Many people who garden, go to the farmers’ market, or even shop at Whole Foods have the same problem: they compost more food than they eat. This is because they want to waste less food and be more environmentally friendly.
And we end up making some rather expensive compost. Not because we’re picky or wasteful, but because we don’t know that most of the plants we buy or grow can be eaten, from stem to leaf.
Because we don’t see them in grocery stores or recipes very often and have been told false things about them over time, we think they are bitter, tough, or toxic.
If you haven’t tried food from other parts of the world, you might not know that you can eat squash shoots or pepper leaves, which are unusual leafy greens that might seem “exotic” or even weird to North Americans but are part of the food culture in Southeast Asia.
That isn’t the only part of the world where unconventional produce abounds, however. People in many other countries eat chard stalks, watermelon seeds, and leek greens, among other things, when they are not in season.
You probably already grow these tasty plant “scraps” in your garden. They should have a place in your kitchen other than the veggie stock pot or the compost bin. They’re also important to my “lazy gardening” because they help me grow more food with less work. And who can say no to that?.
Before you toss those leaves aside out of habit, see if they make the list here. With little work, you’ll learn how to make no waste in the kitchen and enjoy a wide range of new tastes and textures.
As a vegetable lover and avid gardener, I’m always looking for new ways to eat fresh from my garden. So when my green beans started producing an abundance of large, green leaves, I wondered can you eat green bean leaves? Which types of bean leaves are edible? How do you prepare them? And most importantly do they taste any good?
In this article, we’ll dive into all the details on eating bean leaves – from nutrient content to recommended preparation methods. I’ll share which types of bean leaves can be eaten and which ones to avoid. You’ll learn some simple recipes to start cooking up these nutrient-packed leaves. Let’s get growing!
An Overview of Edible Bean Leaves
Many types of bean plants produce edible leaves, though the most common are
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Common green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) – These familiar green beans grow in home gardens everywhere. Both the beans and leaves are edible.
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Yardlong beans (Vigna unguiculata) – Also known as Chinese long beans, these beans have tender leaves that can be eaten.
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Runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus) – Runner beans have slightly tougher leaves compared to green beans. But they are still quite tasty when cooked.
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Lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus) – The large, green leaves of lima bean plants are completely edible.
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Fava beans (Vicia faba) – Fava plants produce lovely, tender green leaves in addition to the popular beans.
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Hyacinth beans (Lablab purpureus) – These pretty purple flowers also grow large, edible leaves.
Other bean varieties may also have edible leaves, but the ones listed above are the most commonly consumed. Always confirm before eating leaves from any plant.
Health Benefits of Eating Bean Leaves
Adding bean leaves to your diet provides some great health bonuses. Here are some of the top nutrients found in most edible bean leaves:
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Vitamin A – This important vitamin supports eye health and a strong immune system. Bean leaves supply beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A.
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Vitamin C – Helps absorption of iron, supports immune function, and acts as an antioxidant. Bean leaves contain good amounts of this essential nutrient.
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Calcium – Needed for bone health, nerve signaling, and muscle function. The edible leaves of beans provide some calcium to the diet.
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Iron – Critical for producing red blood cells and transporting oxygen. The iron in bean leaves increases your daily intake of this mineral.
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Fiber – Aids digestion, balances blood sugar, and promotes heart health. Bean leaves deliver insoluble and soluble fiber.
In addition to vitamins and minerals, bean leaves contain antioxidants like lutein and zeaxanthin that support eye health. Eating the greens along with the beans gives you a nutrient boost.
Taste and Texture of Bean Leaves
So what do bean leaves actually taste like? The flavor can vary slightly depending on the variety. But in general, bean leaves have:
- A mild, earthy, herbal flavor
- A tender but slightly fibrous texture
- A touch of nuttiness or bitterness
Many people describe the taste as a mix between spinach and lettuce. The younger, smaller leaves tend to be more tender with a milder flavor. Larger, mature leaves can be a bit tougher.
Bean leaves make a great addition to salads, soups, stir fries, and sautés. Their herbal flavor is quite pleasant, though the texture is not quite as delicate as spinach. Quick cooking helps soften the fibers.
When to Harvest Bean Leaves
For the best flavor and texture, you’ll want to harvest bean leaves at the right stage of growth. Here are some guidelines:
- Pick smaller leaves when they are young and tender.
- Allow some leaves to remain on the plant for photosynthesis.
- Avoid harvesting once flowers appear to allow bean production.
- Larger leaves can be harvested but may require more cooking time.
Try to select only the top one or two pairs of leaves from each plant. This allows the plant to continue growing. Bean leaves can be picked repeatedly through the season as long as enough foliage remains for plant health.
How to Prepare Bean Leaves
Preparation for bean leaves is fast and simple. Here are some tips:
- Wash leaves thoroughly in cool water to remove any dirt.
- Chop leaves by stacking several and cutting into strips.
- Cook bean leaves only until wilted to retain nutrients.
- Use raw in salads, sandwiches, smoothies for an extra nutrition boost.
- Sauté or stir fry quickly over high heat with olive oil and garlic.
- Add to soups near the end of cooking time to wilt but not overcook.
- Substitute for spinach in any cooked dishes for a new flavor.
Cooking bean leaves takes only 2-5 minutes depending on the preparation method. Watch carefully to avoid overcooking. Drink the nutrient-rich cooking liquid for extra benefits.
And if you’ve grown too many leaves to use up? Simply blanch and freeze them for later!
Healthy Recipes Using Bean Leaves
Here are a few of my favorite ways to enjoy bean leaves:
Bean Leaf Pesto
Blend bean leaves, basil, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, pine nuts, and parmesan. Toss with pasta or spread on sandwiches.
Stir Fried Bean Leaves
Cook minced garlic in sesame oil. Add chopped bean leaves and stir fry 2-3 minutes until wilted. Season with soy sauce and sesame seeds.
Bean Leaf Salad
Chop raw bean leaves and mix with baby spinach, chopped vegetables, nuts, and a lemon vinaigrette.
Bean Leaf Soup
Sauté onion, carrot, and celery. Add chopped bean leaves and vegetable or chicken broth. Simmer 5 minutes before serving.
Bean Leaf Omelet
Whisk eggs with diced bean leaves. Cook eggs in olive oil and flip after 1 minute. Add cheese, fold omelet and serve.
With some creative use, the edible leaves of bean plants can add nutrition, texture, and fresh flavor to many dishes. They make a tasty, eco-friendly addition from the garden.
Final Thoughts on Eating Bean Leaves
Hopefully this article has convinced you to start harvesting and enjoying the edible leaves of your bean plants. Not only are bean leaves full of vitamins and minerals, they also provide a zero-waste way to get more from your garden. Just be sure to properly identify the plant before eating any leaves.
Look for the youngest, most tender leaves no more than a few inches in size. Quickly cook them by sautéing, stir frying or adding to soups to retain nutrients. Bean leaves have an earthy, spinach-like flavor that complements many dishes.
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Are you growing these vegetables already?
The fact that every recipe you look at says to throw away the dark green ends of the leeks and only use the “white and light green” parts doesn’t help.
It doesn’t help that leek tops are usually dirty and full of grit when you first look at them. (Hey, they can’t help how they’re grown. Have you ever seen a freshly dug carrot that looked appetizing?).
What a surprise! The dark green end (or top, depending on how you look at it) tastes just as good as the white end.
When you pick leeks from your own garden, the tops are soft and smooth, unlike the tough, worn-out leaves that most people associate with store-bought leeks. Once you get them from the store, all you have to do is cut off the wrinkled parts that have been handled, and the leaves will be soft and juicy.
To cook leek tops like onions, toss them in oil over medium heat until they’re soft and smell good.
Contrary to popular belief, carrot tops are not toxic. Unpalatable to some tastebuds, maybe, but certainly not poisonous.
Often discarded for having a disagreeable texture, the greens from carrots (Daucus carota subsp. sativus) are best used as an accent or in a condiment, like carrot top salsa.
Like carrots, they have a strong, earthy flavor, and you can sometimes use them instead of parsley to bring out the savory or umami flavor.
Take the tougher stems off of the soft carrot leaves and chop them up very small. You can then add them to soups, salads, or pasta and rice. They’re especially good in minestrone or any rustic vegetable soup as a garnish.
We usually see broccoli (Brassica oleracea) in the store with a head wrapped in a few wilted leaves. We take those leaves off right away before cooking.
But broccoli leaves, the loose rosette of greens that grows around the bud as it grows, are a vegetable in their own right. Yes, you can eat broccoli leaves!.
Cook them as you would a sturdy green like kale or collards. Because they don’t taste strong, they work well in soups, sautés, stir-fries, and braises where they won’t crowd out the other flavors.
You can also eat the leaves of cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and Brussels sprouts (also called brassicas or cole crops), which are all in the mustard family. Think of them as a bonus harvest while you wait for the heads and sprouts to mature.
Even though the crisp, peppery roots (Raphanus sativus) are one of my favorite salad greens, I often forget to eat the radish tops.
But I like putting vegetable tops and tails back together in my recipes. The radish plant is a great example of this—it tastes great either raw or cooked.
You can eat winter radishes (like daikon, watermelon, or Black Spanish radish) as well as their leaves in the spring, summer, and fall.
Winter radishes are great because you can pick a few leaves from each plant all season long until the crop is ready. Let some of these plants flower if you forget to pull them up. The seeds make great pickled radish pods for a snack.
Sweet potato leaves
Not to be confused with potatoes (they are not related), sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are in the same family as morning glories. This is most clear when both plants are in bloom.
The leaves of the sweet potato plant are mild in flavor and abundant in summer. They can be harvested all season long while you wait for the tubers to mature.
You can grow sweet potatoes just for the steady supply of greens in places where they can live all year (they’re a perennial crop in zones 9–11).
The tender stems and leaves are both edible. They’re silky like spinach and wilt beautifully when cooked. Put them in a soup, sauté, or stir-fry, by themselves or with other vegetables. Heat will bring out their sweetness.
Summer squash and winter squash (from the five cultivated species Cucurbita pepo, C. moschata, C. maxima, C. argyrosperma, and C. ficifolia) are the plants that keep on giving.
As most people know, you can fry zucchini blossoms and roast pumpkin seeds. But did you know you can also eat squash leaves? The vines taste earthy and sweet, like the fruit they bear.
This means the entire plant is edible at every stage of growth, from sprout to fruit. (You’re not going to throw away those thinnings, are you? They’re tasty!) You can use leaves from any plant, but opo squash leaves are traditionally used in Southeast Asian cooking because they are native to that region.
To harvest, snip off the last few inches of the squash vine where you see new growth. There is a group of stems and leaves here called a squash shoot. It is the softest part of the vine. Remove the tendrils (which tend to be tough and stringy) and cook the rest.
You can try them in recipes where you’d normally use chard and other similarly textured leafy greens.
Since both cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) and squash are in the same family (Cucurbitaceae), they have many of the same traits. This includes being the perfect top-to-tail plant where the sprouts, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruit are all edible.
If you want a great salad green, try fresh, crisp cucumber sprouts. You can also eat tender young cucumber leaves. They’re so mild and light that they’ll pick up the flavor of whatever you cook them with, which is why I like them raw.
You just have to be careful not to over-pick the leaves, which can stunt production of the cucumbers. Or, try sowing a flat of cucumber seeds just for the nutrient-packed sprouts or microgreens.
Some people don’t agree with adding tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) to this list, but as I’ve said before, tomato leaves are safe to eat in small amounts, just like everything else.
They taste best when used in small amounts in sauces, soups, and salads, where I think their rich, unique flavor works best. Tomato leaves add a strong savory flavor that comes to life when they are chopped or cooked to release their oils.
If you want to make homemade tomato sauce or try to improve store-bought sauce, adding tomato leaves to it is my favorite way to use them.
Don’t be afraid to pick the young, tender leaves along with the green, unripe tomatoes the next time you pick them from the plant.
Surprise! You can eat the leaves of the Capsicum annuum and Capsicum frutescens plants that grow sweet peppers and hot peppers. They taste great!
It’s not as strong of a pepper flavor as the peppers themselves, and it tastes a bit like white pepper—light and fragrant.
Peppers get their heat from capsaicin, which is mostly found in the ribs (inner membranes) of the fruit. It doesn’t matter if you use the leaves from a sweet bell or a fiery habanero.
In Filipino food, pepper leaves are often used in tinola soup. In Chinese homestyle cooking, pepper leaves are also used in braises and stir-fries.
People often think of pea shoots first when they think of the leafy greens of legumes, and for good reason. You can eat pea shoots raw, cook them, or make “pesto” out of them. That’s why they’re one of my favorite greens. ”.
But what about beans?
While most people have eaten green beans, how about bean greens?
Yes, you can eat the leaves of all five types of beans: common green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), yardlong beans (Vigna unguiculata), runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus), lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus), fava beans (Vicia faba), and hyacinth beans (Lablab purpureus). Like most of the leaves on this list, they’re best used when young and tender.
In this group, fava leaf salads are my favorite because the plants grow tall and thick, and the leaves taste mild, kind of sweet and nutty. You can start harvesting fava leaves weeks before the pods emerge and all through the season.
You can also pick the leaves off of other bean plants, but they aren’t nearly as common as fava greens, and I personally don’t risk production on plants that are just starting out.
Bean Leaves Are Edible And Delicious
FAQ
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