How to freeze broad beans - The best way

Are you a vegetable connoisseur and like to taste them in every possible way? Or maybe you just like to mix things up and provide your family with healthy meals. Whatever your purpose when it comes to beans and vegetables, we hope you’ll give fava beans a try.

Broad beans are a very tasty vegetable that really has a lot to offer if you try it. You may already know this, in fact, we suspect that’s why you’re here!

Whether you’ve grown your own beans or bought a bulk supply, you need options to store those extra beans so they don’t go to waste.

The beans keep quite well. You can can them if you want, but the best way to store them is to freeze them.

So how do you freeze broad beans? The best way to freeze broad beans is to rinse and blanch them first, then seal them in an airtight container and use them within 12 months. You can freeze them without blanching them, but we don’t recommend it.

Throughout this guide, we will talk about the proper processes for storing and freezing your broad beans.

We’ll walk you through how to freeze broad beans step by step to make sure you have a valid understanding of how to freeze your own successfully.

Read on to learn all about freezing fava beans and much more.

The Ultimate Guide to Freezing Broad Beans

Beans are a slightly unique vegetable. They are formed into a pod, like peas or green beans. Although the pods can be eaten, most people enjoy the lima beans inside the pod, and sometimes enjoy them straight out of the pod.

Broad beans are usually served like this in Italy, usually with a garnish of pecorino cheese and perhaps a little oil.

Of course, there are many other ways to enjoy them as well. You may have heard of broad beans as well as kidney beans, which is another common reference for them.

cooking with broad beans

Beans are a great vegetable to add to your greens list. You can prepare them in many different ways. You can enjoy them in the pods (which is not so common) or you can peel them.

Plus, you can eat them fresh and raw, with the skins on, or cook them in dishes or on their own. 

As you can see, the options are practically endless. If you want to be inspired by what you can do with your beans, here are some ideas. 

• Fried gnocchi with broad beans and ham
• Make a Spanish Way dish
• Mix them in various salads
• Green risotto with broad beans
• Add it to linguini or pasta dishes
• bean fritters
• Make a spread on toast
• Mix with barley, quinoa or rice
• Raw with cheese and oil
• New potatoes with broad beans and bacon
• Chorizo and broad bean risotto
• broad bean shakeshuka
• Minestrone
• homemade hummus

These are just a few delicious options to try if you need some basic ideas for your beans. You can serve and enjoy them in any kind of dish you like.

It is also customary to serve broad beans with various types of fish.

Mix and enjoy them in many different ways. Be brave and experiment and try new things with your beans so you can really enjoy them and the health benefits they can offer.

Storage and preservation of broad beans

Beans are fairly easy to store. If you have a batch of fresh lima beans still in their pods, you can expect them to last for several days as long as you store them in a cool, dry place.

You don’t have to refrigerate them, but you can if you prefer.  In fact, refrigerating them can extend their freshness by a few days beyond the first 3-4 days.

When you initially store them, you can leave them in the pods.

You can rinse them if you prefer, but it is not necessary. You can take care of all that when you prepare them for use.

The longer you leave them in their natural form (in pods), the more likely they are to last without additional measures. 

The exception to this rule is when you decide that you are going to freeze your beans. The broad beans are not frozen with the pod , but it is best to remove the pod and blanch them, so that they stay fresh and ripe and do not spoil in the freezer.

If you remove the pod from the lima beans and expect them to last a long time out of the freezer, you’ll probably be very disappointed.

Your best bet is to store them in their pods until you are ready to freeze them. 

Now, let’s talk about the freezing process.

How to freeze broad beans

Freezing broad beans is not a difficult process. It does require a bit of work. Not only will you prune them before freezing, but you will also need to go through a blanching process.

If you plan to use them in a couple of weeks , you can skip the blanching process and just can, bag, and freeze them.

However, we recommend that you follow the entire process in case you don’t use them right away.

These are the steps to freeze the beans: 

1. Start by rinsing the beans. Next, shell the beans, that is, remove the shell.
2. Blanch the beans. To do this, you must heat a pot with water until it boils over high heat. When the water is boiling, place the broad beans with pods in the boiling water. Bring the water back to a boil and boil for 3 minutes.
3. Drain the beans and immediately transfer them to ice water. This sets the blanching process.
4. Drain the beans.
5. Pat the beans dry or allow them to dry completely before packing them for freezing. We recommend that you pat them dry so that they do not remain in the open air for a long time.
6. Place the blanched lima beans in heavy-duty freezer bags or a freezer-safe container. We prefer bags.
7. Squeeze the air out of the bag as much as possible, then close it tightly.
8. Label and date the freezer bags and place them in the freezer.
9. Your broad beans should last in the freezer for about 12 months. They could last longer, but this is the recommended time frame for the best quality.

Most people cringe at the thought of blanching things, but it’s really the best way to keep your beans in the freezer.

Blanching doesn’t cook them , it’s simply a preparation method that will help make your freezer storage adventure more successful in the long run.

The point is that the blanching process is done because it will prevent the beans from rotting (yes, they can even do this in the freezer).

Blanching is a unique process that stops the enzymes in the plant. 

This means that the state the beans are in when they are scalded is the state they will remain in while being properly frozen.

This is a very important step and could be the difference in whether or not your freeze attempts are successful.

If you just take that little time to blanch your beans, you will be very happy with the result. It is worth it to be able to keep those beans for much longer and be able to really enjoy them without worrying about them going bad in the meantime.

Related questions

We hope you found this guide to freezing broad beans an informative and valuable resource to help you through the process. It’s pretty straightforward and you shouldn’t have any problems with your freezing efforts.

We invite you to review the following section of questions and answers for additional information that may be useful to you.

What are the health benefits of fava beans?

Beans are high in protein and fiber. They are often recommended for weight loss and healthy eating plans.

You will find a series of folates and vitamin B in the beans. Some health benefits are cognitive function, energy, and blood cell development.

Do you leave the skin on the beans?

You can peel the skins if you prefer, but it really isn’t necessary.

The skin is edible and the flavor remains almost the same with or without the skin of the bean.

We recommend leaving the skin of the beans intact unless you are going to crush them. 

Is it necessary to cook the beans?

The broad beans are usually eaten fresh and raw, straight from the pod. However, they can also be cooked.

The best way to cook them is to boil them for 6-8 minutes and then you can use them however you like.