Can You Freeze Fresh Beans? Yes, If You Follow the Rules

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Fresh beans are super healthy and there are a ton of ways you can cook them. The main question, however, is whether or not you can freeze all those fresh beans you buy from the market, especially when you can’t enjoy them at once.

Fresh beans are awesome and full of vitamins, so if you want to keep them for longer in your freezer, we completely understand.

What Counts As Fresh Beans?

The “fresh beans” name covers several categories of beans. For instance, you can count green beans, snap beans, and more. Whether we’re talking about edamame, lima beans, fava beans, Italian green beans, or Dragon tongue beans, they’re all covered.

Can You Freeze Fresh Beans?

One of the biggest questions we have about fresh beans is whether or not they can freeze well. We have the same question from one of our readers too, who’s wondering what to do with all the extra fresh beans they have. Here’s the message we received:

I have a large batch of fresh beans from the garden that I don’t know what to do with. I enjoy eating them on occasion, but not enough to eat the whole batch in one go. I live alone, so I only need a single serving size of beans at a time, not a whole batch!

I want to freeze them to save for later, but I’m not interested in a complicated process that is going to take a lot of time and effort. I’m looking for a simple solution. Can you freeze fresh beans?

Yes, you can freeze fresh beans! There are two ways to freeze them, one very simple and the other a bit more involved. Although both will successfully freeze the beans for later use, the more involved process will yield slightly better results. Regardless of which method you choose, you must always start with fresh, crisp beans.

How to Freeze Fresh Beans?

Before you freeze your fresh beans, you should go through a few steps.

Here’s what you have to do to prepare the beans:

Wash the beans under running water to get out any dirt, and then dry.
Cut off the stems.
If you are freezing the beans whole, leave them as is, otherwise cut them into the desired size.
Portion out single serving sizes so that you only have to thaw the amount you will consume.

For the simplest freezing method:

place the beans in a freezer-safe container.
I prefer freezer bags because the air can be squeezed out, creating a seal against freezer burn.
A hard sided freezer container will also work.
Seal the container, and then label and date the bag.
Place the beans in the freezer.

For best results, use within 6 months. This method is great if you’re looking to use the beans in salads or other dishes where you want them to maintain some crunch.

For the more complicated freezing method: blanching:

To maintain their original color, consider blanching them first.
Place the beans in a pot of boiling water for about 4 minutes.
Remove with a slotted spoon and plunge into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.
Repeat until all the beans have been blanched.
Lay the beans to dry. They must be completely dry before freezing to avoid freezer burn.
Place single-size servings in freezer bags or hard freezer-safe containers.
Remove excess air, then seal.

Label and date the packages and use within six months.

How to Keep Fresh Beans Frozen for Longer?

If you want to make sure that your fresh beans will keep for a very long time, you can definitely use a food saver. These appliances are super useful as they can perfectly seal your bags and extract the air so they keep for a very long time.

Our personal favorite is the FoodSaver V4840 2-in-1 Vacuum Sealer Machine, an appliance that works with both freezer bags and containers, ending up at the top of our recommendations list. You can check out more vacuum sealers you could get from our guide.

How to Thaw Fresh Beans?

When you’re ready to use your frozen fresh beans, you don’t even have to take them out ahead of time and to place them in the fridge, like with most other things you put in the freezer. Instead, you can add them directly to recipes during the cooking process. Alternatively, place them in a pot of boiling water.

Fresh Green Bean Recipes

If you want to cook some great recipes with fresh green beans, we have some ideas for you:

There are all awesomely delicious and you should definitely try them out.