The immature pod of common bean — harvested before the seeds inside develop, eaten whole as a crisp, mild vegetable; one of the most widely grown and versatile vegetables in the world.
Pod maturity
Green beans are harvested at the immature stage, when the pod is tender and the seeds inside are still small and undeveloped. If left to mature, the seeds harden into dry beans (kidney beans, navy beans, etc.), which are dried and stored. The green bean is essentially the same plant consumed at a different developmental stage.
Haricot vert
French haricots verts (literally “green beans”) refers specifically to very thin, delicate French variety beans harvested younger and smaller than standard American green beans. They cook much faster (2–3 minutes in boiling water), stay bright green, and have a sweeter, more tender flavour. They are the green bean of classic French cuisine — blanched à la française and tossed in butter.
Green bean casserole
Created by Dorcas Reilly at Campbell Soup Company in 1955 as a way to promote Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup, the green bean casserole — canned green beans in mushroom soup cream sauce, topped with French’s fried onions — became one of the most popular Thanksgiving side dishes in the United States. An estimated 40 million are made each Thanksgiving.
Chinese dry-fried beans
One of the most flavourful green bean preparations: Chinese ganbian sijidou (dry-fried string beans). Beans are deep-fried in oil until wrinkled and slightly charred, then tossed with ground pork, doubanjiang (chilli bean paste), garlic, and ginger. The blistering concentrates the bean’s flavour intensely.
Find more vegetables by letter
Green Bean starts with G and ends with N. Browse other vegetables along the same letter.
Vegetables that contain a letter from "Green Bean":