Slow Cooker Green Beans
Crockpot green beans are cooked long and slow in an aromatic broth of a slow cooker until they are tender and infused with smokey bits of ham. Kids love these!
Servings: 8
Calories: 226kcal
Equipment
- 1 slow cooker (4-8 quart capacity)
- 1 slow cooker liner (3-8 quart size and optional)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Fresh, French-Style Green Beans
- 1 pound Ham Shank
- 2 quarts Water
- 3 tablespoons Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base
- 1 teaspoon Hot Sauce
- ⅛ teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt, Diamond Crystal Brand
Instructions
- Trim off the woody tip of the french green beans. You can snap it off with your hands or group them together to cut the tips with your knife to save time.
- Place the trimmed green beans into the slow cooker.
- Place the ham shank on top of the green beans.
- Add the water, chicken-flavored Better Than Bouillon, hot sauce, black pepper, and kosher salt to the slow cooker.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 5 hours.
- After 5 hours, poke the shank with a fork. If it is easy to remove the fork, the pork shank is ready to shred. If it’s still tough, cook longer while rechecking the tenderness at 30 minute intervals.
- Remove the ham shank from the slow cooker and place on a plate or cutting board.
- Use 2 forks to lightly shred the ham meat into small pieces and remove the bones, skin, and cartilage. Be careful because it is hot.
- Return the shredded ham to the crock pot and stir to combine.
- Taste a green bean to see if it needs more salt or hot sauce to your liking. Keep the crockpot on warm with the green beans resting in the broth until ready to serve.
- Serve with a slotted spoon or tongs to strain the broth.
Notes
If you double this recipe, 4 pounds of French-style green beans with 1 ham shank is the most that my 5-quart slow cooker will hold.
Green beans held above the broth line will dehydrate and become chewy so make sure they are 80% submerged in liquid when you start cooking.
If some of the green beans are not submerged, give them a stir after 2 hours of cooking because they have started to shrink in size.
Nutrition
Calories: 226kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 772mg | Potassium: 454mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 783IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 64mg | Iron: 2mg
