If you cook the green beans instead of steaming, the green beans will take about 10–15 minutes.  Here you can add some baking soda to the cooking water, so the bright green color of the beans is preserved. If you steam the green beans, it takes about 20 minutes. You get crisp green beans. To do this, take a pot of steam and steam the green beans with the lid. The stewing of the green beans takes about 15–20 minutes and is ideal if you stew onions before. The beans are ready when they are still slightly al dente.