Got extra green beans? Here’s a great way to preserve them: Pickled Green Beans! These spears come out crunchy and ultra tangy, with just the right hint of garlic and dill on the finish. Be careful: you’ll want to eat the whole jar! It’s a great way to use up extra beans, but don’t worry: you can buy them especially just for this: and we would! They’re great for snacking, charcuterie boards and cheese plates, and of course: a good old Bloody Mary garnish.
Ingredients for this pickled green beans recipe
This pickled green beans recipe is for quick pickles or refrigerator pickles, where the jar is stored in the refrigerator immediately after making them. Quick pickles don’t require any special canning equipment, so it’s the easiest method for homemade pickles. They’re not shelf-stable, but they last for 1 month in the fridge: plenty of time to enjoy the jar. Here’s what you’ll need for this recipe:
1 wide-mouth pint canning jar Green beans Garlic Bay leaf White vinegar Sugar Salt Peppercorns Optional: dill seed, fresh dill
How to make pickled green beans: basic steps
Making pickled green beans is easy: it takes just 20 minutes to assemble the jar, and 1 hour for it to cool. Once it’s done, we recommend refrigerating for 24 hours for the best flavor and texture. Here are the basic steps (or jump right to the recipe):
Trim the green beans: Trim the beans so they fit into a wide-mouth pint jar. Add the garlic cloves and bay leaf. Bring the brine ingredients to a boil: Place white vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and peppercorns in a pot and bring to a boil (see the recipe below for the exact quantities). Pour in the jar and wait until it cools (about 1 hour). Refrigerate 24 hours. Many of our pickles recipes are ready right away (and of course, you can sneak a taste!). But with green beans, we found that for the flavor to permeate the beans you need at least 24 hours. It also helps to soften the beans (they’re very crunchy the day of).
Variation: add dill!
A popular variation on pickled green beans? Dilly beans! This style of pickle goes big on dill flavor, similar to a traditional dill pickle. You can add the dill flavor here by adding ½ tablespoon dill seed and/or 4 sprigs fresh dill. Keep in mind that dill seed is small brown flat seeds of the dill plant used for canning recipes: not dill weed! Dill weed are the dried leaves and stems of the dill plant and not strong enough to infuse enough flavor.
Got loads of beans?
This pickled green beans recipe is for ½ pound or 8 ounces. If you’ve got tons of green beans from your garden, this recipe is easy to double or triple! Head to the recipe below and press the 2x or 3x buttons next to the word Ingredients.
Storage info
How long do pickled green beans last? You can store homemade quick pickled green beans refrigerated for up to 1 month. They are not shelf stable, so don’t attempt to store them in your pantry. One month should be more than enough time to eat through a jar (in fact, we often go through a far in a few days)!.
Ways to eat pickled green beans
Once you’ve got your jar of pickled green beans, it’s time to get creative! Honestly, we mainly just eat them as a snack right out of the jar! Their snackable shape makes it perfect for grabbing a few to crunch on. But you can use them in recipes too! Here are some ideas:
Add to salads: chop them up in a Chopped Salad or use them long in place of the beans in a French Nicoise Salad Throw in a pasta salad like Antipasto Salad or Easy Tortellini Salad Add to a Bloody Mary, like Classic Bloody Mary or a Caesar Serve on a cheese plate or charcuterie board
How do you like your pickled green beans? Let us know in the comments below!
More pickles recipes
You can pickle just about any vegetable! (And we have.) Here are some of our favorite homemade pickles recipes:
Try Easy Pickled Peppers, Pickled Jalapeños or Pickled Banana Peppers Go for Easy Pickled Carrots or Pickled Zucchini Make classic Dill Pickles Opt for Pickled Watermelon Rind Try Pickled Cauliflower or Quick Pickled Radishes
This pickled green beans recipe is…
Vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free.
5 from 1 review
