Romano beans (also called Italian flat beans) are one of the easiest and most productive vegetables I grow for the family at HeathGlen Organic Farm. They’re meatier and more flavorful than regular string beans, with a nice crunch and no tough strings.
Fresh Romano beans are hard to find in grocery stores or at the farmers markets, which makes them an excellent choice to grow in your own garden. This guide covers the best varieties, how to grow them, and what to do with your harvest.
Quick Summary: Romano beans (Italian flat beans) are easy to grow, disease-resistant, and highly productive. Pole varieties need trellising and reach up to 10 feet; bush varieties stay compact. Sow directly in garden after soil reaches 60°F. Harvest at 6 inches for tender pods. Read time: 10 min | Experience level: Beginner
Jump to: What Are Flat Beans? | Best Varieties | How to Grow | How to Cook Flat Beans | FAQ
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What are Flat Beans?
Italian flat beans are a selectively bred variety of the common string bean, Phaseolus vulgaris. They’re a type of snap bean or green bean, which aren’t harvested for their seeds. Instead, you eat the entire pod!
In Italy, these beans are called fagiolini piattoni. This means “saucer beans”, a reference to their flat shape. Here in the USA, they may be sold as Romano beans, Italian flat beans, or Italian snap beans.
Flat beans are buttery in flavor, with a meaty quality and a crisp-but-tender texture. They are wider and flatter than traditional green string beans, often reaching 9-10 inches in length.
Many modern varieties are stringless, which is a big plus for me.
Best Romano Bean Varieties
Popular varieties of Italian flat beans include:
- Romano: the original pole bean
- Roma II Bush: bush rather than pole type
- Smeraldo Pole: stringless pole type
- Super Marconi: typical romano bean
- Bobis A Grano Nero: named for its black seeds
- Meraviglia di Venezia: yellow bean pods
- Helda: no strings, great flavor
- Dragon’s Tongue: an heirloom flat bean
Where to buy Italian flat bean seeds
Because we don’t tend to associate them with Italian cooking like we do something like tomatoes, Italian flat beans can be a little more difficult to find.
I’ve searched in my favorite seed catalogs and I’ve found them consistently available in two places:
If you don’t want to grow your own Romano beans but would just like to cook with them, look for them at your local farmers’ market during summer bean season.
If you can’t find them or grow them, you could try these canned Romano beans from Amazon, but I have not tested them.
How to Grow Romano Beans
Italian flat beans are quite sturdy and highly productive.
Romano beans thrive in Mediterranean climates but grow well anywhere with warm soil and consistent moisture.
Sowing Seeds (Outdoors)
I don’t recommend starting beans indoors. The roots are easily damaged when you transplant to the garden, and beans grow so quickly they don’t need to be started early.
Here are some tips for how to sow beans in the outdoor garden:
- Sow in the garden after the soil has warmed up, preferable to 60 °F. Seeds may rot in cooler soils
- Sow approximately 3 inches apart and cover with 2 inches of fine soil. Press the soil down lightly and water gently right after sowing
- Seedlings come up about 10-14 days after sowing
- For a constant supply of beans, keep sowing every 2 weeks (aka succession planting)
- When seedlings are 1-2 inches high, thin them to around 12 inches apart
Support System for Beans
Remember that the pole bean varieties are vining plants and can grow quite tall so be sure to have bean trellises ready to go. If the weather is nice, your plants will grow very quickly and soon need vertical support to keep them from sprawling on the ground!
In ideal conditions, Romano pole beans can reach up to 10ft in height.
Flat beans also come as bush bean varieties (Roma II is a good one), and these will not need a tall trellis, but they will still benefit from some support. Sometimes just growing bush beans closer together is enough support.
When and How to Harvest
Depending on the variety (the specifics should be on the seed pack you’ve purchased), Italian flat beans can mature in as little as 65 days.
There’s usually no need for extra fertilizer during this time, as you already provided some while planting. The beans can use their nitrogen-fixing abilities to provide the rest themselves.
You can harvest Italian flat bean pods once they reach about 6″ in length—or leave them to mature fully if you want to dry the beans instead of eating the pods.
If you are not saving the seeds, harvest flat beans when the pods have undeveloped or small seeds. Harvest regularly and often to avoid tough, stringy pods and to encourage your bean plant to produce more pods.
Troubleshooting
Flat beans are problem-free compared to most vegetables.
They’re relatively resistant to most common bean diseases, especially if you provide enough space (to allow air circulation) and well-draining soil (to prevent rot and fungus).
Do keep an eye out for pests like bean beetles. They can damage your bean plant and its crop.
Tip: You can grow Italian flat beans in a container, especially the bush varieties. Pole cultivars could work too, but you’d need a sturdy trellis. Fabric grow bags could be a good choice.
Remember that container-grown veg may need more fertilizer and regular watering.
How to Cook and Store Romano Beans
If I had to choose between regular string beans and Italian flat beans, I’d go for the flat type every time. They’re meatier, they’re crunchy, and many varieties lack the annoying string.
Additionally, they just taste more like beans, with a very rich and pronounced flavor.
In terms of nutrient content, these beans couldn’t be better. For starters, they’re low in calories but bursting with fiber. They also contain a range of essential vitamins (notably, vitamin C), as well as important minerals. And for the vegetarians among us: they’re high in protein, too!
If harvested at their peak, Romano beans make a great snack eaten raw, as they are extremely sweet and crunchy.
Here are some of my favorite Italian recipes that highlight Italian beans:
- Fresh Romano Beans: Italian Flat Beans With Smashed Cherry Tomatoes
- Winter (dried beans): Italian Sausage and Bean Stew
- Traditional (dried beans): Fagioli al Fiasco
- Using Canned Beans: Tuscan Bean, Cabbage & Sausage Stew
How to Cook and Store Romano Beans
Can’t use your Italian flat beans right away? Non c’è problema! Properly bagged, they last for at least a week in the refrigerator. Just don’t wash them now; do so before cooking instead.
Freezing is a popular method for preserving Italian flat beans as it helps retain their flavor, texture, and nutritional value.
Here’s how to freeze Italian flat beans:
- Wash thoroughly
- Trim the ends and cut them into the length you prefer
- Blanch the beans by boiling in water for 2-3 minutes, and then transferring them to an ice bath to stop the cooking process
- Drain the beans and pat them dry
- Place in airtight freezer bags and label with the date before placing in freezer
- Once frozen bag them up in meal-sized bags so you only thaw what you need.
FAQ
Romano beans are flat and wide with a meatier texture and richer flavor. Most varieties are stringless. Regular green beans are round and thinner.
Pole varieties need sturdy trellising and can reach 10 feet. Bush varieties like Roma II stay compact and need minimal support.
After soil warms to 60°F. Sow directly in the garden; beans don’t transplant well. For continuous harvest, sow every 2 weeks.
Harvest when pods reach about 6 inches and seeds inside are still small. Regular harvesting encourages more production. Overmature pods become tough and stringy.
Yes, especially bush varieties. Pole types need large containers and sturdy trellises. Container beans need more frequent watering and fertilizing.
For over 75 guides on growing fruits and vegetables at home, check out this category on Grow Your Own Food.
My problem is beans are 8 feet tall tons of blossoms getting very small beans very dry and tough water lot drains good I live in Walnut Creek, California first picking great 6 to 8 inches long juicy sweet now it’s like garbage dry pods dry used to grow these things crazy no problem at all now I can’t grow up be if my life depended on it
Sounds like you got a good first crop because they had water and now everything has dried up right? That is definitely a problem, as they (like most veggies) do like consistent water. I wonder if you could plant a fall crop?
I love Italian Green beans and decided to try growing them this year. I started out by freezing them, but then I decided to cook a fresh batch. many of them were fibrous and gross. I’m so disappointed and I don’t know if I should keep the ones I froze or not. I’ve been searching to see how to tell when they’re ready to pick. Some of them get very long. I’ve been trying to pick them sooner, but they almost appear that long. I seem to either find them tiny or huge. Your advice is very helpful. It also appears that they’re being eaten by something that leaves brown spots all over them. Any help is much appreciated.
I feel your pain. I grow these every year as I can’t find them in grocery stores. This year something has been eating mine also, even in a tall raised bed! If they are fibrous and mealy they were probably picked too old and there’s not a lot you can do about that. You want to pick them while the pod is still flat without any bean seeds showing. Try picking one and tasting it raw before harvesting the rest. Regarding being too long, I would try a different variety and a different seed company. Some of the varieties are improved. I think there is one called Roma II that is good. I hope that was helpful. Sometimes it is just the season also. Don’t give up, but if the ones you froze were fibrous also, I would toss them. Otherwise you’ll get mad every time you try to cook them.