Looking for the perfect bright green beans with crisp-tender texture? Here’s how to blanch green beans! Blanching is boiling vegetables for a few minutes until they’re crisp tender, which brings out their color and preserves a crisp tender texture. It’s ideal if you’re making a green bean salad, where you want beautifully bright beans and a tender crunch. It’s also the first step to freezing green beans, which is the best way to preserve them if you’ve got a garden haul.
The method: blanching
Blanching is a cooking method that involves boiling vegetables until they’re crisp tender, then plunging them into ice water to stop the cooking process. The ice water helps to keep the veggies colorful by locking in a beautifully bright green color. Blanching also stops enzyme activity that results in deteriorating the texture, color, and flavor of vegetables: making them last longer. Blanching is a handy method can be used for many vegetables, like asparagus, broccoli and more. Use it as a step before freezing, or to cook green beans for a hearty main dish Nicoise Salad or a side like Green Bean Salad.
Trim the green beans first
The first step how to blanch green beans? Trimming them! You’ll need to trim off the stem ends of the green beans. You can also chop off both ends, if you like! We tend to like to keep the longer end for its elegant shape. Here’s what to do:
Line up a handful of beans in the same direction.Use a chef’s knife to cut off just the stem end, or both ends of the green beans. Repeat with the remaining handfuls of beans.
How to blanch green beans (and how long)
Ready to get blanching? Here’s how to blanch green beans:
Prepare the water: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Prepare a large bowl of ice water.Trim the beans: Trim the green beans by snapping off or chopping off the ends.How long to blanch green beans? Add the beans to the boiling water and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until just tender but still bright green (taste a bean to assess doneness). French green beans or haricot verts take 3 to 4 minutes, since they’re thinner and more tender. If you’re blanching to freeze beans, boil for 2 minutes. Place in the ice bath. Right when the beans are tender, remove them from the boiling water with tongs and transfer them to the bowl of ice water. After 2 minutes, remove the beans to a colander to drain.
How to freeze green beans after blanching
Blanching green beans is the preparation step to freezing them! This is the best way to preserve summer garden produce. Remember to blanch the beans only 2 minutes if you plan to freeze them immediately. Here’s what to do:
Pat the green beans dry with a towel. Place the blanched green beans on a baking sheet in a single layer.Freeze for 1 hour until solid. Then place the beans in a freezer safe container or storage bag. For more, go to How to Freeze Green Beans.
Storage info
How long do blanched green beans last? Store them for 4 to 5 days in the refrigerator, stored in a sealed container. Or, freeze the beans for up to 6 months.
Ways to use blanched green beans
Blanched green beans are one of the most pleasant ways to eat this notoriously tough vegetable, in our opinion! The bean is easy to bite through with a silky texture: even better than sauteed. A few ways to use blanched green beans:
Bean salad: Add them to a simple Green Bean Salad with tomatoes and feta cheese.Main dish salad: Hearty French Nicoise Salad is a classic way to use them.Potato salad: Add them to a potato salad like Green Bean & Potato Salad with Dill. Green salads: Use them to top a green salad like Summer Vegetable Salad.Easy side dish: Throw the beans in a skillet with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper: they’ll be done in 2 minutes. Squeeze with lemon before serving!
More green bean recipes
Love fresh summery green beans? Here are a few more green bean recipes you’ll love:
Try quick Sauteed Green Beans or Lemony Steamed Green BeansGo for Green Beans Almondine or Garlic Green BeansGrab for Roasted Green BeansFire up the grill for Grilled Green BeansMake everyone’s favorite, Green Bean Casserole
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