In my humble opinion, bacon and shallots are a flavor match made in culinary heaven. That’s why you’ll see them in a quiche featured in my cookbook, in this ⬇️ recipe, and probably in many more to come! If you give this flavor combo a try yourself, I think you’ll understand why. The delicate sweetness of shallots paired with the saltiness of rich bacon just slays for days! Add some toasted pecans and it’s ON, y’all!
So let’s talk bacon for a minute. You may be thinking that bacon isn’t so healthy for you. If you are buying any old bacon, you might be right. Many brands of bacon that major grocery stores sell are filled with hormones, antibiotics, nitrates, and other things that can wreak havoc on your health and cause inflammation in your body.
However, if you select a sustainably raised bacon brand, like Applegate Farms, or find a local butcher with sustainable practices, then you don’t have to worry too much. I still wouldn't recommend eating it every day, but this is bacon you can feel good about. Here’s what you are looking for when shopping for bacon:
Very little to no sugar added. If it's on the ingredient list, it should be so minimal that the Nutrition Facts still reflect 0g of sugar.
Package should state that it’s: uncured, nitrate-free, and antibiotic-free.
Shazam - that’s good bacon!
If you’ve checked out my other recipes, you may note that I love a good sheet pan recipe. Here's why:
1 - Roasting veggies just brings out ALL the flavor.
2 - A sheet pan allows you some quality hands off cooking time (to prep other ingredients, fold laundry, have a spot of wine, whatever your little heart fancies!)
3 - Prep can be done in advance so you can toss something together in a snap.
4 - They tend to make your house smell AH-MAZING. (this recipe sure does)
5 -They are super duper easy and require, very little clean up when you use the pan as a vessel to prep ingredients, like I do.
Now - this is not your average pot-luck green bean dish. I don’t have anything against that one as it’s good in it’s own right, but soggy bacon makes me sad. When you toss chopped raw bacon and onions on a pan of overcrowded green beans, the beans actually steam rather than roasting. What do you get? A green bean dish with accompanying softish onions and soggy bacon! Which in my opinion just doesn’t let those ingredients SHINE the way they should. So that’s the reason for cooking the bacon first. It will really only add 15 or so minutes to the overall time it takes to make this recipe and is so worth it. Trust me on this one.
Lastly, this is a comforting recipe that has a lot of crunchy and rich texture, adequate protein to eat as a complete meal, and still gives you some nice nutritional value… thank you ye olde humble green beans!
So here we go, step by step y’all!
While your oven is preheating, lay the bacon strips on the sheet pan in one layer.
When you remove them from the oven they should look something like this… Try not to devour all of the bacon while you complete the following steps. You can eat one strip, I tested it and the bacon to bean ratio was still just fine this way. 😉
Drain off most the grease from the pan. Leave only a thin layer to use as your cooking fat for the veggies. Add the green beans and shallots to the pan along with seasoning. Stir them to ensure they are coated in the fat and then spread them out as much as possible.
After they’ve cooked for about 12 minutes, take the sheet pan out of the oven, stir in the pecan halves, and return it to the oven so they can get nice and toasty.
When you pull the pan out of the oven again, just add your bacon and enjoy!!
Green Beans with Pecans and Bacon (Sheet Pan Meal)
Yield: 3 - 6 servings (3 as a complete meal, 6 as a side)
Ingredients:
8 oz. uncured bacon
1 lb. whole green beans, ends trimmed
2 shallot bulbs, sliced into ½’’ pieces
½ t sea salt
½ t black pepper
1 T olive oil, optional
¾ c pecan halves
Process:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Place bacon on a sheet pan in one single layer, no overlapping. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until bacon is crispy enough to crumble easily with your fingers.
Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb excess grease. Meanwhile, increase the oven temperature up to 425 degrees F.
Next, carefully drain excess bacon grease from the sheet pan, only leaving a thin layer to coat the bottom of the entire sheet pan. If you don’t enjoy bacon grease, you can wipe the pan clean and use a tablespoon of olive oil instead.
Toss green beans, shallots, salt, and pepper directly on the sheet pan until the beans are coated in grease. Some separation of the shallot layers is okay, but don’t completely separate them or they will burn.
Return sheet pan to the oven for another 12 minutes.
Remove pan from the oven, add pecan halves, and stir to coat pecans in grease and distribute evenly. Cook for another 5 - 7 minutes, or until beans are tender and pecans are toasted and fragrant.
Remove from the oven, add crumbled bacon, and enjoy!
Notes: Do yourself a favor, make two sheet pans of this so you have easy heat and eat leftovers.
About this Recipe:
paleo dairy free egg free ketogenic coconut free gluten free