The easiest way to Freeze Inexperienced Beans (With or With out Blanching) ~ Homestead and Chill

Ultimate Updated on October 26, 2023

To blanch or to not blanch, that is the question! The age-old debate whether or not or not or to not blanch inexperienced beans sooner than freezing sparks some passionate stances on all sides, nonetheless I’m proper right here to tell you: there is not a “fallacious” or “correct” method to freeze latest inexperienced beans! There are execs and cons to each methodology, so I figured I’d make clear the excellence and current you tips about methods to freeze inexperienced beans from the yard every strategies. Then, it’s possible you’ll resolve what alternative works most interesting for you.

On this tutorial, you’ll study to freeze total or decrease inexperienced beans with and with out blanching, along with suggestions on tips about methods to put collectively, pack, and prepare dinner dinner frozen inexperienced beans for the best high quality, texture, and long term storage. We commonly steam blanch our yard inexperienced beans sooner than freezing, though you must use a conventional water bathtub blanch (or skip blanching solely).

Freezing inexperienced beans is a superb, easy method to guard them. We prefer to freeze inexperienced beans from the yard to toss in handmade soup all winter prolonged. Looking for completely different strategies to guard inexperienced beans? Try our quick pickled inexperienced beans recipe (canning or fridge pickles) or this lacto-fermented dilly inexperienced beans recipe.

Disclosure: Homestead and Chill is reader-supported. For those who purchase by hyperlinks on our web site, we’d earn an affiliate charge.

Freezing inexperienced beans from the yard

The data on this put up apply to freezing all forms of inexperienced beans – along with conventional string beans, pole beans, French haricots, snap beans, and further. We largely develop flat Romano-style pole beans these days. No matter the sort, latest is most interesting! Older beans have already started to naturally degrade, in order that they acquired’t preserve up pretty as successfully as quickly as frozen. That talked about, homegrown inexperienced beans are splendid to freeze as compared with grocery retailer beans, which had been likely picked many many weeks sooner than they hit the store. In case you don’t have a yard, snag super latest beans at your native farmer’s market as a substitute!

To freeze inexperienced beans from the yard, try obtain this shortly after harvesting them (inside just a few days). Retailer harvested beans throughout the fridge in a plastic bag to take care of them company and up to date throughout the meantime. Moreover try to resolve on the most tender, crisp beans from the yard to freeze – not overgrown, highly effective, stringy ones.

A wicker basket is held by and outstretched hand, the long and slender purple and green veggies are neatly arranged in the basket. — We develop quite a few pole beans, along with my favorite Italian flat romano choice known as Northeaster that get super prolonged nonetheless hold tender.

Can you freeze inexperienced beans with out blanching?

Sure! To save time and a few steps, it’s possible you’ll freeze inexperienced beans with out blanching them first. Merely wash, dry, trim, and pack the inexperienced beans into freezer containers, leaving as little air throughout the container as doable (outlined in further component underneath).

It is utterly protected to freeze inexperienced beans with out blanching. Nonetheless, meals preservation specialists do recommend blanching inexperienced beans first for the best outcomes and texture – significantly for long term storage. Subsequently, freezing inexperienced beans raw is correct for a small amount of beans that you just simply plan to utilize inside a pair months.

UPDATE: I’ve since forgotten about a few older containers of inexperienced beans that we froze raw, and even after a 12 months, they in truth we’re too unhealthy to eat! Not pretty just about pretty much as good as blanched, nonetheless undoubtedly edible – and significantly wonderful to toss into soup.

A flat lay of a freezer safe container containing raw cut green beans. There is a piece of brown tape on the lid with "Raw, 8/23" written on it in black marker. — Typically I shortly throw a handful of decrease beans proper right into a pint container to freeze. I don’t want to hassle with blanching such a small amount, nonetheless make sure to label and use these first.

A flat lay of a freezer safe container containing raw cut green beans. There is a piece of brown tape on the lid with — Typically I shortly throw a handful of decrease beans proper right into a pint container to freeze. I don’t want to hassle with blanching such a small amount, nonetheless make sure to label and use these first.

What happens whenever you freeze inexperienced beans with out blanching?

In case you freeze inexperienced beans with out blanching them first, the texture, color, and elegance acquired’t be pretty as latest when you defrost and eat them after long-term storage. They’ll be good for just a few months throughout the freezer, nonetheless shortly go downhill thereafter. So, to ensure that you your frozen inexperienced beans to remaining to their fullest potential (as a lot as a 12 months) throughout the freezer, you probably want to blanch them first.

Proper right here is the science behind it: when greens and fruit are frozen, pure enzymes set off them to deteriorate over time. Freezing slows down the enzyme train and spoilage, nonetheless doesn’t stop it solely. That may be very true for greens (additional so than fruit) and is why frozen greens are usually mushy.

However by shortly blanching inexperienced beans (partially cooking) in boiling water or steam sooner than freezing, these pesky enzymes are deactivated and halted. Which suggests, inexperienced beans which might be blanched sooner than freezing will retain larger texture, style, nutritional vitamins, and further vibrant color in long term storage (quite a few months or longer) in distinction to individuals who had been frozen latest raw.

A hand is holding a freezer safe container full of green bean pieces. Beyond are a variety of whole and cut green beans air drying, getting ready to be packed and stored in the freezer. — When processing a giant amount, we usually steam blanch our inexperienced beans sooner than freezing to help them retailer as most interesting as doable.

The easiest way to Put collectively Inexperienced Beans for Freezing: Step-by-Step

1) Wash & Trim

You probably can go away inexperienced beans total to freeze, or decrease them into smaller gadgets. I do a few of every! We usually add total frozen inexperienced beans into meals (e.g. stir fry or as a facet), nonetheless significantly love freezing bite-size beans which might be capable to toss into soups, stews, or chili.

Start by washing the inexperienced beans by rinsing them beneath cool water.
Trim off the woody stem end, nonetheless there’s no need to chop off the alternative tender pointed tip.
Decrease or snap into gadgets, or go away total.

Observe: Decrease inexperienced beans are additional inclined to getting water-logged from the blanching and ice bathtub course of than total beans, nonetheless steam blanching and/or completely drying sooner than freezing after may assist cut back that.

In case you’re not going to blanch your beans, it’s possible you’ll skip the next two steps and go straight to drying and packing.

A wooden cutting board covered in purple and green veggies, half of them have been left whole while the other half have been cut into pieces.

Step 2) Blanching Inexperienced Beans

To blanch inexperienced beans sooner than freezing, it’s possible you’ll each use the boiling water methodology or a steam blanch.

Ship a giant pot of water with a pinch of salt to a rolling boil, OR use a pot with a steamer basket insert and lid. If using a steamer, add ample water so that it covers the underside of the pot nonetheless not so deep that it touches the steamer insert. Each technique, make sure that the pot is completely heated and steamy sooner than together with the beans.
As quickly because the water is boiling (or the pot is stuffed with steam), add the inexperienced beans. When steam blanching, don’t overfill the pot – go away some room to toss them. Cowl the pot with a lid and set a timer immediately. Don’t overcook them!
Blanch inexperienced beans for 2 to 3 minutes most. I’ve seen options for 2 minutes for smaller beans or decrease gadgets, and three minutes for larger total beans. If using a steamer, stop and toss the inexperienced beans with tongs halfway by to promote even cooking. When boiling, start counting as quickly because the water returns to a boil after together with the beans.
If blanching quite a few batches, return the pot to a boil/steam sooner than processing the next batch.

A steaming pot is on the stove, the lid has been opened to reveal the beans within along with the condensation and steam which has formed.

Step 3) Ice Tub

It’s important to shortly change blanched inexperienced beans to an ice bathtub to stop the cooking course of. So, organize an ice bathtub (a giant bowl of water and ice) and have it ready sooner than you blanch the beans.

Immediately after blanching, fastidiously change the inexperienced beans to the ice water. Use tongs or a wire skimmer to fish them out of the boiling water, or just carry and dump out the basket if using a steamer.
Allow the inexperienced beans to soak and funky throughout the ice bathtub for 3 to 4 minutes.
Add additional ice between batches as needed to take care of the water icy chilly.

A stainless steel bowl full of ice, water, and some cut and whole green beans that will be stored in the freezer once finished processing.

Step 4) Dry

Whether or not or not you’re freezing blanched or raw inexperienced beans, drying the beans as quite a bit as doable sooner than freezing is important to retaining an sincere texture!

Swap the inexperienced beans from the ice bathtub proper right into a colander or strainer to drip dry, gently shaking to remove additional water.
Then lay them out in a single layer on a giant baking sheet lined with a lint-free towel to air dry further. In case you’re processing quite a few inexperienced beans, it is perhaps necessary to utilize quite a few towel-lined pans. Allow them to sit down for 30 to 60 minutes until they’re decently dry.
Turning on a fan shut by and/or patting dry with one different towel may assist expedite the drying course of.

Purple and green veggies lay out on towels to air dry, some have been cut into pieces while others have been left whole.

Step 5) The easiest way to retailer latest inexperienced beans throughout the freezer: two strategies

Now it’s time to pack the cooled dry inexperienced beans into freezer containers of other.

Resealable freezer baggage are one customary alternative, along with ziplock baggage or reusable silicone freezer baggage like these. Pack the luggage full, partially seal the bag, after which press proper down to remove as quite a bit air as doable whereas sealing it closed. A lot much less air contained within the container = a lot much less freezer burn!

Non-compulsory “flash freeze”: Sooner than packing freezer baggage, lay the beans out in a single layer on a baking tray, freeze the whole tray for a few hours, after which pack the beans into baggage as quickly as frozen. Flash freezing prevents the beans from sticking collectively in a single giant clump. This can be helpful when freezing a substantial quantity of beans collectively in a single bag, making it easy to take out solely a small portion to utilize when needed.

You can also freeze inexperienced beans in reusable freezer containers like these sturdy BPA-free pint containers, or this smaller half-pint alternative. Similar to baggage, I pack them as full as doable (fastidiously stacking the beans in, not tossing them in willy-nilly) after which press down on the lid whereas sealing it, decreasing the amount of air throughout the container as quite a bit as doable.

Lastly, don’t overlook to date and label your freezer containers.

A reusable silicone bag full of whole vegetables ready for the freezer.

A hand is holding a freezer safe pint container full bo blanched and cut purple and green, green beans. Beyond there are many whole green beans drying on a towel, another pint container with cut beans inside it as well as a silicone bag with whole beans halfway hanging out of the bag. — In an effort to chop again single-use plastic, we have a bunch of these reusable, sturdy, BPA-free freezer containers in quite a few sizes that we moreover use for tomato sauce, soups, pesto, jam, and completely different freezer preserves.

How prolonged do frozen inexperienced beans remaining (hold good)?

Frozen inexperienced beans will remaining throughout the freezer for as a lot as a 12 months, though prime quality (texture and style) decreases with time. Blanched inexperienced beans is perhaps good for not lower than 8 to 10 months throughout the freezer, whereas unblanched inexperienced beans are most interesting to utilize inside 3 or 4 months.

The easiest way to prepare dinner dinner and use frozen inexperienced beans

Frozen inexperienced beans, blanched or unblanched, will not ever be super crunchy like latest inexperienced beans as quickly as had been. That’s merely the actual fact of frozen meals! The necessary factor to stopping mushy frozen inexperienced beans largely depends on the way in which you prepare dinner dinner them. In precise reality, you must hardly prepare dinner dinner them the least bit! Significantly blanched inexperienced beans, since they’ve already been “cooked” for a few minutes sooner than freezing. The aim is to simply reheat them, nonetheless as briefly as doable.

Frozen inexperienced beans are wonderful to toss straight into stir fry, casseroles, soups, stews, or get pleasure from on their very personal as a facet. Frozen inexperienced beans might be utilized straight out of the freezer, so it’s not important to defrost them first! If desired, thaw them throughout the fridge in a single day, or by soaking them (inside their freezer container) in a bowl of cool water.

In order so as to add frozen inexperienced beans to a dish (e.g. soup or stir fry), add them to the pot or pan on the very end, as quickly as the rest of the dish is definitely achieved cooking. To reheat inexperienced beans to get pleasure from on their very personal, I like to recommend shortly heating them in a skillet with a little bit of butter or oil, salt, and pepper (or completely different seasonings of other) – nonetheless not cooking them in water. For example, we love in order so as to add frozen inexperienced beans to handmade tomato basil soup, hearty lentil and kale soup, no-chicken noodle soup – and even into our vegan roasted sugar pie pumpkin 3-bean chili!

A flat lay image of 6 pints of blanched and cut green beans and one reusable silicone bag full of blanched and whole green beans. A variety of green and purple are showing through the containers from the colorful beans.

And that concludes this lesson.

Have you ever ever tried freezing inexperienced beans with or with out blanching sooner than? What technique would you like most interesting? I hope this tutorial helped reply your curiosities and questions on tips about methods to freeze inexperienced beans from the yard – plus a great deal of suggestions on among the best methods to retailer and use them! Please inform us in case you’ve gotten any questions throughout the suggestions underneath. In case you found this put up useful, please ponder leaving a analysis, star rating, or sharing this put up!

You may also get pleasure from: