Health
benefits
An energy-filled bean
Like all dry legumes, flageolet beans are small but mighty, rich in complex carbohydrates and therefore loaded with energy.
Abounding in fiber
Flageolet beans are rich in fiber, which is necessary for regular bowel movements. A plate of flageolet beans (around 7 ounces) is enough to fulfill half your daily value in fiber.
Flageolet beans also contain:
- potassium
- magnésium
- iron
- manganese
- copper
- vitamin B9
Did you know? Flageolet beans are practical when you want to eat less, because they help you feel full quickly.
Nutritional
composition
When is the right
time to eat them?
All year.
Canned and frozen flageolet beans are always prepared from green, fresh seeds from certain varieties of beans that are harvested in September and October.
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January
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February
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March
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April
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May
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June
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July
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August
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September
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October
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November
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December
Vegetable patch
or urban balcony?
Flageolet beans are herbaceous annuals that grow well in rich, light, well-drained soil, in full sun.
To learn everything you need to know about growing flageolet beans, read the page on growing advice.
Choosing and
storing flageolet beans
Choose your flageolet beans well:
- Dried: they should be hard and smooth, and should break cleanly. Choose the “fresher” ones, which will need to soak for less time.
Properly store your flageolet beans well:
- Store them in a cool, dark place, in a sealed container.
- For a maximum of one year. After a year, they become harder to digest.
Tips and
tricks
How to prepare flageolet beans
- Dry flageolet beans: first, soak them overnight in cold water to rehydrate them. Then cook them for 45 to 90 minutes, depending on their size.
- Frozen flageolet beans: you can cook them right away, however you wish.
Flageolet beans go well with…
Try them with lamb (leg), ham, and other fatty meats or meats with a strong taste (bacon) in traditional dishes like cassoulet.
They can also be used as a base for salads, with various finely chopped vegetables, such as celery, cucumbers, onions, and green, red, or yellow bell peppers. You can also make delicate and flavorful flageolet bean purees, seasoned with garlic and thyme, as an accompaniment for fish.
Did you know? The fiber in flageolet beans makes it easier to digest fatty meats like lamb and pork.
Can everyone
eat them?
Young children
Flageolet beans can irritate the bowel and present a risk of pulmonary aspiration. Because of this, they should be introduced only after 15 to 18 months.
And everyone else…
Once well-cooked, flageolet beans are perfectly digestible. If you are worried about gas, blanch them first (cook first for five minutes before pouring out the water and adding fresh water to finish cooking).
To be sure that you fully benefit from pulse proteins, eat a grain product or nuts and seeds with the flageolet beans, because they do not contain all the amino acids that the body needs. They are rich in lysine (an amino acid) but have very little methionine (another essential amino acid). As for grain products (wheat, rice, etc.), nuts, and seeds, they contain essential amino acids that pulses lack or contain only in small quantities. So when you combine those foods with flageolet beans, you make sure your diet contains excellent-quality complete proteins. It’s the winning plant-based protein combination!
See plenty of other tips for encouraging children to eat vegetables
Where do they come from?
Origins and varieties
Origins: The biggest flageolet bean producers are Brazil, India, and China.