© No part of this may be copied, printed or distributed without written permission – Susan Garrett

Runner beans are usually flat. Before we eat them we need to trim the sides as these can be tough and stringy. This is why runner beans are sometimes called string beans. Runner beans are usually chopped into pieces before cooking whereas French beans are often cooked whole.

As with other beans runner beans should never be eaten raw as they can make us very ill.

Just like the French bean we eat the seeds and seed pods of the runner bean plant.  When we eat a runner bean we are really eating the fruit of the plant even though we use it as a vegetable!