Seasoning for Frozen Green Beans - Eat Like No One Else

Looking for some ideas on how to season your frozen green beans to make them great? We got plenty for you! Also find out what methods of cooking we recommend.

Frozen green beans sitting on a white table with colored spots.

🧂 What Seasonings to Use

Here is a list of seasonings that go great with frozen green beans.

Quality salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Garlic powder
Fresh garlic
Chopped onions
Chopped shallots
Fresh tarragon
Butter
Extra virgin olive oil
Toasted sesame oil
Sesame seeds or Everything But the Bagel seasoning
Freshly squeaked lemon juice

The most important seasoning is always salt. You never want to just use cheap iodized table salt. I believe it's always worth it to spend a little more money for a quality salt. Salts I like include Real Salt, Maldon Sea Salt Flakes, and Himala Salt Himalayan Salt.

Garlic is the green bean's best friend. They go so well together. Learn about How to Find Good Garlic.

Tarragon is an herb that doesn't get much attention but I love it for its bittersweet, fennel like flavor.

When it comes to butter, the beans will taste best with a quality butter like Kerrygold.

Maybe you would rather use some flavorful oil. Extra virgin is always nice. Toasted sesame oil will add a lot of flavor to your beans and you only need a small amount.

Don't underestimate the power of a little bit of freshly squeezed lemon juice. The acidity has an amazing ability to brighten up the flavor of the green beans.

Frozen Birds Eye Steamfresh Whole green beans sitting on a white table with colored spots.

🧊 Best Frozen Green Beans to Buy

Always look for whole green beans. Cut green beans tend to get really easily waterlogged. Birds Eye has whole green beans that you can find in most stores. If you are looking for organic try Cascadian Farm, 365 brand at Whole Foods Market, or if you are at Target you can get organic green beans under their Good & Gather brand.

Finished caramelized green beans in the black basket of an air fryer.

🏆 Best Way to Cook Frozen Green Beans

While you can steam or boil frozen green beans I think the texture is nearly always too soft. The ice crystals that form on the beans when frozen add moisture, so waterlogging is a problem.

There are two methods that I think produce excellent green beans from frozen. You might not even be able to tell they were frozen not fresh beans.

Both of these methods don't introduce any additional water to the beans.

3 strips of cooked bacon sitting on a piece of butcher paper.

🥓 Cooking with Bacon

Also a tasty idea is cooking them with bacon.

Thaw your frozen green beans
Cook the bacon in a pan until done.
Using tongs and a paper towel whip some of the excess fat in the pan. Don't remove all of it, you will use it to cook the beans.
Add the beans and sauté until cooked through.
Cut the bacon into bite size pieces once cooled enough. I like to do this with kitchen shears.
Add the bacon to the beans, stir to combine, and then enjoy.