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Home » Sides and salad recipes » Mashed green beans (boereboontjies)

Mashed green beans (boereboontjies)

Author: VJ Published : April 2019 Modified : June 2022 / 4 people have commented

Recipe
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A South African roast dinner just wouldn’t be complete without these delicious mashed green beans, or boereboontjies. Why not try them for yourself with your next roast and see what I mean.

A dish of mashed green beans.

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Table Of Contents
  1. Mashed Green Beans
  2. Ingredients for Mashed green beans
  3. How to make mashed green beans
  4. Your questions answered
  5. Pin for later
  6. Other vegetable recipes
  7. Recipe – mashed green beans
  8. Boere boontjies (mashed green beans)

Mashed Green Beans

Boereboontjies is a traditional South African way of preparing green beans. It is pronounced boo-ra bwoyn-keys, and translates as Farmers Beans.

Mashed green beans are made by boiling together green beans, potatoes and onion and then mashing them up with lashings of butter and freshly ground black pepper. They are served as a side dish with any roast meat.

The way of life of the early Dutch settlers in South Africa was farming, and hearty, starchy food was a way of keeping them well-nourished during their working day.  Luckily this way of cooking beans has survived the test of time and boereboontjies remain a favourite South African way of preparing mashed green beans.

To be honest, it is a similar concept to the traditional English Bubble and Squeak – except it’s not fried after being mashed.

It is also a great way of getting your children to eat their greens.  When my children were younger they turned their noses up at anything resembling healthy vegetables. But they were more than happy to wolf down huge helpings of mashed green beans.

Ingredients for Mashed green beans

**You can get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions on how to make this steak and kidney on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**

This simple vegetable dish is made with only three main ingredients. 

  • 500g green runner beans
  • 2 medium potatoes
  • 1 large onion

You will also need a lump of butter and salt and pepper

Chopped green beans, chopped onions and potatoes.

How to make mashed green beans

To make mashed green beans, simply chop the beans and onions into 1 cm pieces, and quarter the potatoes.

Place the beans and onions in a pan of cold salted water. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid and then let them continue to boil for 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and continue boiling until the potatoes are soft enough to mash.

Drain in a colander, then add the butter, and plenty of ground black pepper and mash with a potato masher until well combined.

Tip – don’t try to mash this using a potato ricer. The texture will be wrong. You are looking for a nice chunky mix.

Serve as an accompaniment to any roast meat.

You can also adapt this recipe by substituting an equal quantity of washed, chopped spinach for the beans. It is equally delicious. (Add extra pepper to this one – the spinach loves it)!

Your questions answered

Can I freeze mashed green beans?

Absolutely! These beans freeze really well. I always look out for specials on beans in the supermarket, take them home and cook up a big batch. Then I freeze them in plastic bags, in sufficient quantities for one meal.

To use them from frozen, just tip the frozen beans into a saucepan and heat gently, stirring occasionally, until they have defrosted. Then allow them to come to the boil and serve.

If you have made this dish with spinach, you can freeze and defrost in the same way.

Can I double up this recipe?

Yes – that is what I tend to do if I have bought a large quantity of beans. Just keep the ratio of (approximately) 2 medium-sized potatoes and one onion for every 500g of beans.

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Pin for later

Why not pin this recipe for boereboontjies to one of your Pinterest boards so you can fint it later. Just click the image below.

Alternatively you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.

Other vegetable recipes

You may also like these other vegetable recipes:

  • Baby Marrows with Tomato and Onion – a delicious way of preparing zucchini
  • Spiralized potato and onion bake – a new twist on dauphinoise potatoes
  • Butternut stuffed with cheese and corn – baked in the oven
  • Mushy Peas – a traditional British dish
  • Cheesy sweetcorn fritters
  • Easy sweet pepper relish – a fresh and delicious side dish for meat
  • Glazed carrots (otherwise known as Vichy carrots)
  • Baked cauliflower and broccoli cheese
  • Butter braised cabbage with sugar snap peas

Recipe – mashed green beans

Boere boontjies (mashed green beans)

A South African roast dinner just wouldn't be complete without these delicious mashed green beans, or boereboontjies. Why not try them for yourself with your next roast and see what I mean.
Recipe by: Veronica
Side Dish
South African
Calories 153
Prep 10 minutes
Cook 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings: 8 servings (approximately)
Print Pin Comment Bookmark Saved!
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5 from 4 votes

(Click the stars to rate this recipe)

Equipment

  • Saucepan
  • Colander
  • Potato masher
  • Sharp Knife
  • Chopping Board

Ingredients

  • 1 lb (450g) green beans cut into 1 cm lengths
  • 2 medium potatoes
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 knob butter
  • Ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Wash the beans, snip the ends off and then cut them into 1cm pieces
  • Peel the onions and chop them coarsely
  • Place the beans and onions into a pot of cold water with the salt
  • Bring to the boil and allow to boil for 5 minutes.
  • Peel and quarter the potatoes
  • Add to the beans and onions and continue to boil for 10 to 15 minutes until the vegetables are soft enough to mash.
  • Drain
  • Add butter and plenty of ground black pepper.
  • Mash, serve and enjoy

Notes

The beans and onions are boiled briefly before adding the potatoes as they take slightly longer to cook.
Cooking time will vary depending on the size of your potatoes.  The dish will be ready when the potatoes are soft enough to mash.
Don’t try to use a potato ricer to mash the vegetables or the texture will be wrong.  You are looking for a nice chunky texture.
I like to add a lot of black pepper because I think it adds to the flavour.  You can adjust the pepper to your own taste.

Nutrition

Calories – 153kcal | Carbohydrates – 29.3g | Protein – 4.5g | Fat – 3.2g | Saturated Fat – 1.9g | Cholesterol – 8mg | Sodium – 617mg | Potassium – 754mg | Fiber – 7.7g | Sugar – 4.6g | Calcium – 67mg | Iron – 2mg

I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.

Unless otherwise stated, a cup is the standard US cup containing 240 ml. In all my recipes this cup is assumed to hold 140g of flour. For help converting other ingredients between cups, grams, ounces and other measures, see my recipe conversion calculator.
All my recipes are developed and tested at sea-level. For tips on adjusting recipes for high altitudes see my post on baking at high altitudes.
Tried this recipe?If you made this recipe I’d love it if you could leave me a comment and let me know how it went!
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Filed Under: All Recipes, Sides and salad recipes

About VJ

In my previous life, I was an IT Consultant. Now that I've swapped an office for a kitchen I have a lot more time to spend on things that interest me such as trying out new recipes. Most of my cooking is based around quick and easy meals, and you'll probably find a little South African influence creeping in due to the many years I spent there.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Val Pascau

    28 November 2022 at 8:33 am

    5 stars
    Thank you for your South African Recipes. You have taken me back to my childhood in South Africa which I left 17 years ago. Your food is outstanding! Everything I have tried from your website has turned out brilliant. Thank you

    Reply
    • VJ

      28 November 2022 at 4:45 pm

      5 stars
      Aw, thank you! I love to hear when people enjoy my recipes. I test everything out on hubby before publishing – if he doesn’t like it, it doesn’t make the grade!

      Reply
  2. Celeste Walker

    18 May 2020 at 7:56 am

    5 stars
    This is a family favourite in my home, we absolutely loved your mashed green beans (boereboontjies).
    Served with fried sausage and sweet carrots, was delicious, thank you.

    Reply
    • VJ

      18 May 2020 at 11:31 am

      Thank you for a lovely comment Celeste. I’m so pleased you enjoyed the beans. It’s my favourite way of preparing green beans too. In fact it was one of the first recipes I ever posted.

      Reply

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