Want dinner to be easy? Oven roast everything. Haha! Seriously, it’s my favorite cooking method because it’s mostly hands-off and the dry cooking environment concentrates flavors and creates delicious caramelization. I usually steam my green beans, keeping them mostly fresh, but since I already had the oven going for some salmon, I decided to try to make Sesame Roasted Green Beans instead. They were super easy, tasty, and a nice change of pace from my usual!
What Do They Taste Like?
These Sesame Roasted Green Beans are seasoned really simply with garlic, some soy sauce for umami and salt, and sesame oil and seeds for an earthy base. So they’re simple, but good. They’re definitely more savory compared to light and fresh steamed green beans, so they’re great for the winter months when meals are little cozier.
Don’t Skip the Toasted Sesame Oil
Toasted sesame oil is such a magical ingredient and I always get questions about whether or not you can substitute or skip it and my answer is an emphatic “no.” Toasted sesame oil has an extremely deep nutty flavor that just can’t be replicated with any other ingredient. You only need a small amount to totally transform an entire dish.
Where to Find Toasted Sesame Oil
Thankfully, toasted sesame oil is becoming really easy to find and a lot of store brands are beginning to make their own (thank you, ALDI and Trader Joes!). You’ll usually find it in the international foods aisle at the grocery store rather than with olive oil or cooking oils, but of course, every store is different.
It’s not always labeled as “toasted” but you’ll know it’s toasted by the color. Toasted sesame oil is a deep brown color, whereas regular, un-toasted sesame oil is a light straw color, like canola oil. Un-toasted sesame oil has a very light flavor, and won’t provide the same depth that you’ll get with toasted sesame oil.
What to Serve with Sesame Roasted Green Beans
I served my roasted green beans with Baked Ginger Salmon and rice, but it would also be great as a side for Sesame Chicken, Easy Orange Chicken, Easy Teriyaki Chicken, Pork and Peanut Dragon Noodles, Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken, or Hoisin Stir Fry Bowls.
Sesame Roasted Green Beans
Servings 4Ingredients
- 1 lb. green beans ($1.89)
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.06)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil ($0.24)
- 1 tsp sesame seeds ($0.06)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Wash the green beans and break off the stems. Mince the garlic.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup, if desired. Add the green beans, minced garlic, cooking oil, and soy sauce to the baking sheet, then toss the beans until they are evenly coated in oil, soy sauce, and minced garlic. Spread the beans out evenly on the baking sheet.
- Roast the green beans in the fully preheated oven for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes take them out of the oven, drizzle 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil and sprinkle 1 teaspoon sesame seeds over top. Give everything a good stir.
- Return the green beans to the oven and roast for an additional 5 minutes, or until the beans are slightly browned and blistered. Serve immediately.
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Equipment
Nutrition
How to Make Sesame Roasted Green Beans – Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Rinse one pound of green beans and snap off the stems. Mince two cloves of garlic. Place the green beans and minced garlic on a large baking sheet (line with parchment for easy cleanup, if desired). Drizzle 1 Tbsp cooking oil and 1 Tbsp soy sauce over top.
Toss the green beans until they are evenly coated in oil, soy sauce, and minced garlic. Spread the green beans out evenly over the baking sheet.
Roast the green beans in the fully preheated 425ºF oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, take them out of the oven, drizzle 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil over top and add 1 tsp sesame seeds. Toss everything together to coat.
This is what my toasted sesame oil looks like, by the way. You can see the deep brown color that let’s you know it’s actually toasted. It’s usually in a small bottle, since you need so little to provide a lot of flavor, but this bottle from ALDI is quite large.
After adding the sesame seeds and sesame oil, return the green beans to the oven and roast for an additional 5 minutes, or until they achieve your desired level of browning.
Serve immediately and enjoy!
Can this to cooked in an air fryer??
I know you could, but since we haven’t tried it I can’t tell you an exact temp and time! Definitely try it though!
Made this with your coconut rice and baked ginger salmon and it was delicious! Always nice to have a meal that leaves you time to clean up the kitchen before you eat while the food cooks :)
Love this recipe. Thanks for posting
I make these ALL the time, they are so delicious!
I usually love Budget Bytes items but this was very absent of flavor to me. I added more soy sauce, sriracha, and rice vinegar to make it pop.
These are the best green beans ever!!! I can’t get enough of them prepared this way. I never thought much about greens beans. Usually I’d steam or microwave them. But roasting them with the soy sauce and sesame oil makes them out of this world!!
Hi! Do you have any suggestions on what to pair these beans with for a full meal?
Yes, check the paragraph just above the recipe titled, “What to Serve With Sesame Roasted Green Beans.” :)
Oh geez, spelled it right out for me…should probably read the entire article!!! So sorry and thank you!!
No problem at all! I just like to make sure people know where to find the info in the future because it’s a lot faster than waiting for me to respond to questions in the comments. :)
Had some extra green beans from another recipe earlier this week, so decided to give this one a try. The BF actually said these Sesame Roasted Green Beans are now his favorite method of consuming green beans and went back for seconds. That says a lot coming from a guy who rarely touches veggies. Thanks for another wining recipe.
If you want to use frozen green beans, I’ve made something very similar in a skillet with frozen green beans and it worked great! Maybe not the same caramelization, but it was still tasty in its own way.
Hmmmm. aside from using a pan stovetop (I would probably use a cast iron skillet) what process was different? or if you have a link to that particular recipe? not trying to deviate from BB here (I PROMISE! MY FAMILY LOVES ALL THESE RECIPES!) but I try very hard to buy ultra-local. Blizzard Uri killed all the green houses and family farms in the Houston area. :( so for freshness & flavor sake, Trader Joe’s frozen veggies are my winter back up . At least that way I know there are no GMO’s and their frozen green beans are sourced from France known for their more traditional growing practices. but for now, no kale, broccoli, asparagus, cabbage or citrus! and I know it’s gonna take quite a while for everyone to get back on their feet. It’s over a week later and there are still people w/o water waiting on plumbers!
Ok i am off my soapbox. Thank you!
Ms. Jen, this is my winter “go to” with frozen green beans. I use Trader Joe’s Haircot Verts. only $1.79 a bag! Trying to figure out how to use BB ingredients incorporated with this process. Any ideas? and this recipe is SO GOOD! the more mushrooms the better!
https://lynnecurry.com/2012/02/best-frozen-green-beans/
Thank you for the explanation that “It’s not always labeled as ‘toasted’ but you’ll know it’s toasted by the color.” That solves my hunch about what’s in my pantry! Mine must be toasted, even though the label doesn’t say it.
If I wanted to use frozen Green Beans (all our Farmers Market’s were wiped out last week here in Texas!) do you have a hack? I know you can’t let them thaw or you will have a limp wet mess!
I haven’t tried this one with frozen yet, but in general, when you roast frozen vegetables they’ll be a lot softer and get less caramelization on them than roasting fresh vegetables. I feel like it wouldn’t work quite as well for green beans since they’re so thin.
Hi Ruthie,
I always use frozen beans, as they are cheaper and keep better: and they work just fine. I think I have done it both with them directly from the freezer and thawed. Both were great. Just adjust the cooking time accordingly.
You can also roast them in a skillet at high heat with the oil and garlic. And add the sesame and sesame oil at the end. It also works fine directly from the freezer. No problem 🙂
Thank you! Looks like I will be experimenting over the weekend.
When I roast frozen veggies, I let the pan heat up with the oven. Helps eliminate some of the sogginess.