Green Beans: Nutrition Facts, Health Notes and Safety

Green beans, also called snap beans or string beans, are the young, tender pods of the common bean plant, eaten before the seeds inside have matured. They are one of the most familiar vegetables in American kitchens and come fresh, frozen and canned. So, are green beans healthy? In USDA data they are low in calories, provide fiber and are a good source of vitamin K, with smaller amounts of vitamin C, folate and manganese. Below are green beans nutrition numbers for raw, boiled, frozen and canned forms, what to know about vitamin K and blood thinners, the facts on bean lectins, and why home-canned green beans need a pressure canner.

Peptide Labs does not sell green beans or green bean products. This article is general nutrition information, not medical advice.

What are green beans?

Botanists classify snap beans as Phaseolus vulgaris, the common bean. The same species gives us kidney, black, pinto and navy beans, which are harvested later for their dry seeds. Green beans are picked early, while the pod is still tender and the seeds are small, so you eat the whole pod. Yellow wax beans are the same vegetable in a pale yellow form, and flat Italian or Romano beans are another pod type. Modern varieties are mostly stringless, but older types have a fibrous string along the seam, hence the nickname string beans.

Because they are eaten as an immature pod, green beans behave more like a vegetable than a legume in the kitchen and on the plate: low in protein and calories compared with dry beans. For the mature-seed cousins, see our guides to black beans, chickpeas and edamame, which are much richer in protein.

Green beans nutrition: raw, boiled, frozen and canned

These figures come from the USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy database, using USDA’s own cup weights, with percent Daily Value (DV) based on FDA reference amounts. Canned values are for drained beans.

A few patterns are clear in the USDA numbers. Vitamin K is the standout nutrient in every form, from about a third to half of the Daily Value per cup. Fiber per cup is higher for boiled and frozen beans partly because a cooked cup packs in more beans by weight than a raw cup of cut pieces. Vitamin C is highest in fresh beans and lower in the frozen and canned entries. The biggest difference is sodium: regular canned green beans carry about 16% of the Daily Value per drained cup, while USDA lists only 2 milligrams per 100 grams for the no-salt-added canned version (FDC 168505), compared with 268 milligrams for regular pack. If sodium matters to you, the Nutrition Facts label and the words “no salt added” are the things to check.

For context, our fiber-rich foods list and daily fiber guide show how green beans compare with other vegetables, and our low glycemic foods guide covers non-starchy vegetables more broadly.

Are green beans healthy?

Green beans are a nutrient-dense, low-calorie vegetable by USDA numbers. There are no clinical trials testing green beans alone for a health outcome, so specific claims you may see online, such as green beans controlling blood sugar or melting fat, are not supported. What can be said:

• Vitamin K: a cup of boiled green beans supplies half the Daily Value in USDA data. Vitamin K is needed for normal blood clotting and bone proteins; our vitamin K foods guide explains the K1 and K2 forms.
• Fiber: a cooked cup gives about a seventh of the Daily Value, with very few calories.
• Folate and manganese: present in modest amounts, from 8% to 17% of the Daily Value per cup depending on form.
• Low in calories and sodium when fresh or frozen: a useful base for meals, a point our GLP-1 diet guide makes about non-starchy vegetables in general.

Green beans and warfarin

Because green beans contain a fair amount of vitamin K, people who take the blood thinner warfarin sometimes wonder whether to avoid them. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements and MedlinePlus advise keeping vitamin K intake consistent from week to week, because sudden changes can alter the drug’s effect, and talking to your doctor before you change your diet. If you take warfarin, ask your care team how to fit green beans into a steady routine.

Green beans and lectins

Green beans belong to the same species as kidney beans, so questions about lectins come up often. The FDA Bad Bug Book says phytohaemagglutinin, the lectin behind kidney bean poisoning, is found in many species of beans and is in highest concentration in red kidney beans. A 2025 study in Foods describes it as a storage protein of the bean seed and found that commercially canned beans had more than 99% less active lectin than raw seeds. We found no agency guidance or primary study measuring lectin in raw green bean pods, so we make no claim either way. Green beans are almost always eaten cooked, and our lectins guide explains what is known about cooking and dried beans.

Home-canned green beans need a pressure canner

This is the most important safety fact about green beans. The National Center for Home Food Preservation, a USDA-funded program at the University of Georgia, explains that the bacterium Clostridium botulinum can grow in canned food and cause botulism, a deadly form of food poisoning. The toxin can form in moist, low-acid foods kept without air, and the center classes all fresh vegetables except most tomatoes as low-acid foods. Its green bean instructions call for a pressure canner and state plainly that there is no safe option for processing green beans in a boiling water canner.

• Use tested recipes: the center points to research-based process times in the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning; do not improvise times or methods.
• Never use a boiling water bath for green beans: the center lists no safe boiling water option for them.
• Suspect jars: do not taste them; follow the center’s guidance on identifying and handling spoiled canned food.

How to cook and enjoy green beans

• Choosing: look for firm, bright pods that snap cleanly when bent, without brown spots or limp ends.
• Prepping: rinse, then trim the stem ends; remove the string along the seam if your variety has one.
• Cooking: steam, boil briefly, roast at high heat, saute or stir-fry until tender-crisp. Overcooking turns them olive-drab and soft.
• Frozen: cook straight from the bag; USDA values for frozen beans are close to fresh cooked beans except for vitamin C.
• Canned: choose no-salt-added cans if you are watching sodium, and check the label.

Green beans are not one of the nine major food allergens that US labels must declare, though any food can cause a reaction in some people. For a different vegetable with a very different nutrient profile, see our sibling guide to kohlrabi, which is high in vitamin C and almost free of vitamin K. Our leafy greens guide covers other vegetables people pair with green beans.

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions about a label? Contact us or read our Buyer’s Guide. Food comes first; follow the label and ask a healthcare provider before starting a supplement, especially if you take medicines, are pregnant or have a food allergy. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Last reviewed October 2026.

Related guides: Kohlrabi: What It Is, USDA Nutrition and How to Eat It, Snap Peas: Sugar Snap Peas Nutrition, Snow Peas and Cooking, Foods High in Vitamin K: USDA List, K1 vs K2 and Warfarin Notes.