Cacio e Pepe Green Beans

By Sheela Prakash

Updated November 19, 2025

Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Ready In
35 min
Rating
4(407)
Comments
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This cheesy, pleasantly piquant side takes a cue from the classic Roman pasta. Built for ease, this one-pan recipe calls to first sauté the green beans in a pan until glossy and coated in black pepper-infused olive oil, then to pour in a big splash of water and steam the beans until tender. Since salty Pecorino Romano cheese has the tendency to clump when tossed into a hot pan, it’s layered among the juicy beans directly on the serving dish instead; the residual heat will do the job of melting it.

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Ingredients

Yield:8 to 10 servings

  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

  • 2 pounds green beans, stem ends trimmed

  • Salt and coarsely ground black pepper

  • 2 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese, finely grated (1 cup firmly packed freshly grated or ½ cup store-bought grated)

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 to 10 servings)

7 grams carbs; 6 milligrams cholesterol; 87 calories; 3 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 6 grams fat; 3 grams fiber; 234 milligrams sodium; 3 grams protein; 3 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the olive oil in a large, high-sided sauté pan with a lid or a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the green beans and cook, tossing with tongs frequently, until the beans are glossy and bright but still crisp, about 5 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Add 1 teaspoon pepper, season with salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the pepper is toasted and fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute.

  3. Step 3

    Carefully pour ⅔ cup of water into the pan and immediately cover. Cook, tossing halfway through, until the beans are vibrant green and crisp-tender and the water has almost completely evaporated, about 4 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    Uncover and remove from the heat. Give the beans a toss again then transfer half to a serving platter, spreading them out in an even layer. Sprinkle half of the cheese over the beans. Top with the remaining beans and garnish with the remaining cheese and several more grinds of pepper.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
407 user ratings
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Comments

Mindy in Longmont

What is a good way to make them and keep warm until we eat an hour later- without them being overcooked? I want to bring this to a Thanksgiving dinner at someone’s house at 2:30 and we eat around 3:30. Cannot cook/warm at the host’s home.

Anthony

Great idea. Lemon and lemon zest would finish this off nicely.

Warplane

Listen I love NYT cooking. These are some normal seasoned green beans with cheese sprinkled on top. I don’t know that we have gotten to Cecio Pepe and I’m not saying that as some pedant about authenticity. I’m sure they’re delicious though. I just wouldn’t give them a fancy name when it’s green beans with some Romano.

J. G.

This one ain’t it. Save yourself some steps and just sprinkle pecorino romano on top of some green beans. But pecorino romano also gloops up easily, so maybe consider using Parmesan with a little more salt.

Christine Cote-Wissmann

Really terrific recipe with a lot of optionality for future recipes. The only modification was that I had too nice water to veg. In other words I used a higher ratio of water than called for. This is as a lucky result. I ended up with a water, pepper olive oil sauce that I could spoon over the veg. It was fabulous. I used asparagus vs green beans which also worked great. I lightly peeled the asparagus which I as great. I strongly recommend high quality fresh beans as the flavor of the cheese and pepper is best appreciated when absorbed unto the veg. A tough vegetable just won’t absorb the delicious flavor. The sauce could be poured over an accompanying risotto or pasta.

Mary

This is a great way to cook green beans. They were very flavorful and were gobbled up on Christmas Eve. When I read the recipe, I thought the beans would need some other flavorings (garlic, onion, etc) but they really didn’t. Perfect as written

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