How to freeze butter beans?
Can you freeze butter beans? Yes, you can freeze butter beans for about 12-18 months.
Quickly blanching butter beans in boiling water before freezing them ensures that they will retain their original texture and color when cooked.
How to freeze butter beans?
Freezing butter beans takes a bit of work, but the results are worth it. Here’s how:
- First, rinse the butter beans thoroughly. To do this, place the butter beans in a metal colander and run them under running water. This will clear them of all dirt and debris. When you’re done, drain them.
- Then cut the tips. You can line the beans up so you can hull them faster. If the butter beans are stringy, remove the strings by breaking off the end of the stem and pulling it toward the pointed end.
- Depending on the length of the butter beans, you can freeze them whole or cut them into 3-5 cm long pieces.
- Now blanch the butter beans. To do this, immerse them in boiling water for 3 minutes. This operation preserves their nutrients, taste and color. Alternatively, you can also steam them for 3 minutes.
- After 3 minutes, immediately plunge the butter beans into cold water to stop the cooking, drain them then pat them dry.
- Spread the butter beans on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, making sure they overlap as little as possible. The idea is to pre-freeze each bean individually so that they don’t stick together afterwards. This will make it easier to defrost small portions. Put the baking sheet in the freezer for 2-3 hours.
- Once the butter beans are completely frozen, remove the baking sheet from the freezer then transfer them to a resealable freezer bag. You can use multiple freezer bags if you want to freeze individual portions.
- Seal the freezer bag tightly, pushing out as much air as possible.
- Label the freezer bag with the date and contents, then return the butter beans to the freezer.
How long do butter beans last in the freezer?
Fresh butter beans, blanched beforehand, will keep for about 12 to 18 months in the freezer, while cooked butter beans will keep for about 10 to 12 months.
How to thaw butter beans?
It is not essential to thaw the butter beans before cooking them. You can add them as is to your stir-fries, soups and other dishes. Just remember to subtract the three minutes the beans were blanched from the cooking time.
If you want to thaw the butter beans, put them in the fridge for several hours or overnight.
