How to cook fresh broad beans from the garden or the shops by steaming or boiling them on the hob.
While not particularly high in any one Vitamin, they do have a range of vitamins from A, C, and B plus some iron and magnesium. They are however really high in folate, fibre, and protein.
With broad beans available fresh from may through until July, they are a welcome sight to gardeners as an early crop you can enjoy while waiting for other things to be ready.
Broad beans make a great addition to many meals and they have a distinctive taste.
How to Cook Fresh Broad Beans from the Garden or Shops
Ideally, you want to pick your garden broad beans fresh and fairly young. Old enough that they are fully formed but not so old that they are tough and you need to remove the skins. This according to the RHS is about 7cm (3.5inches) long.
How to Steam Broad Beans
- Remove your beans from their pods
- Rinse and check for blemishes
- Place the beans into your steamer
- Make sure the steamer doesn’t run dry cook your beans for the allotted amount of time depending on your beans (see below)
How Long to Steam Broad Beans for Cooking Well?
When deciding on how long to steam your broad beans you need to consider a few of the following things.
- How big are your beans?
- How old are they?
- How well done do you like your beans cooked?
- How old are your beans?
The cooking time varies from between 6 to about 11 minutes depending on size, age, and your preferences for how well cooked they are.
How to Boil Broad Beans
- Remove your broad beans from their pods
- Rinse them and check for any blemishes
- Place the beans into a pan of boiling water (you can add salt if yu prefer)
- It doesn’t take long to cook broad beans when you boil them about 3-4 minutes is all you need
What to do if you Have Tough Broad Beans
If your beans are older or tough once they are cooked and soft remove them from the pan. Then simply gently pinch the outside skins and squeeze them to make them pop out of their skins. They are now ready to eat.
