Best Way to Freeze Green Beans – Alternative to Canning

Learn the best way to freeze green beans so you can enjoy garden produce all winter long!

Got the most colossal green bean harvest of the century but no bandwidth for canning it all?  I get it – sometimes canning wears me out like running a marathon in tropical heat.

Know the feeling? It’s like sliding and skating around in my own sweat.

 Fortunately, you can preserve your scrumptious harvest in half the time and with far less hassle. Here’s the best way to freeze green beans for delicious results.

Best Way to Freeze Green Beans

Choose the Right Beans

Okay so you’ve repeatedly tried to grow your own beans only to wind up with leggy, spaghetti-like stems.

Fear not – Farm Markets are the next-best thing!

And to be completely honest, sometimes we supplement our garden output with bounty from our nearby local farm.

If you happen to grow your own beans, though, pick them at their peak freshness, right before preserving, if at all humanly possible.This will ensure the tastiest quality.

***Farmhouse Tip – Before you dive in, set up all your supplies and stations beforehand.  Get out your large pot for the stove as well as your bowl with ice-cold water.  I also recommend lots of extra towels and rags for drying the beans, and for any watery drips or spills.  Don’t forget your cutting board(s), knife, empty bowl for compostable trimmings, measuring cups, salt, water, and, of course, the BEANS.  In addition, I would encourage you to wear your apron.

Wash and Trim the Beans

-Once you’ve gathered your beans, wash them in cold water.

-Next, pat them dry gently.  This makes it easier to keep them from slipping around.

-I pluck out one handful of beans at a time and line them up on the cutting board to trim the stem ends.

Notes

Some people like to trim both ends of the beans.  It’s totally up to you and your personal preference.

Another way to trim them is to simply snap off the ends with your fingers.

If your beans are the stringy variety, you may want to remove the strings from the sides when you remove the ends.  This makes for a more pleasant gastronomic experience, in my opinion!

Cut the Beans(Or not)

Next, either snap them into smaller pieces with your fingers or chop them on the cutting board.

I like to make my bean pieces about 1″-2″ long.

To be honest, it has been my experience that the smaller pieces are easier to work with after freezing.

Recipes like soups, sautes, stir-fries, and casseroles all work well with chopped, smaller pieces of beans than with whole beans.

Of course, though, if you like the beans whole, leave them long.

Or leave them long anyway.  You can actually chop them up after they are frozen, but chopping them before just saves a step when ready to cook.

Blanch

Prepare to blanch!

Set up a big bowl with cold water and ice cubes.

Get some boiling water with salt going on the stove.  I use a large stew pot filled about 3/4 of the way with water and about one tablespoon of salt

Once you have a full, rolling boil going, plunge the prepared beans into the salted water until they are very bright green.  Thankfully, this will not take long! (A big difference from canning.) Keep your eye on them.

Drain the beans and plunge them into the bowl of icy water.  This can easily be achieved by using a slotted spoon taking them directly from the stove.

Let them cool a few seconds in the ice-water bath.

**Farmhouse Tip – This blanching step helps the beans retain flavor and color while frozen.

Store and Date

Put the blanched, cooled beans in freezer-appropriate containers labeled with date.  I would also label the containers with the amount of beans, like “2 Cups,” or “1 Pint.”

Frequently Asked Questions About Freezing Green Beans

To Grow or Not to Grow? (Green Beans, that is)

Do you grow your own beans?  Too daunting?

If you are afraid of killing the plants, I encourage you to read, “No Green Thumb? No Problem!” and then start with a bush variety that won’t climb like a Jumanji vine, such as “Blue Lake,” which is one of our personal favorites. 

An added advantage to growing this variety is there are no “strings” to pull off the sides.  When cooked, they simply melt in your mouth.

What kind(s) of beans should I use?

If you’re a beginner, I stand by my recommendation(above) to start off with Blue Lake Bush Beans.

If you’re more of the adventurous type, here are some of our other faves:

Golden Wax (These are actually yellow, not green) Bush Bean

Royal Burgundy (These are actually purple, not green, but they turn green when cooked) Bush Bean

Trionfo Violetto (Like the Royal Burgundy, these are actually purple, not green, but then turn green when cooked) Runner Bean

Tar Heel Runner Bean (Stringy)

Margaret Best “Greasy” Cut-Short Runner Bean (Stringy)

Small Lazy Wife Runner Bean (Stringy)

What if my garden beans are past their prime?

One year our schedule didn’t line up with harvest season.  Our beans looked and felt like deflated balloons.  

But all was not lost!  We just left them on the stems and vines to dry out.  

We stored the dried beans in jars to use as needed, and it made seed saving that much simpler.  

How long do frozen beans last?

I’ve seen recommendations for using the beans before 8 months are up.  We generally use them up way before that, because, when faced with the dinnertime side dish dilemma, the salty taste, sometimes enhanced with creamy butter, guarantee no leftover beans!

Imagine how great these will taste in the winter! Do you have a favorite way to eat green beans?

A dear friend cooks hers in olive oil and lemon juice…mmm!

Another adds toasted, slivered almonds atop the beans.

And a very happy win, in my opinion, is how yummy these beans turn out without having to deal with the canner, and without sliding and skating around in my own sweat for hours at a clip. The boiling time for blanching is just mere minutes.

Please leave a comment below and tell me if you try the best way to freeze green beans!  I’d love to know how you like them and if you have any questions.

If you still feel like canning some of your beans, don’t let me stop you.

For a yummy twist, try my recipe for “Beans! Spiced, Pickled, and Dilly!”  

You won’t need your pressure canner – just the water bath since they are pickled!

Enjoy your beans!

♥

Wendy

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