The Ina Garten Easy Side Dish I Make Every Thanksgiving

It all started just as I finished packing up homemade pumpkin whoopie pies, and shoved a casserole loaded with mac and cheese into the fridge for Friendsgiving the next day. “No one signed up for a healthy veggie,” my friend panic-texted me. “Can you bring one?” My thumbs tapped out, “Yes!” but my heart said, “Blerg, I get to bring the one dish no one will touch.”

I half-heartedly searched “Thanksgiving side that’s easy S.O.S.,” and the internet gifted me Ina Garten’s Green Beans Gremolata. I had no idea what gremolata was, but I love everything Ina. Plus, her recipe listed just seven ingredients, and one of them was French green beans with the cute little tails on the ends. Très fancy.

The next morning, I speed-shopped for my last-minute, phoned-in side dish. (“Store-bought is fine,” I repeated to myself.) I raced home, threw it all together, and promptly placed my jaw on the floor at the first taste. (Gasp!) These green beans are freakin’ awesome.

Why I Love Ina Garten’s Green Beans Gremolata

I won’t lie to you and say that everyone’s going into Thanksgiving like, “Yeah! Green beans! Let’s go!,” but Ina’s recipe slays with a capital S. You can put it together in 20 minutes while wearing pajamas, and it’ll have everyone from Great Aunt Peggy to your picky niece going back for more.

It smells gourmet and tastes like it, too. The sweet citrus of the lemon zest, toasty-warm pine nuts, and grassy, fresh-chopped herbs say, “I low-key threw this together while sunning myself on the Amalfi Coast, where I stumbled upon a patch of wild flat leaf parsley and a lemon grove.” Never mind the rich and tangy Parmesan cheese that covers each bean like confetti at a parade.

This is the dish everyone will ask for next year … and the year after. (Creamy green bean casserole‘s invitation must have gotten lost in the mail.)

How To Make Ina’s Green Beans Gremolata

I’m always relieved that Ina designs forgiving recipes for fans who cook at home. This is key for anyone like me who reads the whole recipe but still might miss a step. Here are a few pointers that I’ve picked up after making this recipe several times.

While you’re waiting for the water for the green beans to boil, toast the pine nuts—and don’t look away from the pan. As a burned pine nuts survivor, I’m telling you that they brown so fast that even daydreaming is dicey. Listen for the oils in the nuts to sizzle, and shake them in the pan frequently.

Roughly 90 percent of the time that I’ve made this, I’ve gotten overly excited and accidentally added the olive oil to the gremolata when it’s really meant for the sauté pan. Thankfully, a light spritz of cooking spray for the pan (and then tossing the beans with the olive-oily gremolata off the heat) works just as well.

All that’s left is to enjoy a refreshing bit of crunchy, citrusy sunshine on your Thanksgiving table, where green beans taste just as comforting as any other dish on the menu.