How to Blanch and Freeze Garden Green Beans
When your garden green beans are growing faster than you can eat them, blanch and freeze extras to enjoy all winter long! This quick and easy small batch recipe to blanch and freeze garden green beans allows you to cook and eat or freeze any amount of beans you have in just 15 minutes!
Servings: 6
Calories: 17kcal
Ingredients
- 3 cups green beans or any amount
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and add salt.
- Wash any amount of garden green beans you have and trim off the stem end. You can choose to chop them of leave them whole.
- Drop the green beans into rapidly boiling salted water for 3 minutes. Drain well in a colander and shake to remove excess water.
- Serve any amount of the green beans hot right away as a simple side dish, or portion into glass jars or containers and freeze for up to 6 months.
- To use after freezing - drop frozen green beans into boiling salted water for 1 minute, drain and serve. Or use straight from frozen in any recipe calling for frozen green beans.
Notes
- Pick green beans when they are thin, young and tender. If you wait until they are large and overgrown, they will be tougher and need to be cooked longer.
- Don't overcook, you want beans to be tender but firm, al dente, with a bit of bite to them, never mushy. Set a timer for 3 minutes.
- This recipe can be used for any amount of green, yellow or purple beans you have. You can simply blanch a handful and serve fresh with dinner, or do a larger pot and freeze extras.
- Blanched green beans are already seasoned from the salted water and can be eaten plain as a side dish, or served with a pat of butter or Parmesan cheese.
- Blanched green beans can be used fresh in pasta salads or this Green Bean Salad with Tomato and Feta. Or they can be used frozen in Tater Tot Hot-dish, Vegetable Soup, Chicken Veggie Pot Pie or Green Bean Au Gratin.
- Freeze extra green beans in any sized containers or freezer bags. Glass jars are great for pulling out in the winter in the perfect serving size!
Nutrition
Calories: 17kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 0.1g | Saturated Fat: 0.03g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 391mg | Potassium: 116mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 380IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 1mg