I’ll be the first to admit: I’m not an expert at pickles. My parents, on the other hand, have many many years of experience making pickles and when I got the sudden urge to pickle Mom’s green beans, Mom and Dad were right there to give me some pickling tips. My dad taught me how to do a hot water bath to keep the beans crisp rather than cooking them in a boiling water bath, which tends to make the pickles soggy. Mom taught me to use the dill heads that have seeds on the top, not flowers. Little things I wouldn’t have known had I been flying solo on this gig.
Good thing they were there, watching me and giving their advice, because who knows how my pickled beans would have turned out without them! If you’re going to attempt these hot dilly treasures, pay special attention to step 4. That is what makes these pickles so perfectly crunchy.
Silly me, I even left my pretty pickled beans at Mom and Dad’s house, which was also probably a lucky accident, because they brought them back to me just when they were perfectly pickled and ready to eat. It’s a month and a half later now. I opened a jar yesterday at work and everyone who tried them just LOVED them and they were bugging me to GET ON IT and post the recipe.
So here’s my report: These pickled beans were perfectly crunchy with just a bit of a bite and that lovely dilly pickle tang. I had SUCH a hard time stopping myself from eating them (and I heard others remark the same) and that totally surprised me because, well, I’m not a pickle person. Thanks Mom and Dad. I would never have known what to do without you. And those red and orange peppers along with the big whole cloves of garlic make them look so pretty and festive, perfect for holiday gift giving.
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Crisp & Spicy Pickled Green Beans
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 pint jars of pickled beans 1x
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 pounds of green beans, trimmed
- 1 – 2 cowhorn or jalapeno peppers
- Several small sweet peppers
- 1 head of garlic, peeled
- 4 fresh dill heads
- 2 1/2 cups of vinegar
- 2 1/2 cups of water
- 1/4 cup pickling salt
Instructions
- Clean and sterilize 4 pint jars, lids and rings. Pack the garlic, peppers, green beans & dill heads into the 4 jars as tightly as you can.
- In a large saucepan, bring the vinegar, water and salt to a boil. Carefully pour the hot vinegar mixture over the beans in the jars (pouring in the center to avoid contact with the glass), leaving about 1/2 inch of space at the top.
- Gently bang the jars a bit to settle the contents and release the bubbles and add more liquid if needed. Clean the tops of the jars and top with lids, tightening the rings on.
- Put the jars in a hot water bath, bring to 180 – 185 degrees F, and pasteurize the beans by keeping them at 180 – 185 for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat in the bath and let the jars sit in the hot water for 10 minutes longer.
- Remove the jars from the bath and let them sit until they seal. Keep the rings on for 24 hours, then remove the rings before storing. If any of the jars don’t seal, keep that jar in the fridge and enjoy your hot dilly pickles.
Notes
RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/
© Copyright 2013, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. I love it when you share, but please do not use my images on your own site/page without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. Sharing, pinning, and tweeting is always appreciated as long as the shares and pins link back to here for the recipe. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.
This recipe was shared at Thursday’s Treasures, Hearth & Soul Bloghop, What to Do Weekends and Moonlight & Mason Jars.
37 comments
Wow, I have always wanted to try pickling. I’m going to have to try this…I am hoping to have a garden next year and would love to pickle my own green beans!
Thanks for sharing and thanks to your mom and dad for passing along the pointers! 🙂
Lolly
What great pickled veggies! Although I have made jams, jellies and other sweet type preserves, I have never tried pickles. These sound delicious, and I am especially pleased to hear that they had a nice crunch. Thanks for the inspiration. This is my first visit to your site, and it is beautiful!
How long are you susposed to wait before you eat them?
Hi Amanda,
You don’t HAVE to wait … I think you could eat them as soon as they cool off! But I think “they say” the proper waiting time is 2 – 3 weeks.
Ann
Love your site! This is my first season to try canning and I’m loving it! I’m anxious to try these pickled green beans. One question, I’m assuming the vinegar is apple cider vinegar NOT white/distilled vinegar. Is that correct? Can’t wait to give these a try and yet another goodie to my kitchen resume. Thanks!
Hi Kristie!
I think I actually did use plain white vinegar on these pickles. The colorful peppers do color the juices and make it look apple cider-ish. I’m sure apple cider vinegar would add a nice flavor, too, though.
Ann
Hello Ann,
Well, I made a batch of these beautiful green beans this afternoon. I went ahead and used plain vinegar. Why mess with your success, right?
One thing – I googled, drove and went to every store I could think of to get pickling salt. No luck! So I checked a few sites and the consensus was kosher salt would be a great substitute. Thoughts? Insight?
I’m loving the look of these green beans and I know they will taste great as well! Anxious to do another batch while I can still find dill heads.
Thanks again!
Kristie
Hi Kristie,
Here is the salt that I used in my pickles: http://www.mortonsalt.com/for-your-home/culinary-salts/food-salts/31/morton-canning-and-pickling-salt/ … This is the salt that my parents (the pickling experts) use.
I would think Kosher salt would work, too. I need to make some of these too! I have a bunch of green beans right now that are just begging to get pickled!
Ann
[…] that I HAVEN’T posted a green bean recipe on my blog–other than the crisp & spicy pickled green beans (which, incidentally, have been quite a hit lately!). Green beans were my favorite vegetable as a […]
I am going to make these pickles this afternoon. Can anyone tell me why you have to remove the rings after before storing?
Because if you leave them on, they will rust and won’t come off after a while.
Hi,
So did you quarter the jalapeno to put 1/4 in each jar? Versus a whole pepper in each one?
Hi Kent,
I just sliced them up and tried to divide the pepper slices fairly evenly amongst the jars.
Ann
Hi i wondered if it was possible to make two big jars instead of the 4 small ones with the same recipe
Hi Amanda,
Absolutely you could! There’s no reason for the smaller jars other than personal preference.
Ann
do you need to have the jars submerged when boiling?
Yes, they should be submerged with 1 inch of water over the top of the jars when boiling. Thanks for asking!
Can you cook these in a canner/pressure cooker for 30 minutes?
Hi Char,
I’m not sure. I don’t have a pressure cooker so I haven’t tried it. If you have had luck processing other pickles that way, I would say give it a shot!
Good luck,
Ann
Hello, I just wanted to say this is an awesome pickled green beans recipe. Last July/August I was searching and searching the internet for pickled green bean recipes, (I had never made them before) and the recipe had to be for CRISPY green beans. Your recipe sounded perfect so I gave it a try. OMG they are delicious, and every time I bring out a jar for others to try they agree and love them. I only have one jar left and I have green beans on the verge of being ready to pick this year, but I couldn’t find your recipe again. I’ve been searching and searching again and was having a terrible time finding yours, but last night finally! I found your recipe again. I’m so excited to try it again and this time I am saving the recipe. Just wanted to let you know. This IS a GOOD ONE 🙂
Oh Missy I’m so glad you found it! It makes me so happy that you tried it and loved it. I did too … must find some good green beans to make it again. Happy canning <3
Hello, Thanks for sharing your recipe! I am making these right now and I am a little nervous. The small town I live in does not have dill heads…so I just used a bunch of fresh dill instead. Do you think they will still turn out or what are your thoughts on that? Thanks again, Jayme
Hi Jayme,
I am sure they will still be good, but they might not have as strong of a dill taste as you’d get with the dill heads. I’ve never seen them in stores … I think most people who pickle grow them in their garden. I had a dill plant once and now the dill grows out of the cracks in my front sidewalk so I have them even without a garden!
Good luck. I have my fingers crossed for you,
Ann
I made these as directed and my beans look wrinkled. First time making them. The process time was much longer than other recipes. Did I ruin the beans?
Hi Betty, were your beans fresh from the garden? Did you regulate the temperature? I know the process time is longer, but the temperature is much lower than typically used. I would wait and see how your beans turn out … I’m guessing they’ll still taste good even if they’re wrinkled. Fingers crossed for you!
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I have everything I need except the fresh dill. Do u think dry fill would work? If yes- how much? Thanks!
Vee, I’m not sure … I’ve never tried making pickles with dried dill, but theoretically, it should work. I would try a Tablespoon of dried dill and see how that goes.
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[…] for your loved ones by giving them some Red Robin Seasoning and Bacon Mushroom Salt. Add some homemade pickles or jams, homemade crackers and whatever else you think might help make their life […]
I’ve tried other dill “pickle” recipes over the years but this is THE BEST!, we don’t have many more green beans in the garden but I WILL be using this same recipe for other veggies, THANK YOU
★★★★
Dana, that makes me so happy!
I love spicy green beans and I’ve always wanted to try making them.
Could you skip the sealing part and put them straight to the fridge, not sure if sealing them gives them more flavor. I assume you’d have to eat them within a few weeks.
I think you totally could, Christine!
Just saw this recipe
And I’m going to try it!! Do you have to take the strings off of the beans before you can and pickle them? Not sure if this is something I need to do. What kind of green beans do you use? I’m assuming there might be different varieties. Looking forward to hearing from you!!