While green beans are most plentiful from late July to early September, they tend to be available year round, making them the perfect candidate for pickling in any season! And SSJ’s Spicy Pickled Green Beans are fab. Serve them on your charcuterie board or pickle plate, or load a few into a classic Canadian Caesar cocktail or mocktail. Without further ado, here’s the recipe, followed by a few process photos for reference.

Print Recipe

Spicy Pickled Green Beans

Add these to your charcuterie board, pickle plates, and bloody Caesars!

Servings: 6 Pints Maximum

Equipment

6 pint jars, rings, and lids [You may only use 4 or 5]
Large lidded canning pot with rack and a jar lifter or tongs [Recommendations in Notes, below]

Ingredients

900 grams [2 pounds] green beans
5 cups apple cider vinegar [white vinegar works in a pinch]
5 cups water
5 tbs pickling salt
6 cloves of peeled garlic
6 small sprigs of fresh dill
6 tsp dill seed
6 tsp red chili flakes
3 tsp mustard seeds
3 tsp red peppercorns

Instructions

Clean and sterilize 6 pint jars and begin to heat the water in your boiling water bath.
Wash the beans and the fresh dill and pat dry, setting the dill aside for later in the canning process.
As you’ll want to trim your beans to fit into your pint jars with 1/2-inch of headspace, measure of a piece of washi or painter’s tape to size and place it on the edge of your cutting board for easy chopping. Then, trim the beans.
In a medium to large saucepan, combine the cider vinegar, water, and pickling salt.
Over medium-high heat, bring this mixture to a boil, stirring just to ensure the salt has dissolved.
Among the 6 jars, divide the garlic, dill, and dried spices evenly.
Pack the beans tightly into the jars, ensuring there is about 1/2-inch headspace. If you're really good at the packing, you might only fill 4 or 5 jars, in which case, you'll have a few leftover spices and a lot of leftover brine.
Carefully pour the hot brine into the jars of beans, leaving 1/4-inch headspace.
Use the handle of a wooden spoon or chopstick to massage any air bubbles out of the jars.
Wipe the rims of the jars, press the lids on top, and add the rings, twisting the rings so that they are closed but not extremely tight.
Place the jars in a boiling water bath, cover, and process for 10 minutes, only beginning your timer when the water in the pot has come back to a rolling boil.
Remove the jars from the bath and set on a rack to cool.
When cool, tighten the rings and check the seals of the lids. Allow to sit for at least 3-4 days, preferably 1-2 weeks, before sampling.
Improperly sealed jars can be topped up with more brine and processed again with fresh lids or simply placed in the refrigerator and used within 4 weeks.

Notes

I tend to make a bit more brine than is necessary for pickling. Don’t be surprised if your two pounds of green beans only fill 4 or 5 of the 6 jars or if you have leftover brine.

It is not uncommon to find that a bit of pickle brine has siphoned out of the jars and into the canning water bath. If you’re canning more than one recipe on the day, you might want to can your pickles last.

Looking for a good canning pot? I now use the Victoria Stainless Steel 20 qt Multi-Use Canning Pot with Rack. I’m also a fan of the Ball Secure-Grip Jar LIfter.