Field to Frozen: Green Beans for Days ... or Years!

If your garden is anything like ours, you may feel like you are swimming in green beans right about now ... and they won't stop. Green beans will keep producing all summer long, and likely until the first freeze. It is becoming a nightly tradition in our family to go out to the garden and harvest the day's feast. The kids enjoy it, and they love knowing that they helped grow and pick the food on their plate.

Besides eating them every night for dinner what do you do with all of them?

Green beans are a fairly easy vegetable to vacuum package. Some people blanch their green beans prior to freezing them, but by vacuum sealing them, you are preserving the quality and nutrients without the added extra step and time.

Since our green beans are pole beans (they don't touch the ground) and they are grown organically I decided to forgo the washing and drying step. If you are buying store bought beans or you don't feel comfortable not washing them, just make sure that you lay them out to completely dry prior to following the next steps.

• The first step is to cut the ends off of your beans and then you can choose to cut them down further into halves or thirds depending how you like them cooked.

• Once you have finished cutting them, you can portion them out into your food vacuum bags based on how you intend to use them. I cut up about 4 cups of green beans and was able to fit them into an 8" x 12" Quart size vacuum seal bag. It just so happens that Campbell's Classic Green Bean Casserole calls for 4 cups of green beans ... I think these may just turn into Thanksgiving dinner!!

• This is also a great time to pre-season your veggies if you plan to cook them directly in the bag. Add salt, pepper, butter, or whatever seasonings you prefer and then you can steam or cook them sous vide directly in the bag. You can read more about cooking food in vacuum sealed bags here.
• Once your bag(s) are are filled, they are ready for vacuum sealing. Just make sure you leave enough head space to seal the bag.

• After you vacuum seal them, make sure you have a good, tight seal and they are ready for the freezer!

Now that you have the low down on vacuum sealing your green beans, you should be able to stock up your freezer to have green beans for YEARS! The good news... vacuum sealed green beans can stay fresh in a freezer for up to 2-3 years!

Do you have any favorite green bean recipes? We'd love to hear about them! Share them to be featured on our blog!

Stay tuned for a classic summer favorite in our Field to Frozen blog series: Strawberries!