How to Freeze Green Beans?
How to freeze green beans? You can freeze fresh green beans without blanching. They will then remain good for 3 months. Blanching the green beans first (boil them and cool them down quickly) is better. They will then remain good for 12 months. Do not freeze cooked green beans but keep in the refrigerator.
Green beans are a frequently seen vegetable in every cuisine. They are now available all year round in supermarkets. If they do not come from the Netherlands, we import green beans from Morocco or Egypt. But how can you freeze green beans
Not only freezing is a way of storage. There are many ways to store green beans. We have also written a blog about this ‘ How to store green beans? Multiple ways ‘ tell you all about it.
Here we are going to freeze green beans.
How to Freeze green beans
Freezing them can extend the shelf life enormously. This increases from 3 to 12 months. Depending on the green beans and the preparation taken to freeze the green beans.
If you plan to eat them quickly, don’t freeze them, just keep them in the kitchen. They will then remain good for about 5 days. You can keep them in the fridge for about 3 days.
In this blog, we first discuss the freezing of fresh green beans. Finally, we treat boiled green beans.
Freezing Fresh Green Beans
There are two ways to freeze green beans; raw and cooked or prepared beans. There is also the difference between freezing-blanched and unblanched green beans.
Can You Freeze Raw Green Beans?
The answer to this question is yes. It’s not the best way, but it’s possible. This is freezing green beans without blanching.
Freeze Green Beans Without Blanching
Before freezing raw green beans, you have to go through a few steps, otherwise your product can still rot in the freezer. What are you going to do:
- Wash the beans under the tap in a colander and pat the beans dry with a kitchen towel on kitchen paper.
- Cut off the ends of the green beans.
- Place the beans in a sealable plastic bag and place it in the freezer. Be sure to put the date on the bag first!
Your green beans can now be stored for about 3 months. Due to this way of storage, there is a chance that the taste and color of the beans will decrease.
If you want to use the green beans for your dish, it is advisable to cook them briefly before using them in your dish.
If you want cooked beans, they go straight from the freezer into the boiling water. The cooking time is about 10-12 minutes from the time the water boils again. For how to cook green beans, check out our blog ‘ How to Cook Green Beans ‘ and you’ll never go wrong.
Blanching And Freezing Green Beans
This is the best way to store green beans in the freezer. Blanch first and then freeze. This is what you will do:
- Clean the green beans. remove both ends and halve the beans.
- Place a pan of hot water on the heat source and bring the water to a boil.
- At the same time, prepare a bowl of ice water or place your colander under the tap in the sink.
- When the water boils, the green beans go into the boiling water for 3 minutes.
- Drain the green beans in the colander and immediately place the beans in the cold water or rinse them with cold water. This stops the cooking process.
- Dry the beans and put them in a freezer bag and write the date on the label.
- Place the bag in the freezer.
In this way, the beans retain their color and taste. In addition, the storage time is longer than not blanching, namely 12 months.
Freezing cooked green beans
It is not recommended to freeze cooked green beans that have been cooked for 8 minutes or more. The beans are then al dente. When you freeze these beans they lose flavor and texture, they become limp and watery after thawing.
When you have leftover cooked beans, the best place to store them is the refrigerator. Put them in a sealable bag or container and you can keep them for 2-3 days. If you want to eat them again, first smell, feel and taste whether it is still good.
