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Green beans

Vegetables · Pods, beans & sprouts

Green beans

Slender green pods (French beans) eaten whole, blanched, stir-fried or stewed.

Also called: french beans, string beans, fine beans, taze fasulye, ejotes

43 recipes with it

Photo: Undeka 11, via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-4.0)

What it is

Green beans are the immature pods of the common bean plant, picked before the seeds develop. Fine French beans are thin and tender; runner and flat beans are larger and may need stringing; yardlong beans are an Asian relative. Edamame and broad beans are different shelled beans.

Phaseolus vulgaris

How it’s used

  • Blanched in salads (niçoise)
  • Stir-fried dry with chilli (Sichuan style)
  • Cooked with coconut (beans thoran, poriyal)
  • Stewed with tomato and olive oil (fasulye)
  • Casseroles and stews

Characteristics

Taste
Fresh, grassy and slightly sweet.
Texture
Crisp-tender when lightly cooked; soft when stewed.
When cooked
Stay bright green with short cooking; turn olive and soft with long stewing, which suits Mediterranean dishes.
Sold as
fresh, frozen, canned
Cooking uses
Commonly cooked, Suitable for boiling, Suitable for frying

Storage

Refrigerated. Refrigerate in a bag and use within a few days, while crisp.

Diet, allergens and safety

No major allergens in typical versions.

  • Vegetarian
  • Vegan
  • Dairy-free
  • Egg-free
  • Gluten-free
  • Nut-free
  • Soy-free
  • Caffeine-free
  • Do not eat raw in quantity; like other beans they contain lectins reduced by cooking.

Nutrition per 100 g

Energy
31 kcal
Protein
1.83 g
Carbohydrate
6.97 g
Fat
0.22 g
Fibre
2.7 g
Sugars
3.26 g

USDA FoodData Central: Beans, snap, green, raw.

Substitutes

Optional — what works if you don’t have it, and how it changes the dish.

  • Green peas — In curries and rice; different texture.
  • Asparagus — In salads and sides; quicker cooking.

Related ingredients

Recipes with green beans

See all 43

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