How To Cook Green Beans Ultimate Guide

Among green vegetables, green beans have very good nutritional qualities. Rich in fiber, minerals and trace elements, it can be enjoyed as hot as cold, in multiple recipes. From June to August, choose firm, fine fresh green beans, with a beautiful uniform green color. Wash and hull them before cooking them according to the chosen cooking method: steam, boiling water, pressure cooker or pan. And in the off season, opt for beautiful frozen green beans. Freezing is very simple: make them blanch for 6 minutes in boiling water before placing them in the freezer.

Steaming green beans

You can easily steam your green beans, preserving all their nutritional qualities. Wash them thoroughly in clean water and then hull them. Do not hesitate to break them in half if they are not extra fresh, to remove any wires. Place them in the steam basket of your steamer. Add the necessary water to the steam in the appropriate compartment then heat. Allow 35 minutes of cooking time for 500 g of fresh green beans. When cooked, immerse the green beans in a bowl of ice water. This will preserve their green color while stopping cooking.

steamed green beans

Cooking green beans in water

It is also possible to cook green beans in boiling water. After having washed and hulled them, boil a large volume of salted water in a casserole dish or a large saucepan. At the first broths, throw in the fresh green beans. Then cook for 12 minutes if you want slightly firm green beans. Allow 15 minutes for them to be more tender. Do not hesitate to chew a bean during cooking to obtain the desired texture. At the end of cooking, drain the green beans and bathe them in cold water to fix their green color. Then eat your green beans as desired, simply hot with a knob of butter or in a salad with sun-dried tomatoes, chopped garlic and a dash of balsamic vinegar.

cooking green beans in water

Cooking green beans in a pressure cooker

If you don’t have a steamer, you can steam your green beans in your pressure cooker or pressure cooker with a few spices that will delicately flavor them. Wash the vegetables, hull them and break them in half to remove the wires. Then place them in the steamer basket of the casserole dish. Add a little garlic and chopped onions and diced tomatoes. Add salt and pepper. Pour a bottom of water in the pressure cooker, cover it and lock it. Heat over high heat until the steam escapes. Then count 10 minutes of cooking by lowering the heat before releasing the pressure. Taste your green beans immediately with a little chopped fresh basil.

instant pot green beans

Cooking green beans in a pan

By cooking the green beans in a pan, you can sauté them and garnish them with herbs, while preparing them quickly. Peel and finely chop the shallots. Wash and hull the fresh green beans. Blanch them in boiling salted water for 6 minutes. In a large pan or frying pan, melt a knob of butter and brown the shallots. When they become translucent, add the green beans. Add salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley before tasting.

You can prepare this pan-fried with canned green beans, you will not need to blanch them. Drain the box before emptying the contents into the pan.

Pan fried green beans

Cooking frozen green beans

Since they are already blanched before freezing, frozen green beans require a shorter cooking time. In the steamer, allow 11 minutes for cooking. Prepare in the English way, that is to say in boiling salted water, cook them only 5 minutes after the resumption of boiling. In a pressure cooker or pressure cooker, they will not cook until 3 minutes after the pressure build-up and the whistling. Always to fix their beautiful green color, immerse the green beans in a bowl of cold water after cooking, then drain them before eating them hot or cooled in a salad. Finally, you can fry them easily, still frozen, for 10 minutes, with sliced ​​onions, strips of red pepper and smoked bacon, for example.

Cook green beans in the microwave

Here is the ultimate cooking of the cook in a hurry. Thanks to microwave cooking, you will get beans cooked in just 3 minutes!

To achieve this feat, place your vegetables in a container suitable for the microwave. Pour a bottom of water (half a cm thick) then close, either with a lid suitable for the microwave, or with a plastic food film.

Place your green beans for 3 minutes in the microwave, maximum power .

When this is done, wait 30 seconds before gently lifting the cover or piercing the film (be careful not to burn yourself!)

Recipe ideas with green beans

It is quite possible to eat cold beans, in a salad with raw vegetables and homemade mayonnaise. You can also make a velouté by mixing the vegetables and adding a little parsley and a few scallops. Finally, beans go well with eggs: they can accompany an omelet or a boiled egg.