I don’t really crave french fries. Is that weird?
In fact, I can’t actually think of a time I ever craved something salty. My chocolate cravings, however, make up for it.
I mean, I like fries as much as anyone else, but I don’t ever get hit with that “oh my god, I need them now” feeling. Although, I will admit to being wooed by the McDonald’s crack fry aroma once or twice in my life. It happens.
What I do get hit with is the overwhelming need to eat food that can be dipped. To me, fries are 80% ketchup and 20% fried potato goodness.
The only thing that makes picking off the ends of green beans one by one worth the effort is baking them up nice and crispy so they become perfect crunchy dipping vehicles.
And yes, I know they sell french cut bagged green beans (or shall I say haricot verts?) that require no end picking, but convenience veggies with fancy names just bother me with their inflated price tags. I will never buy bagged anything (except baby spinach) or pre-cut fruit from the produce department. It’s half principle, half stubbornness.
So in addition to zucchini fries and asparagus fries (which were also born out of the same craving), I now have green bean fries on here as an excuse to down copious amounts of dipping sauce.
It’s hard to go wrong with a greek yogurt, ketchup and sriracha mixture that leaves your mouth just on the border of uncomfortably spicy.
It’s kind of a fun place to hang out, that spicy borderline area. Keeps you on your toes whether it’s eating a green bean fry or dealing with the guy who came within millimeters of backing into your car while you’re sitting in it in NYC last night. A few “spicy” words may have been exchanged.
- 1 lb. pound green beans, trimmed
- ¼ cup liquid egg whites
- ¼ cup panko bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- salt & pepper
- ¼ cup plain greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- 1½ teaspoons sriracha
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and place a cooling rack on top so it’s sitting in the pan.
- Pour egg whites in a shallow bowl, set aside.
- Combine breadcrumbs, flax, nutritional yeast and salt & pepper in another small bowl.
- Dip green beans in egg whites and then coat in breadcrumb mixture. Lay side by side on rack in the baking sheet.
- Spray green beans with baking spray and bake for 15 minutes, until crunchy and golden brown.
- While green beans bake, combine yogurt, ketchup and sriracha in another small bowl to make the dipping sauce.
- Enjoy hot out of the oven.
{ 38 comments… read them below or add one }
Love the combination of the crunchy coating with the green beans and that dipping sauce sounds just awesome!
love that you made beans into crunchy fries! i always crave fries, probably should try these instead since they’re healthier! that dipping sauce..i could literally dip alllllllllll day in it..one of my favs is sriracha & mayo!
I’ll try this, but I have the worse time making vegetables into fries. Either I cut them to thin, or I don’t cook long enough, something. But I have never made green bean fries so I’ll them a go! This is such a great recipe!
I hear ya, I think green beans lend themselves to being made into fries much more easily than others because of their size and shape. No cutting necessary!
I’m slightly ashamed to admit that I haven’t had green beans since I was a kid. I love the idea of these though… it’s a gateway to eating veggies
Oh my gosh – these look awesome!! I have recently tried avocado fries, but I’m dying to try these!! Genius! The dipping sauce is a must.
These look super addicting!
These look totally addicting and fantastic.
I love to dip, too! Of course, salty cravings are my thing, since sweets do nothing for me. These look like a lot of fun!
I just posted a dippy recipe today too! I actually do buy frozen veggies out of convenience… since I only cook for me its sometimes hard to get a variety of veggies in before they all go bad so frozen works for me!
I should’ve clarified…frozen bagged stuff is ok
It’s the bagged stuff in the produce section or already prepped stuff that drives me nuts! Like bagged lettuce, a cup of cut up mango chunks for the price of what you’d pay for like 6 whole ones! That kind of stuff..
I will answer that for you: yes. it’s weird!! Haha. No I guess I don’t really CRAVE them either, but when they’re in front of me I am absolutely going to eat them
Doh! I just bought a bag of snipped green beans yesterday. Don’t hate me – I’m just too impatient to do the trimming myself. The good news is that these green bean fries will happen this week!
Yum– these look JUST as good as regular fries. I’m much more of a sweets craving girl too.
that’s what bumpers are for, silly!!! Getting tapped is a NYC expectation. That might sound more pathetic out loud. I had a crazy guy on the train last night and had to give a statement. Because, of course I did.
I know, I know… BUT, in my defense, Ulysses just literally 2 weeks ago replaced my front bumper b/c it was chipped up like woah from highway gravel. So I’m a little sensitive to it’s brand new shinyness right now. Obviously, NYC streets aren’t the place to be sensitive but whatever.
oh my! What a great idea! Ive been trying to find different ways to serve up theses green beauties..and Im all about anything crunchy! YUM!
i think we all know how i feel about green beans
love this crunchy version!!
Love these, Gina. I also love French fries and I try to avoid them but sometimes I just have to have them. These are a great alternative!
The dipping sauce alone looks great and then these “fries”. Totally creative and I love it! I have seen similar breaded veggie recipes on Pinterest and around the sphere. Now I have to do it!
I only crave fries that are prepared in a good for you way. These look delicious! I always need to add a variety of veggies into my diet
I totally agree… what I look forward most when eating fries is the dip… ketchup or Sriracha mayo. These are waaaaaaaaay better than fries in taste and in healthiness… hardly any oil but gots all the crunch and salt we need!
Love this idea for green bean fries! I enjoy zucchini fries so much, and I bet these too would be a big hit! Your yogurt-ketchup-sriracha sauce is a great combination, too! I typically do a mix of Ranch and sriracha which is amazing but I’ll try yours.
I wish I never craved good french fries! But I do love green bean fries, too…so good. Less guilt!
your first photo is so SHARP Gina. lovely
I can relate to not carving fries too. Sweets are more of my thing
I’ve never tried veggie fries before, but I’m getting green beans from the store very soon to give them a shot. The dipping sauce sounds like an awesome plain old ketchup alternative. I love my fries in lots of it!
The only time I crave fries is when my husband is eating them, oh minus sweet potato fries I do actually get a hankering for those! I lone this idea, so easy and I know he will eat them
I am pretty much a ketchup fiend. I seriously cannot get enough of it. Any sort of “fry” like food is just a way to shovel more ketchup into my body.
I’m like you!! I crave chocolate like crazy but French fries have never been my thing. I am seriously in awe of your photography skills. I’m taking a 6 week photography class that starts tomorrow and am so excited!
that’s awesome! I’ve wanted to take a class for a long time but can’t seem to find anything appropriate around me. I hope you post about what you learn!
This looks seriously delicious.
Funny, I never really crave french fries either…fried food has never been particularly interesting to me, but your green bean fries look great! I’d also love to try your zucchini fries. I like that these are baked instead of deep fried – they look crunchy and wonderful.
Wow, these look amazing!! Thanks so much!
These look delicious, can’t wait to give them a try!
Mmm I gotta try these! I love green bean fries – even better if they’re kinda healthy
This looks awesome, and very healthy with the flax and all. I have to do something like this with asparagus! For my family I’d use crushed Rice Chex and corn meal to make a gluten-free panko type breading.
I tried these tonight. Pretty good. I may be doing something wrong though because they didn’t really come out crispy, more chewy. Not bad though! Wish I had the ingredients for the sauce!
Haricots verts are actually a whole different animal than regular old green beans… they’re thinner, longer, and so much better. They’re widely available in Europe but not in the US, which may account for the “inflated” price tag…
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