Use This Breakfast Staple In Your Green Beans For An Unforgettable Side Dish

Outside of green bean casserole, these stringy, fibrous legumes aren't usually top of mind when considering side dishes for your favorite roasted miso maple salmon or lemony roasted chicken. However, that opinion might change when you realize they're much more versatile than many of us think. Not only is it fairly easy to upgrade boring green bean casserole with French onion flavors, it's just as simple to elevate ordinary roasted green beans with a sweet and savory glaze — more specifically, orange marmalade whisked into savory ingredients to create a flavor-bomb that'll have you giving green beans a slot in your weekday dinner rotation.

Admittedly, glazing green beans with this sugary, citrus-forward breakfast staple seems like a weird choice — until, of course, you remember the existence of orange chicken. This green bean glaze strives for a similar balance of sweet, savory, and spicy that hides some of the beans' inherent bitterness while waking up some of their nutty nuance with zippy flare. The combined acidity and sweetness in the marmalade also livens up all the other ingredients in the glaze to help everything taste cohesive.

As for what else goes into the glaze, there are tons of choices. A touch of garlic-infused olive oil is excellent, as is a dash of hot sauce or some sriracha to balance the sweetness of the marmalade. You could also lean into Asian flavors with soy sauce and grated ginger, or enter barbecue territory with a little tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, and paprika.

The trickiest part of creating a sweet and savory glaze for any dish is ensuring all the flavors marry without scorching the glaze. That means roasting your green beans with the glaze already on them is a no-no since the marmalade would burn and ruin your dish. Instead, it's best to get your green beans nice and crispy in the air fryer before dressing them. You could also boil them, then pan- or oven-roast them with a little butter and salt to get them nice and tender first.

Drizzling the glaze on after they finish cooking — but while they're still hot — helps ensure the flavors sink into the beans. You can also toss the beans to ensure all of them are fully coated, then stick the whole dish into an oven set to low until you're ready to serve them. Heat is also key to bringing the glaze together in the first place; whisking together cold tamari or miso into sticky marmalade just results in a clumpy mess. Using a double boiler applies gentle heat to the glaze so everything whisks smoothly together and the flavors bloom.

It's also important not to skimp on garnishes with this dish. The glaze adds flavor but virtually no texture, and green beans are typically uniformly soft when cooked. Crushed peanuts, slivered almonds, or garlicky croutons not only add a touch more warm, delicious flavor, but also bring some much needed crunch to the entire dish.