What Are French beans and How Can I Use Them?
French beans is easier to cook with than it looks. Here's how to choose, use, and store them, what to substitute, and 7 recipes to get you started.
Key Points
- French beans are young green snap pods eaten whole; outside the US, the usual name for green beans.
- Blanch trimmed beans in well-salted water 3 to 5 minutes, then shock in ice water to keep them bright.
- Overcooking past about 6 minutes turns them olive drab and squeaky; pull while they still bite.
- Haricots verts are the thinnest, fastest-cooking type; standard green beans need a minute longer.
- Store unwashed in the crisper 4 to 5 days, or blanch and freeze for up to 8 months.
What are french beans?
French beans are the slim, tender green pods that grow on the common bean plant and get eaten whole, pod and all, before the seeds inside swell. Across Britain, India, and the Commonwealth, "french beans" is the everyday name for what Americans call green beans or string beans.
They are picked young, when the pod snaps cleanly and the beans inside are barely formed. That young stage is the whole point. The pod is grassy and faintly sweet, with none of the starchiness of a mature shelling bean.
True French varieties run thinner than the standard supermarket green bean. The finest are haricots verts, pencil-slim and stringless, which cook fast and stay crisp.
How to Cook French Beans
Top and tail them first, snapping or trimming off the stem end. Older, thicker beans may have a tough string down the seam; pull it away before cooking.
The classic treatment is a quick blanch. Drop trimmed beans into well-salted boiling water for 3 to 5 minutes until bright green and just tender, then plunge them into ice water to lock the color and stop the cooking.
From there you can sauté them in butter or dress them cold.
Steaming for about 5 minutes works just as well and keeps more of their flavor in the bean rather than the water. Stir-frying is the other great route, and a Green Beans with Fried Bean Curd cooks them hot and fast so they stay snappy.
They also stew well when you want them soft rather than crisp. In a Kurma they simmer in a spiced coconut gravy until tender, soaking up the sauce.
Pairing and Common Mistakes
French beans take happily to garlic, butter, toasted almonds, and a sharp vinaigrette. They love a salty partner.
That is why a Bean Salad Plus Tuna or Bacon pairs them with cured fish or pork, and why a knob of butter and flaky salt is often all a side dish needs.
The most common mistake is overcooking. Boil them past about 6 minutes and the bright green dulls to olive drab while the texture goes limp and squeaky. Pull them while they still have a little bite.
The second mistake is skipping the salt in the cooking water. Beans blanched in plain water taste flat no matter how you dress them afterward; the water should taste like the sea.
Substitutes
Standard green beans are the obvious swap, just a touch thicker, so give them an extra minute. Haricots verts go the other way, thinner and faster, so shave a minute off.
Snap peas or sugar snap pods give a similar fresh crunch in a salad or stir-fry, though they read sweeter. Asparagus stands in for a hot buttered side, matching the grassy snap even if the flavor leans different.
Frozen green beans work in stews and soups where crispness no longer matters.
Buying and Storing French Beans
Pick beans that snap crisply when bent and look vivid green, not yellowed or leathery. A fresh bean breaks with an audible crack; one that bends like rubber is past it. Smaller, slimmer pods are younger and more tender than fat ones.
Store them unwashed in the crisper drawer, loosely bagged so they can breathe, and use them within about 4 to 5 days. They lose sweetness fast off the plant, so sooner is better.
To freeze, blanch for 2 to 3 minutes, cool in ice water, then pat dry and bag them flat. Frozen this way they keep their color and most of their texture for up to 8 months.
Quick facts
- In Chinese
- 法国豆
- British (UK) term
- French beans
- en français
- haricots verts
- en español
- judías verdes
Recipes using french beans
There are 7 recipes that contain this ingredient.
Kurma
South Indian vegetable kurma with eggplant, carrots, peas, beans, and potatoes in a fresh coconut-chili-poppy seed paste. A fragrant vegetarian curry finished with tomatoes and yogurt.
Brown Rice & Vegetable Salad
Brown rice salad with turmeric, French beans, peas, corn, red pepper, and crunchy peanuts. A hearty, colorful grain salad served warm or at room temperature.
Summer Bean & Basil Soup
Summer bean and basil soup is a classic Provençal soupe au pistou. White beans, leeks, potatoes, zucchini, green beans, and macaroni in a light broth, served with a fresh basil-garlic pistou sauce on top.
Bean Salad Plus Tuna or Bacon
Three-bean salad with steamed French beans, kidney beans, and chickpeas in a tangy yogurt-mustard dressing. Add tuna or grilled bacon for a heartier meal.
Peppery Portugese Pasta
Peppery Portuguese-style pasta with a chunky vegetable sauce of tomatoes, leeks, carrots, and French beans spiked with hot chili sauce over spaghetti.
Green Beans with Fried Bean Curd
This succulent dish made of tofu cakes, french beans and a bit of dry sherry is the perfect dinner to make when in a hurry.
Spicy Pittas
Spicy salmon pittas: flaked canned salmon tossed with fromage frais, cumin, ginger, and beans, stuffed into warm pita pockets. A quick, protein-packed no-cook lunch.
