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How Many Whole or Chopped Green Beans are in a Pound?

Many recipes will call for "1 cup of chopped green beans" or "2 cups of whole green beans" but it is not always easy to figure out actually how many green beans are in a cup. In order to help make cooking easier we did some experiments to help tell you exactly how many green beans you need to buy.

To answer How many green beans in a cup we went to the grocery store to check out the vegetable section. After surveying the selection we discovered that 1 pound of green beans would be the best measurement for our how many green beans in a cup testing sample. We found that 1 pound contains about 35 to 40 green beans which yields about 3 cups chopped, making a 1/3 pound purchase just about right for a 1 cup chopped green bean recipe. Remember when cooked, 1 cup of green beans will reduce in quantity by 2 to 3 tablespoons.

Did you know that green beans, which are really immature dry beans, originated from Peru but are found worldwide today? They were originally called "string beans" because of the tough string that ran along the outside of the pod. Through selective breeding techniques, in 1894 botanists were able to remove the string and produced the stringless varieties we enjoy eating today.

Next time your recipe calls for a cup of chopped or whole green beans you'll feel confident knowing how many you need. You can also use our conversion tool below for any custom how many green beans in a... measurements you need.

How much is in a green bean 1

Custom Conversions for Pound of Green Beans

One Pound of Green Beans Equals

  • There is 3 Cups (711 mls) of Chopped Green Beans in a Pound of Green Beans
I need:

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You need 0.3 Pounds of Green Beans

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How to Store Pound of Green Beans

General How to Store Beans Info

beans are the immature pods of the bean; shell beans, the mature fresh seed, and dried beans, seed which has dried in the pod and must be reconstituted in liquid. Any bean allowed to grow long enough will give you all 3 stages, but not necessarily the same good flavor at each stage.

Short Term Bean Storage

Store fresh snap and shell beans unwashed in a perforated plastic bag in the humid crisper section of the refrigerator. They will keep 3 to 5 days.

Shell beans should be left in their pods and shelled just before cooking.

Bean Long Term Storage

Freezing: Snap beans: blanch beans in boiling water for 3 minutes per pound of beans. Chill in ice water for 3 minutes; drain and store in freezer bags. Beans will keep 10 to 12 months at 0°F (-17.8°C).

Shell beans: blanch beans by size. Medium beans will blanch in 2 minutes in boiling water; larger beans will take 3 minutes. Immediately chill in ice water for an equal length of time. Drain and loosely pack in freezer boxes or bags. Beans will keep 6 to 12 months at 0°F (-17.8°C).

In addition to freezing, you may either can or pickle beans.

Drying Shell Beans: Let beans dry in pods; when dry, remove and shell. Dry beans in a slow oven about 200°F (93.3°C) for 6 to 8 hours to kill weevil eggs. Store covered, in a dry place.



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What is the Produce Converter?

One of the biggest hassles when cooking and working in the kitchen is when a recipe calls for "the juice of 1 lime" or a similar measurement. Often times when cooking people use bottled juices, pre-sliced vegetables and other convenient cooking time savers. Produce Converter will help you convert the "juice of 1 lime" and other similar recipe instructions into tablespoons, cups and other concrete measurements.

Produce Converter can also be used to figure out how many vegetables to buy when you need, for instance, "A cup of diced onion." You can use our easy conversion tool to figure out exactly how many onions you need to buy at the store in order to end up with the amount you need for your cooking.

We hope you enjoy Produce Converter and if you have any suggestions for how we can improve it and make your cooking easier please let us know.

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