them, then bake them. They look VERY easy and VERY tasty!
Kristin
Paula Michele Hafner
I would make Christmas Sugar Cookies. They can be a pain to cut out!
april yedinak
I would want to use this for my cut-out sugar cookies I bake for Christmas.
Sarah
I have a ton of Christmas cookies to bake on it!
Angela Hartness
The first thing I would want to bake on a Silpat is Christmas sugar cookies.
Deb C
I would want to bake Red Velvet Cookies first on the Silpat.
Shannon
Making sugar cookies to decorate would be fun.
Monique Rizzo
Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Thanks for the chance.
mogrill12@gmail.com
melissaandkeith miller
homemade cookies
Sara Wagner
I would make sugar cookies.
Kristi
We make pizza every Friday night. The rolling mat would be great for rolling out the pizza dough.
Candace
I'd use it to make many many pie doughs and pulled sugar ribbon candy
Christine Jensen
Snickerdoodles
Nicole D.
I would use it for pizza dough to keep the mess off my counter! Thanks!
Kellie Christensen
Roll out cookie dough!
kortney nelson
Chocolate chip cookies for sure!
Carla S
I would make amish potato rolls, windmill cookies,sugar cookies,crescent rolls,and pizza dough.
Amanda C.
I would bake my mom's potato chip cookies.
deana c
I would bake my italian cookies on it!
christina moore
I would use it to make sugar cookies for Christmas
beth shepherd
I would make chocolate chip cookies
Mel
Christmas cookies!
JenniferB
I would use silpat to make peanut brittle
Holly
I'd bake my famous cutout cookies!
deb
I would like to make homemade pizza dough on the mat
Nataly Carbonell
I want to make macarons and donuts!
tammigirl
I would love to use them for my rolled/cut sugar cookies.
Wehaf
I would make some cranberry scones.
Robyn L
My granddaughter and I would make our sugar cookie cutouts for Santa!
Susan B
I'd use it to make the chocolate fudge nut cookies our family always made at Christmas. They burn easily, so the mat should help.
mysweetiepiepie
The first thing I would make would bread.
gina lovejoy
cookies
BusyWorkingMama
I'd like to use this for sugar cookies 🙂
Pam Gurganus
The first thing I would want to bake on the Silpat are Christmas sugar cookies!
Jenne
Piparkakku cookies
Rebecca Brewer
Gluten free cookie dough sticks to everything. I would love to make gluten free sugar cookies for my kids to decorate. Merry Christmas!
Lucy Nguyen
Chocolate chip cookies
Serena Powell
I'd probably make cookies.
Kelly D
I would make Christmas themed sugar cookies.
McKim
I would make peanut butter cookies.
mickeyfan
Getting ready for Cookiepalooza 2013....about 10 kinds of cookies would be cooked on it.
Kerry Clark
I would try one of the cookie or biscuit recipes I have saved up. 🙂
Diana
I would love the Roul"pat counter top station. With my old countertops it would be a huge inprovement.
Vickie
I would make some cookies for my grandson!
Cynthia C
I want to bake coconut macaroons on the silpat.
Tracy L Davis
chocolate chip cookies
Nancy A.
I would make cookies! So tired of them getting real dark on the bottom and getting stuck or spreading so much they look awful. I just can't make cookies lately and need this badly!!
Melissa
I'd make oatmeal raisin cookies first!
Kathy S
I would use for rolling out my cutout cookies.
Tina W
I would use the countertop mat to roll out some pie crust!
Dorothy Teel
I would use it for baking cookies - snickerdoodles on sounds great to me
Kim Henrichs
I would make my mom's noodles!!
Jessie C.
I would bake gingerbread cookies
Heather B
I would use it to make my old-fashioned sugar cookies for Christmas.
Jeffrey
I'd make some double chocolate chip cookies!
Sue Ellison
I would use the workstation to make Tea Cakes.
Yashica
Chocolate chip cookies please
Gwen B.
I would use it for my buttermilk cheddar biscuits.
Ashley B
I would use it for my homemade chocolate chip cookies.