Dilly Beans are deliciously crisp and tangy pickled green beans infused with garlic and fresh dill; perfect as a snack, side dish, tucked into Bloody Marys, or as a tasty addition to charcuterie boards, cheese platters, or hummus platters.
Dilly beans, aka Pickled Green Beans, are a delightful and tangy pickle made from crisp fresh green beans. No blanching is required! Now is the perfect time to make this dilly bean recipe with all the abundant fresh green beans available. A super simple combination of ingredients creates a mouthwatering batch in just about 15 minutes! White vinegar, with a touch of sweetness from honey or sugar perfectly balancing out the tanginess, and garlic adds a savory note, while coarse sea salt preserves the beans and elevates the taste. Fresh dill and dill flower seed heads (highly recommended if available, ask your local farmers!) their distinct flavor infused the beans with dilly goodness.
Do you love pickled veggies? We do too! Try our popular Pickled Onions and Quick Pickled Vegetables!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Dilly Beans Recipe!
- Crunchy and Tangy: Dilly beans offer a satisfying crunch with a tangy flavor that is both refreshing and addictive. The crispness of the green beans paired with the tanginess of the vinegar creates a delightful texture and taste.
- Versatility: Dilly beans are incredibly versatile and can be enjoyed in various ways. They make a fantastic snack on their own, serve as a tasty side dish, or can be added to salads and sandwiches for an extra burst of flavor.
- Quick and Easy to Make: One of the reasons dilly beans are so loved is because they are quick and easy to prepare. With simple ingredients and a short preparation time of about 15 minutes, you can have a batch of mouthwatering dilly beans ready to enjoy in 24 hours.
- Preserves Freshness: Dilly beans are a great way to preserve the freshness of green beans. With the combination of vinegar, salt, and spices, the beans stay crisp and flavorful even after pickling.
- Customizable Flavor: Dilly beans can be customized to suit your taste preferences. You can adjust the amount of sweetness, and spiciness, and even experiment with different types of vinegar to create a unique flavor profile that suits your liking.
Ingredients In Dilly Beans
Ingredient Notes
- Green beans: Choose fresh, firm, vibrant green beans for the best texture and flavor. Most raw pole beans will work here.
- Vinegar: You can use white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or even white wine vinegar for a slightly different taste.
- Water: This is used to dilute the vinegar and achieve the desired acidity level.
- Honey or sugar: A touch of sweetness is added to balance out the tanginess of the pickles. You can choose between honey or sugar based on your preference.
- Garlic: Garlic adds a hint of savory flavor to the pickles.
- Coarse sea salt: Salt is essential for proper preservation and to enhance the overall taste. Coarse salt helps to preserve the texture and crispness of the vegetables being pickled. You can definitely use your salt of choice here.
- Fresh dill and dill flower seed head: Fresh dill and dill flower seed heads are used to infuse the pickles with their unique taste. If no flower heads are available use 1/2 teaspoon dill seeds. Dried dill weed does not work for this recipe.
- Yellow mustard seeds: Mustard seeds provide a mild, slightly tangy flavor that complements the green beans.
- Whole black peppercorns: These provide a subtle hint of spiciness to the pickles. A pinch of cayenne pepper will work too.
- Red pepper flakes: Depending on your spice preference, you can add a little or a lot of red pepper flakes for a spicy bite.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How To Make Dilly Beans
Start with a clean, washed wide-mouth quart jar, or two pint jars.
Make the brine: Heat water, vinegar, salt, mustard seeds, peppercorns, and red pepper flakes. (If using sugar instead of honey, add that in here now too.) Bring to a boil and turn off the heat.
Assemble: To the jar, put the garlic and honey first (when using honey we add it straight to the jar as boiling it will destroy some of the nutrients). Fill the jar with raw trimmed green beans, vertically, cutting them to the length of your jar. Tuck in the fresh dill alongside the beans. Pack the beans in tight. Pour warm vinegar and spice mixture over the beans. Make sure the beans are covered by the liquid. Seal with a lid and place in the refrigerator for up to one month.
Dilly Bean Recipe FAQS
Dilly beans can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 month for the best texture and optimal flavor.
It is best to prepare fresh brine for each batch. The brine loses its potent flavor and acidity after the first batch and could potentially be unsafe and grow harmful bacteria.
Sure. We sometimes add onion slices and carrot spears. Though pickling one vegetable at a time allows each vegetable to retain its unique flavor profile. Also, different vegetables have different textures, and pickling them separately ensures that each vegetable maintains its desired texture.
Yes this recipe is completely gluten-free.
We love our dilly beans crisp and fresh and vibrant green, so we prefer not to blanch them. But if you are looking for softer or more tender beans, feel free to blanch them 1-3 minutes before pickling.
Green beans can be eaten raw, but it’s important to note that they contain lectins, which are proteins found in many plants. Pickling green beans with vinegar may slightly reduce the lectin content in the beans, but it is unlikely to completely neutralize them. Lectins are proteins found in many plants, including green beans, and they have been associated with certain digestive issues when consumed in large amounts.
If you are concerned about lectin consumption, it may be best to consider cooking methods that have been shown to reduce lectin levels, such as boiling or pressure cooking.
Serving Suggestions
Try them out in your next bloody mary, on a charcuterie board, cheese platter, hummus platter, or just as a simple snack. They also make a great hostess gift!
More Recipes You May Enjoy
We love these Dilly Beans and hope you do too.
Love this recipe? Please let us know in the comments and leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below the recipe card.
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Dilly Beans Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 15
- Yield: 1 quart 1x
- Category: side dish, condiment,
- Method: pickled
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
How to make Dilly Beans- a quick and easy recipe for pickled green beans that can be used in Bloody Marys, on charcuterie boards and cheese boards, or serve as a tasty snack. Just 15 minutes hands (allow 24 hours pickling time).
Ingredients
- 1 wide mouth quart jar or 2 wide mouth pint jars
- 1 cup vinegar, white or apple cider or white wine vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 1 1/2 tsp (11 grams) coarse sea salt *see notes
- 1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns
- 1/4 to 1 tsp red pepper flakes, depending on your spice preference
- 1 tablespoon honey or sugar
- 1 – 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 – 3 sprigs fresh dill and dill flower seed head
- 1 pound green beans, rinsed and trimmed
Instructions
- Start with a clean washed quart-sized jar, or two pint jars.
- In a saucepan heat water, vinegar, salt, mustard seeds, peppercorns, and red pepper flakes. (If using sugar add that in here now too.) Bring to a boil and turn off the heat.
- In your jar, put in the garlic and honey (when using honey we add it straight to the jar as boiling it will destroy some of the nutrients). Fill the jar with the raw trimmed green beans, cutting them to the length of your jar. Tuck in the fresh dill along side the beans. Pack the beans in tight.
- Pour the hot brine mixture over the beans. Make sure the beans are covered by the liquid. Seal with a lid and place in the fridge. They can be enjoyed in 24 hours but are even better after a few days.
Notes
Dilly beans can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 month for the best texture and optimal flavor.
You can substitute different salts for the coarse salt. Weighing will yield the best results. If you don’t have a scale, about one teaspoon of ground sea salt will be approximately the equivalent of 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt crystals.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: about 4-6 beans
- Calories: 16
- Sugar: 1.8 g
- Sodium: 126.9 mg
- Fat: 0.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 3 g
- Fiber: 0.9 g
- Protein: 0.6 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
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Made these recently & love them. They are great for a crunchy afternoon snack. I used all white vinegar. Love the “bite”, but next time I might try apple cider vinegar, or a combination. Thanks for the recipe.
Great Mary! I think they would be good with apple cider vinegar.
First of your recipes that I don’t like. I used white vinegar and they are so sour I can’t eat them. Any idea how to remedy this?
Hi Joan, sorry these didn’t work for you. You can dilute with a little more water, maybe 1/2 cup, and add more sweetener, a few more teaspoons until the brine tastes good to you. Alternatively, you can also try rinsing the beans and then try tasting them.
How much honey do you put in each jar? Half a tablespoon?
The recipe makes 1 quart or two pints- so 1 1/2 teaspoons per pint (3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon).
Another winner! Thanks so much!!!!
Great to hear Julie!
I love dilly beans but am curious about the coarse salt since it is fully dissolved in the brine. Provided the weight is the same, why should it matter? (By volume, coarse will give you less salt because the air pockets take up space, but by weight it matters little). What’s the weight of the salt you use?
You are right Bri, you can really use any salt you like. I noted this in the recipe. Thanks!
Going into our South African summer and this ticks all the boxes.
Great to hear Penny! Happy pickling!
Green beans are poisonous uncooked.
Love greetings from Austria.
Edith
Hi Edith, Are you talking about the lectins? Here is what I understand- Green beans can be eaten raw in small quantities, as they do contain lectins-(proteins found in many plants that have been associated with certain digestive issues when consumed in large amounts). Pickling green beans with vinegar may slightly reduce the lectin content in the beans. The recipe has an alternative to blanch the beans before pickling if this works best for your digestive system or if you want to eat more than a few in one sitting.😉
Thanks for your thoughts!
Bush beans are mildly toxic if you eat very large amounts raw–but we routinely eat them by the handful (they are sweet and crunchy) without any effects at all. The variety likely matters –we don’t have a lot of scarlet runners here for instance.
Would this recipe for Dilly Beans work for a hot water bath and canning them?
Yes, it should!
I will definitely try your recipe. Since it only keeps for a month. Can I freeze ca few pounds so I can make it again in another month?
Thank you and have a blessed day!
Another option is to can the dilly beans! I have not made them with frozen green beans but it probably works. I imagine the texture may not be as crisp?