7 Canned Green Beans You Should Buy & 6 You Shouldn't

Green beans are the unsung heroes of the pantry world, a canned food colossus that can cooperate with just about any cultural cuisine you throw it into. They're great for bulking up soups and enhancing savory pies, adding subtle taste and definitive texture that no other vegetable can. But they're often relegated to side dish status, given a seat at the table but not part of the main event.

Even if they never stand in the spotlight, the green beans you choose to serve should be a quality choice to ensure they don't detract from the other dishes on the table. It's crucial that you know what's inside the can before you grab it off the shelf, and it can be expensive and time-consuming to conduct your own ranking of grocery store canned green beans just to find the ones that work best. That's where I come in, with my can opener blazing and my taste buds ready to tackle the challenge of finding the highest quality canned green beans around, while calling out the worst ones to keep your meal time a happy occasion.

Sampling a slew of name brand and store label canned green beans showed me just how different each company considers its offerings. There are definite winners here, and some waxy, flavorless losers that you should steer clear of at all costs. Who knew canned green beans would be such a contentious lot? Lesson learned.

To get a sense of what each brand's style of green beans had to offer, I cracked open every can and took a single bite of one bean, or a small forkful if it was French style, since those are hard to single out. I paid close attention to the texture, looking for something between soft and al dente, but not mushy or waxy. I also took note of the overall tasting notes of the beans, looking past the saltiness, since all canned green beans are bound to have picked up a little from the brine they are canned in.

The most important aspect that I was looking for flavor-wise was a fresh-tasting green bean that wasn't too grassy or too bland, and didn't have the odd taste of fish that sometimes occurs. That may be more a matter of my palate, but I figure I can't be the only one who picks up that layer in the green bean flavored composition. And since it's important to me to choose green beans that don't have that flaw, it's likely important to you as well. Not all heroes wear capes.

If your recipe calls for whole green beans, Great Value could be the way to go. At $1.16 per can, They're about 40 cents higher than the label's cut green beans, but they come out of the can looking more elegant and closer to fresh green beans than their snipped cohorts. If presentation is an important part of your green bean moments, this should put your mind at ease, even if it makes your debit card seize up a little.

I'm happy to report that Walmart's house brand whole green beans are a success. They are thinner than cut green beans, yet they provide more length, which means they're an ideal candidate for a side dish sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and little teriyaki sauce. The flavor is humble enough to rival frozen green beans, yet asserts itself enough to let you know it's there. This one was a pleasant surprise.

If Walmart's Great Value collection could pull off the same magic trick trick it performed with its whole green beans with its cut green beans, for less than a dollar a can, then frugal home cooks would have a cheap and handy way to keep the green beans coming.

I'm sad to say, these are the worst green beans of the three Great Value cans I tried. That strange, fish-like flavor that sometimes shows up in green beans was here in spades. I even tried waiting a while before sampling them again to see if maybe it was a fluke. It was not. In the event that I wanted to spend less than a dollar for green beans but needed cut form for the dish I was making, I would buy a can of whole green beans and cut them in half myself. That's how much I disliked eating these canned vegetables — and I'm an herbivore.

French-style sliced green beans are one of my favorite vegetable formats (yes, I have a favorite vegetable format ... we plant-eaters can be picky that way). The thin shape and more delicate texture makes them feel like an elegant side dish rather than an afterthought. And when the flavor matches the texture, a sort of veggie nirvana is achieved. I take my green beans very seriously.

Courtesy of Kroger's well-intentioned and budget-friendly can, fans of French style green beans can stock their pantry with a top-shelf pick. The flavor is mellow and the texture is supreme, making these beans an ideal spotlight stealer when you need a second or third dish to complete a meal. But their delicate presentation also makes them perfect for an almondine garnish or for working into a rice pilaf. At this price and quality, Kroger is giving you a canned food pantry essential that you can feel free to experiment with and not feel like you've wasted your money.

Albertsons and Safeway shoppers can reach for the company's house label Signature Select for bargain buy cut green beans. But you shouldn't spend a red cent on green beans or any other canned kitchen staple if you aren't going to get food with flavor to spare. Unfortunately, when it comes to standard cut green beans, you can't find it under this label.

These green beans are a bit blander than I thought they would be. The flavor is watery, even though the sodium content is a full 290 mg per ½-cup serving. There's some inconsistency in the size and shape too, which is not a huge consideration for most day-to-day use but can impact your use in dishes like stir fry, where consistency helps prevent scorching. If I had my pick of grocery outlets and was on the lookout for an inexpensive can of green beans, I'd shop elsewhere. Signature Select just falls a little flat.

If the jingle is right and Libby's on the label means you'll like it on your table, then Libby's cut green beans should be a prime pick. The can even calls out in the ingredients that it uses sea salt, a touch that shows the company is trying to be as wholesome as possible. It seems to be working.

Sweet and tender with just the right amount of zing, Libby's really seems to know what it's doing when it comes to green beans. There's nothing waxy or stringy about the texture, and the saltiness is so subtle, you almost don't even notice it's there. That makes this can perfect for incorporating your own seasonings in whatever dish you're making, even an extra sprinkle of salt if that's what it calls for. These beans are also flavorful enough to stand on their own next to your favorite chicken or beef dish.

The success I encountered with Libby's cut green beans told me I should expect equal success with the chiffonade-style French style cut green beans. How different could the experience possibly be, since it's just a rearrangement of the shape, right? There's no way a company could go too far afield once it's mastered the art of the green bean.

Well, the fact of the matter is the taste is just a little more grassy in this form than in the regular cut green beans. That's not a horrible thing, but it does impact the flavor of whatever you use the beans for. I would balance it out with the sprinkle of garlic powder just to bring things back to the robust side of the spectrum. I also noticed a bit more fibrous content in the can, which means you'll probably want to strain these before using. Otherwise, Libby's delivers another winning green bean.

Paying a cool dollar for a can of French style green beans is a tricky way for Albertsons and Safeway to get customers to buy the Signature Select veggies. Rather than getting fooled into buying another round of bad green beans, you'll be pleased to learn that the company does a fantastic job when it comes to a more continental take on green beans.

What this house label gets wrong with its cut green beans it gets very right with its French style beans. Maybe it's the cutting or just the quality of the vegetables grown before they're processed and canned, but the taste is much more favorable here. The texture is super soft, which means you probably wouldn't want to use the beans in a soup or a stew, as they would likely turn to mush. But as a dish on their own or even worked into ramen, fried rice, or a homemade succotash — one of the best canned food combinations around — these beans would add a touch of sophistication over regular green beans.

Italian style green beans are shorter than standard, giving each bean a more rectangular surface area than the usual. Kroger offering up an Italian style bean of its own could mean savings aplenty for shoppers stretching their dollars to the limit. It doesn't have to mean stretching the limit of what a proper green bean should taste like, though.

I was surprised at how tangy these green beans were, a quality I wasn't expecting ... and also did not enjoy. The freshness was definitely there, as the delicate texture attests. But something about the flavor and the way it lingered after I sampled the beans was on the unpleasant side. Amidst the confusion of having so many different types of inexpensive green beans to choose from at Kroger, it could be tempting to just grab this can instead of one of the others and make do. But I would suggest you make don't and go for the French cut instead. You'll be much happier.

Libby's gets in on the Italian cut green bean action with a higher-priced can that comes with that fantastic Libby's legacy. The assumption is that the company simply takes its green beans in a few different directions, all equally workable. But it takes actual tasting to make sure that the buck doesn't stop before it gets to Italian style. 

Luckily, the buck keeps on going, and I'm glad I kept on tasting. It's another job well done for Libby's, delivering flat form green beans that can only enhance your home culinary operation. The flavor is more subtle than the brand's other beans, creating a perfect blank canvas for a whole host of flavors. These beans wouldn't be out of place tossed in a red sauce or even incorporated into pasta primavera for added texture and fiber. The dependability of the taste and quality of Libby's produce definitely justifies the higher price.

There should be no way a company can mess up a French style green bean, unless they get a little too generous with the salt or forget to fill the can with liquid. Somehow, Walmart's Great Value food producers went a bit askew from a shopper's perfectly reasonable expectation. Even at under $1, it's not too much to ask for a French-style green bean to be tastier than this.

If you like a bit of a dirty taste to your green beans, Walmart has you covered here. It didn't linger and disappeared from my taste buds after I had chewed and swallowed, but boy, was it there at the beginning. I wouldn't want to take a chance on not being able to overcome the dirty note with seasonings or other ingredients. I'd rather pay a little more and get green beans that I know will work their magic the way they're supposed to. Don't be tempted by a low price point; splurge a little and go for the $1 can of French style green beans at another store instead.

Would you expect anything less than the best canned green beans ever from a world-class brand like Del Monte? This is the company that created the ever-expanding Del Monte food empire, after all. To offer shoppers green beans that don't cut the mustard just wouldn't do. Hopefully, the beans in the can understand the heritage they represent.

As predicted, Del Monte comes up with fantastic cut green beans. The balanced flavor and easy-to-chew texture are just as you'd hope they would be, especially when paying over $1.50 for a can. I would happily use these in a holiday green bean casserole, where skimping on the green beans can alter the entire taste and presentation of the finished dish. Not that they aren't fantastic on their own; they are. But so are some of the cheaper beans on the shelf, which makes a can of Del Monte cut green beans the pantry equivalent of fine china: Bring it out when you need to impress your guests.

Del Monte has been shilling canned vegetables long enough to know how to do it the right way. The cans are priced above store label cans, which catches the eye of the discerning shopper and should say something about the superior quality of what's inside. All of this means trying Del Monte French style cut green beans should be a slam dunk. Instead, it turns out to be just a dunk, and a green bean I can't help but slam. 

The grassy flavor makes it seem like these beans were picked before they were fully ready to go. Even the inclusion of sea salt in the brine can't flatten out the sensation of chewing on lawn trimmings. That's not to say the texture is bad; it's actually spot on. But the almost fishy essence that comes from the bean's greenness is more than you should be getting at this price. Don't fall for the Del Monte pedigree with this can. You can buy much better beans.

Kroger has a whole section of its own canned vegetables, a canny move for the grocery titan to get shoppers picking up store label items rather than bigger brands. But it's no good if the company can't keep up with the national brands when the lid comes off and the beans are spilled. Even a mid-level green bean could drive consumers toward a more budget-friendly purchase.

And mid-level is exactly where Kroger hits here. This is not a bad green bean, especially for the price. But the produce inside does taste a little underdeveloped. The texture is perfectly passable and the label announces that the grower processes Kroger's green beans from field to can on the same day, and without preservatives. Sometimes a lesser priced vegetable means lower quality, but Kroger comes through at the $1 level with a perfectly pleasant product you can easily work with for green bean recipes you can make any time of the year. This might be an opportunity to experiment with soy sauce or vinegar based dressings to push the grassy taste to the background.