How to freeze green beans.

Next year I plan to grow my own, but this year I was given a gigantic bowl of delicious, fresh green beans. THANK YOU Aunt Luann and Uncle Denny. (They even snipped and cut them for me. Such a wonderful surprise!) Anyway, here are step-by-step instructions for freezing green beans. For those of you that will email me and tell me it's easier to buy them at the grocery store, wouldn't it be nice to feed your family frozen beans that came from nearby? A generous relative, a local farmers market? Plus, it was fun to show Ellie what my mother showed me years ago.

STEP 1. Trim the beans. Snip the ends off and then cut them to 1–2" long.


STEP 2. Wash the little buggers. This is a GREAT step for kids. Ellie was playing in the water for a good 20 minutes. Clean bean fun!

STEP 3. Blanch the beans. Fill your largest stock pot 2/3 with water and bring it to a rolling boil. Once boiling, carefully dump in enough beans that the water is still covering them while boiling. Boil for 3 minutes and then immediately head on over to STEP 4. NOTE: You can safely use the same boiling water for up to 5 batches of beans. After that, boil a fresh pot.


STEP 4. Chill the beans. (Not to be mistaken for "chili beans") Using a colander or mesh strainer, remove the beans from the boiling water and submerge them in a sink full of cold ice water for 3 minutes. I use 1 tray of ice cubes per batch of beans. This keeps the water nice and cold. If you feel the water getting warm after a few batches, dump it out and refill the sink with fresh cold water. NOTE: I didn't realize there was a reason behind blanching vegetables before freezing. But...there is. You need to kill the enzymes and bacteria that over time will break down and destroy the nutrients in your veggies.


STEP 5. Drain and admire the beans. Carefully removed your beautiful blanched beans and drain them on a towel or in a colander. I have to admit, aren't those the most beautiful green beans? NOTE: The towel they are draining on is from the rag drawer. It came into our lives as one of the supple, soft Ralph Lauren bath towels that Kyle and I received as a wedding gift. But, after 5 years it sadly found its way into the drawer of cast-off and miss-fit rags. We're now drying ourselves with Target towels. Note to new brides: register for a lifetime of towels!


STEP 6: Freeze the beans. Now is the time to get out your freezer bags or freezer containers and fill them with your hard work. I use Ziploc bags and squeeze out as much air as possible. However, those freezer/sealer/FoodSaver machines would be ideal here. Mark the bags and pop them in the freezer. You are done – now you have crunchy, healthy green beans to eat this winter when a green bean from the garden is a distant dream. Enjoy!

NOTES: I froze what I'm guessing is about 1/3 bushel of beans. (Aunt Luann, correct me if I'm wrong.) I packed 12 quart-sized bags of beans out of that. Also, make sure your beans are fresh, not rubbery and limp. If you can't freeze them the day you pick/buy them, make sure to keep them in the fridge and freeze within a few days.