Here is the recipe that started me on my pickling kick: Dilly Beans. This recipe gives you a sweet and dill combination that goes well with the flavor of the beans. I brought my first batch to a friend's party as an appetizer.* Everyone loved them, but Diane couldn't keep away from them. We ate the whole quart jar of beans, and Diane ate at least half of them.
*Hi, Pam and Dave! Thanks again!
I saw this recipe in Cook's Country
magazine, the less uptight, younger sibling of Cook's Illustrated
. It is a good way to use up beans; as you can see in the pictures, I had a lot of beans to use up. I tripled the recipe, and made three quarts of dilly beans.*
*It's a week later, and we have a quart and a half left. Did I mention that Diane loves green beans?
📖 Recipe Card
Pickled Dilly Beans
- Total Time: 24 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 1 quart 1x
Description
Sweet and dilly refrigerator pickled green beans, with garlic and fresh dill - a great appetizer that disappears fast.
Ingredients
Vegetables
- 1 pound green beans, stem ends trimmed (I used a mix of green, yellow and tiger beans)
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 sprigs fresh dill
Pickling Liquid
- ½ cup water
- 1 ½ cups white vinegar
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 2 tablespoons dill seed
Instructions
- Prep the vegetables: Pack the green beans, crushed garlic and dill sprigs into the jar.
- Make the pickling liquid: Combine the pickling liquid ingredients in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes to open up the flavor of the spices.
- Pour the liquid over the beans: Carefully pour the hot pickling liquid into the jar until the vegetables are covered. (For a less rustic look, pour it through a fine mesh strainer to strain out the herbs and spices.)
- Refrigerate: Let cool to room temperature, close the lid, and refrigerate. They're best after at least 1 day in the refrigerator, and even better after a week.
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
Equipment: A clean quart jar with a tight fitting lid - canning jars or flip top gasket jars are the usual choices. I pour the pickling liquid into a Pyrex 2-quart measuring cup first, then into the jar - the spout makes it much less messy.
See my pickling vegetables basic technique for more details.
Use a wide mouth jar if you can - it's hard to pack the beans tightly into a narrow mouth jar.
The pickles will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 months. If you see fur or fuzz growing on top of the liquid, throw them out.
Serve as an appetizer or side dish, or as part of a vegetable salad.
Blanched beans: To set the beans' color, cook them in boiling salted water for 3 minutes, then cool them in a bowl of ice water and drain before packing them in the jar.
More spices: The original recipe adds 1 tablespoon mustard seeds and 1 tablespoon black peppercorns to the pickling liquid. Pickling spice is another good option.
Less sweet: This recipe uses a lot of vinegar (3 to 1 vinegar to water). For a less sweet, less sharp pickle, use more water, or try cider vinegar.
Adapted from Cook's Country Magazine, Dilly Beans (June 2009).
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Refrigerate: 1 day
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
Questions? Comments? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts:
Click here for my Pickled Vegetables basic technique. Or, for something different, try my Sautéed Cast Iron Brussels Sprouts.
Adapted From:
Cooks Country Magazine: Dilly Beans (June 2009 issue)
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Sean says
I love this recipe! I leave the sugar out for a more pungent garlic/dill flavor. How much salt should I add to the water for blanching before I pickle them?
Mike V says
As much as you would add for pasta. It doesn't have to be exact, but the water should be salty.
John kinnaman says
Could I use my earthen clay pickling jar to pickle the bean and asparagus?
Mike V says
Not with these recipes. Search for "lactic acid fermentation" (or lacto-fermentation) recipes for use in your pickling jar.
MikeV says
Reader Jackie asked: How much peppercorns do you add in the variation?
I add 1 tbsp of peppercorns. I've updated the recipe for clarity.
Thanks, Jackie!
rhonda says
I just made 2 quart jars with apple cider vinegar. I bought the wide mouth ones as you suggested. I will let you know how it turns out!
Travis Hanna says
Yeah, I've never worried about the acidity for refrigerator pickles. AFAIK, it's only important when canning and attempting to do true preserves. I'm making up a batch of the pickled dilly beans tonight. I have several 1/3'rd full bottles of different vinegars so I'll probably just mix them and use this recipe to kill them off.
Our conversation at the cottage got me in the mood to try some new pickles so I've been looking for my Tsukemono book on and off since I got back. Unfortunately I seem to have thoroughly misplaced it. The pickled dilly beans ought to be a good substitute though :). Thanks for posting this.
MikeV says
Thanks for the idea, Travis!
I have a pickled asian carrot slaw recipe that uses rice wine vinegar. It didn't fit into pickling week; I think you'll be seeing it in the near future.
From Alton Brown's "American Pickle" episode: you have to be a little careful when substituting rice wine vinegar in pickling recipes; it tends to be less acidic than white/cider vinegar. That being said, from the variations in acidity I've seen in the recipes I did this week...I don't think it will be a big deal.
Travis Hanna says
You might consider giving rice wine vinegar a shot while you're at it. It's usually my first choice for refridgerator pickles. Apple cider vinegar is great too (I use it for bread & butter pickles) but it needs to be balanced by a lot of spice IMHO.