Pickled Dilly Green Beans

We occasionally link to goods offered by vendors to help the reader find relevant products. Some of these may be affiliate based, meaning we earn small commissions (at no additional cost to you) if items are purchased. Here is more about what we do.

Looking for a pickled veggie that will bite you back after you chomp down on it?

My recipe for dilly green beans has a vinegary and spicy kick that is so lip-puckeringly good.

In addition to a simple liquid mix of white vinegar, water, and granulated sugar, each jar is packed with a handful of fresh green beans, a few sprigs of fresh dill, a sprinkle of mustard seeds and red pepper flakes, and a whole clove of garlic.

With uncomplicated ingredients and big flavors, this style of pickle is a simple yet impactful preparation – and an ideal introductory recipe if you are a beginner starting a new pickling project at home.

You’ll have no problem using up your stash, and the recipe’s yield of 4 jars won’t be an overwhelming amount to make per batch.

While you could give away a jar or two to family and friends who love the vinegary punch of brined vegetables, you too will want to eat these all the time!

Give me a crispy pickled green bean any day of the week – morning, noon, or night – and I’ll show you a way to chow down on that feisty little one.

Treat it like a few drops of hot sauce. You only need a little of this mighty accompaniment to bring a bold bite to your dishes!

Let’s start with breakfast: One or two chopped dilly green beans is the perfect zesty topping for avocado toast, with or without a fried egg.

And for brunch? Done! Incorporate them as a spicy garnish for a Bloody Mary.

For lunch or dinner, replace your typical jarred pickle with these beans in your favorite sandwich or on top of hamburgers, hot dogs, and pizzas.

You can also mix a little into potato salads or pasta salads, or use it as a final garnish to balance thick and creamy soups like our loaded baked potato soup or cream of chicken soup.

For a late-night nibble board, a small pile of these pickled goodies is a smart accoutrement to a savory meat and cheese plate – the strong flavors and crisp texture can stand up to stronger cheeses and heartier charcuterie.

If you’re already thinking of your own fun serving ideas, you’re more than ready to make some pickles!

Print

Cooking by the Numbers…

Step 1 – Prep

Before you start cooking, review what’s required for safe water bath canning – now is the time to refresh your memory on every step! This is also a great guide for beginners.

You also want to check your jars, lids, and rings to make sure they are all in good condition. You may need to buy some new canning jars and accessories if you notice the jars are cracked, or if the lids and rings are rusty.

Feeling good? Feeling confident? Feeling ready! Let’s move on!

Set out a large pot that’s big and tall enough for processing the jars, like a tall stockpot. Make sure your pot is big enough to allow space so the jars won’t jostle each other when standing upright. Set out another medium pot for the pickling liquid.

Gather any of your preferred tools for jarring, including clean towels, ladles, sturdy spoons/spatulas, and tongs or a jar lifter.

If I can advise you to buy one essential tool for canning, get a jar lifter – this really has been a major help for me as a way of safely transferring jars to and from the hot water. I love using this Secure-Grip Jar Lifter from Ball, available now on Amazon.

Ensure you have enough space on your countertops, and that you are clean and organized for each step of the jarring process.

Clean and dry the glass jars, as well as the lids and rings, with soap and water. Set them aside on a clean surface.

Step 2 – Clean, Measure, and Prep the Veggies and Seasonings

Rinse the beans in a colander using cold, running water and dry them well.

Other than green, you can also use other colorful varieties of string beans that are available, like yellow or purple. Just keep in mind that purple varieties may lose their color when they are heated.

Using a sturdy cutting board and sharp knife, trim both ends from each bean. If necessary, trim them down even further so that each bean can fit vertically inside a pint-size jar with a 1/2 inch of clearance from the top of the jar. You can use one bean as the guide for all of the others when you are cutting.

You can reserve any usable trimmings for another use, or compost everything that’s left over. Either way, try to reduce your food waste here.

The trimmings could even go in their own jar with any leftover pickling vinegar and be treated like a refrigerator pickle, if you like. The goal here is to can only full-size beans, so they look as uniform and lovely as possible!

For the seasonings, gently rinse and dry the fresh dill sprigs. Peel 4 whole cloves of garlic. Measure out the red pepper flakes and mustard seeds.

For the pickling liquid, measure out the white vinegar, water, canning/pickling salt, and granulated sugar.

For the salt, you can use your favorite brand of kosher salt as long as it does not contain any anti-caking ingredients or additives, which may cause your brine to become cloudy instead of remaining clear.

Step 3 – Sanitize the Jars

Fill the stockpot with water.

Submerge the empty jars – without the lids and rings – right side up in the stockpot, making sure the water level is at least 1 inch above the tops of the jars.

Bring the water to a boil to sanitize the jars as you continue with the following steps. Keep the jars boiling for at least 10 minutes.

If you’re running behind schedule, keep the jars in the boiling water as you work through prepping the rest of the recipe. The jars can stay in the hot water for over an hour.

Because they should be hot and sanitized directly before filling, you don’t want to remove them prematurely.

I prefer to sanitize the empty jars while I’m heating the pickling liquid and then filling the jars one by one– you’ll be creating the most efficient and the most sanitary process this way, as your jars will be prepped and hot in advance, and you can fill the jars immediately when you’re 100% ready to go!

While opinions vary, you can choose whether or not to heat the lids and rings as well – I like to use a separate small pot to gently heat them in slightly simmering water. Boiling water may destroy the rubber ring inside the lids.

Step 4 – Heat the Pickling Liquid

As you are sanitizing the jars, prepare the pickling liquid. Whisk together the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a medium pot.

Bring to a boil over high heat on the stovetop, whisking constantly to dissolve the sugar and salt. Once it reaches a boil, immediately reduce the heat to low so the liquid barely simmers.

Maintain a gentle heat to keep the liquid warm – for safe and proper canning procedures, this liquid should be hot, but you don’t want to reduce the liquid so it thickens.

Reducing the liquid would cause an imbalance of ingredients, and you might not have enough to fully submerge the beans when you fill the jars.

Step 5 – Fill with Seasonings and Vegetables

If you’re working by yourself, remove and fill just one jar at a time with seasonings and the prepared vegetables.

Work quickly but carefully during the next few steps – you want the jars and pickling liquid to be as hot as possible to create the best seal.

Remove one jar from the boiling liquid, and set it on a clean surface next to your ingredients. Keep the water at a steady simmer, since you’ll be using the same water that’s in the pot to process the filled jars.

At this point, you may need to add more water, as some will have evaporated throughout the past few steps.

Working quickly using one jar at a time, place 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds, and one peeled clove of garlic in the bottom of each jar.

Let gravity be your friend here! For both the herbs and the beans, place the jar on its side – it will be much easier to fill the jar this way than straight up, as the ingredients will naturally move downwards to pack in towards one side so you can pack the jar with as many beans as possible.

Line two sprigs of dill against the side of the jar closest to your work surface.

While keeping the jar on its side, tightly stack a handful of beans horizontally in the jar so that they will stand up straight when the jar is upright. Pack the beans in the jar as tightly as possible, using as many as you can.

Place the jar back in its upright position.

If you have helpers in the kitchen, and you’d prefer to fill multiple jars at once, you can go ahead and do so.

Step 6 – Fill with the Pickling Liquid

To make this process easier when transferring the pickling liquid, you can move the jar closer to the stovetop next to the pot, or you can remove the pot from the stovetop and place it next to the jar.

Using a heatproof ladle, carefully pour pickling liquid into the jar, leaving about 1/2 inch of headspace.

Don’t screw the lid on just yet! There may be air bubbles!

Remove any air bubbles by tilting the jar in different directions and gently tapping the bottom of the jar on your work surface.

If you notice the level of the liquid is now lower, you may need to refill with additional liquid to maintain about 1/2 inch of headspace.

Step 7 – Assemble Lid and Band and Repeat

Wipe the rim of the jar clean. Center a lid on top, and tightly screw on a band. Set aside for processing as you fill the remaining jars.

Repeat Steps 5 through 7 with the other three jars.

Step 8 – Process

Immediately and carefully place all of the filled jars in the pot of simmering water – this is another instance when a jar lifter is the supreme tool to use! Ensure that they are not touching.

You may need to refill with more water as needed to maintain at least 1 inch of water above the lids.

Bring the water back to a boil, and process the jars in the boiling water for 10 minutes. The raw green beans will gently cook during this time and will lose a little color, but they will still remain crisp in texture.

Step 9 – Cool Completely and Store

After 10 minutes, immediately remove the jars from the pot. Set them aside on a heatproof surface to cool completely without disturbing them, for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.

Don’t be hasty during this step! They need this – I repeat, undisturbed – time for the lids to properly seal. Once you have placed them in their dedicated space, don’t touch them.

That means no shaking, rubbing, rolling, tapping, tickling, or titillating! Leave them be!

Once the jars have fully cooled, and if the lids have created a seal, you’re good to go for long-term storage! Label and store the jars in a cool, dry place for up to 2 years.

If the lids are not sealed – don’t fret. You can choose to sanitize clean jars and go through the jarring process again.

Or, you can refrigerate the unsealed containers and enjoy these fresh pickles within a week. Hello, refrigerator pickles!