The Best Way to Freeze Green Beans

Green beans are a season-spanning vegetable that can be enjoyed year-round. They’re just as delicious tossed into a lemony pasta salad as they are in a classic green bean casserole. Freshly harvested, crisp green beans are typically the stuff of summertime, but with just a few simple steps you can preserve green beans at the peak of their sweetness right in your freezer.  

Look for beans with a bright green color that are firm to the touch. Thinner beans will be sweeter and more crisp. You should be able to break one in half with a crisp snap. Avoid limp beans and beans with brown spots.

Freezing green beans is pretty simple, but does require one extra step, a quick blanch, to properly preserve them.

1. Prep the beans. Begin by rinsing the green beans in a colander under cool running water. If you’ve got the time, trim the ends off one at a time using your fingers. For the rest of us, it’s easier to line a handful of beans up and remove the tips with a single slice. If the tails of the green beans appear limp, turn them and remove those in the same way.
2. Blanch the beans. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and add the green beans. Boil the beans for two to three minutes, until bright green and just tender, then shock in an ice bath. Once the beans are completely cool, drain and pat dry with a clean kitchen towel or paper towels.
3. Freeze the beans. Spread the green beans in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze. Once the beans are individually frozen, transfer to a freezer bag and freeze for up to three months.

Blanching is the process of quickly cooking foods in boiling water, and then immediately shocking them in ice water to stop the cooking. To properly freeze green beans, you’ll need to blanch them after rinsing them off. The process of blanching helps brighten the color, tenderizes the beans, and stops the stimulation of enzymes that could lead to deterioration. This way, you can keep the beans fresh while they stay in the freezer.

1. Start with the best beans you can find. Freezing can’t improve subpar beans — it can only suspend produce in its current place.
2. Don’t season the blanching water. Salted water seasons the vegetables, but it can also soften the cell walls. Avoid mushy green beans by seasoning them when preparing the final dish.
3. Freeze in a single layer. The huge benefit of first freezing green beans in a single layer is that when you reach for them later, you won’t have to deal with thawing a green bean-shaped block. Once the beans are frozen solid, then transfer them to a zip-top bag for extended storage.

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