A green bean is a long, slender vegetable pod that's picked and eaten while still young and tender, before the beans inside fully develop. The whole pod is edible: you snap off the ends and cook or eat the rest. Green beans have a crisp texture when raw and become softer when steamed or sautéed.

Despite the name, some varieties are yellow (called wax beans) or purple. They're called beans because they're the immature pods of the same kind of plant that produces mature beans like kidney beans or navy beans. But unlike those dried beans, green beans are picked early, when the pod is still soft and the tiny beans inside are barely visible.

Green beans appear in cuisines around the world. French cooks often prepare haricots verts, an especially thin and tender variety. American Thanksgiving tables often feature green bean casserole. In Chinese stir-fries, green beans are cooked quickly over high heat until slightly charred and tender.

Some people call them string beans because older varieties had a tough, fibrous string running along the seam that needed to be removed before cooking. Modern green beans have been bred without these strings, making them easier to prepare. You might also hear them called snap beans because of the satisfying snap sound they make when you break them in half.