Recipes › Runner Beans › Runner Beans with Brown Butter, Almonds and Lemon
Runner Beans with Brown Butter, Almonds and Lemon
A classic French-style side dish that does justice to the best of the summer harvest. Runner beans are blanched until just tender, then tossed in nutty brown butter with toasted flaked almonds and a squeeze of lemon. It is on the table in under 20 minutes and makes any roast dinner or grilled fish feel rather special.
Runner Beans is in season now. More runner beans recipes, or see what to sow this month where you are.
Ingredients
- 650 g runner beans, strings removed, sliced on the diagonal into 5cm lengths
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 40 g flaked almondspine nuts work well too
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 1 tsp flaky sea salt
- 1 pinch black pepper, freshly ground
Contains: milk, nuts.
Method
- Bring a large pan of well-salted water to a rolling boil. Add the runner beans and cook for 4–5 minutes until tender with a slight bite — not squeaky, not floppy. Drain well and shake off excess water.About 7 min
- While the beans are cooking, melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Once melted, continue cooking for 3–4 minutes, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter turns a deep golden-hazelnut colour and smells nutty. Watch it carefully — it goes from golden to burnt quickly.About 4 min
- Add the flaked almonds to the brown butter and cook for 1 minute, stirring, until lightly toasted. Remove from the heat immediately.About 1 min
- Tip the drained runner beans straight into the pan with the brown butter and almonds. Toss well to coat.
- Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, flaky salt and black pepper. Toss once more and taste for seasoning. Serve immediately.
Tips
- Do not walk away from the brown butter. Keep the heat at medium and swirl the pan so it colours evenly. The moment it smells toasty and looks amber, take it off the heat.
- Make sure your beans are well-drained before adding them to the butter or the water will make the sauce split and spit.
- This is best eaten immediately after tossing — brown butter loses its magic if it sits and re-solidifies.
Ring the changes
- A tablespoon of capers added with the lemon juice makes this a sharper, more interesting side for fish.
- For a dairy-free version, use good olive oil instead of butter and toast the almonds separately in a dry pan.
Keeping it
Best eaten immediately. If you must keep leftovers, store in the fridge for up to 2 days and serve at room temperature — do not reheat or the beans will go limp.
In the app this recipe finds you
Log what you've picked and GrowMore CookMore matches it to 1,918 more recipes like this one, tells you what's ready before the frost gets it, and keeps the freezer honest. Free to start.
More from the same crop
This is the salad to make when the garden is producing more beans than you know what to do with. Blanched until just tender, the runner beans are dressed while still warm so they absorb every bit of the sharp mustardy vinaigrette. Ripe tomatoes and plenty of fresh herbs turn it into something genuinely special.
15 min · easy · Runner BeansA fragrant South-East Asian-inspired curry where thick-cut runner beans simmer in a golden turmeric and coconut milk broth until just tender. Crispy fried shallots on top add crunch and sweetness. This is a proper weeknight vegetable main that asks nothing of you but a good pile of jasmine rice alongside.
40 min · easy · Runner BeansThis is the Italian approach to a bean soup — honest, filling and built on good stock. Thick slices of runner bean and waxy potato simmer until just tender, then the whole pot gets lifted at the last moment with a generous spoonful of basil pesto swirled through each bowl. It tastes like something that took all day, but comes together in under an hour.
45 min · easy · Runner Beans
Allotment keeper in the North East of England, the voice behind the Tony C Smith YouTube channel, and the gardener who built GrowMore CookMore. Club numbers on this page update as members log their plots. Last updated 4 April 2026.