How to Perfectly Boil Green Beans

Perfect boiled green beans in white bowl.

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How to Perfectly Boil Green Beans

Foolproof method for ensuring your green beans stay vibrant green, have great flavor and a bit of crispness!

Prep Time15

Cook Time7

Total Time22

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Calories: 35kcal

Author: Anecia Hero

Equipment

Large stockpot

Ingredients

2 pounds green beans, rinsed and trimmed (See Recipe Notes for Yield)
2 quarts boiling water (8 cups)
¼ cup salt (4 tablespoons)
2 quarts of ice water

Instructions

Rinse and snap the end of the beans; remove any discolored or damaged beans
On high heat, bring water to boil; once boiling, add salt
2 quarts boiling water (8 cups), ¼ cup salt (4 tablespoons)
Add green beans; bring back to boil and cook for 5-7 minutes; do NOT cook more than 7 minutes (See Recipe Notes)
2 pounds green beans, rinsed and trimmed
Set up a big bowl of ice water next to your stove
2 quarts of ice water
Once you've hit the 5-7 minute mark, remove beans and immediately submerge in cold water; allow beans to chill for 1-minute; remove from ice water and pat dry; serve immediately
If you want to heat the beans after you remove them from the ice bath, heat a dry skillet on medium-high heat. Working in batches, place a single layer of beans in the hot skillet, rotate and toss the beans to ensure all of the beans get warm, then plate on a serving platter.

Notes

Two pounds of green beans yields 4-6 cups. If you serve half-cup servings, you will have 8-12 servings. The nutrition estimate is based on one-cup servings, so divide the nutritional values by 2.

Do not boil the beans longer than 7 minutes. Why? The beans start to turn a dull green color and get soggy or limp.

If you're cooking more than 2 pounds of beans, you may want to work in batches keeping the salt : water ratio the same for each batch.

2 tablespoons of salt per quart of water (2 tablespoons per 4 cups water)

Make sure the boiling water completely submerges the beans.

Nutrition