These Pickled Green Beans are the perfect snack, appetizer, or condiment to toss into salads or put on sandwiches. They’re sweet, spicy, briny, and herby—all the flavors in one bite! No canning is necessary—in this pickling recipe we share our secrets for an easy 30 minute version that’s so delicious.
Green beans may seem like a boring veggie to some, but we love experimenting with them in new ways. They’re crunchy and mild in flavor, making them ideal for adding to flavorful salads, layered sandwiches, roasting in the oven, and pickling!
We’re always a fan of pickling, and green beans happen to be the perfect vegetable to pickle. They become tangy, crunchy, and pick up just about any flavor you throw at them. Enjoy them as a snack, serve with a cheese plate as an appetizer, or even as the pickle component on our Smash Burgers.
This recipe is extra special because it’s a quick pickle, meaning no canning is needed and the prep is done in 30 minutes. Crazy right? We break down the process into simple steps so you can become a pro pickler.
Once you start pickling, you won’t want to stop! Be sure to make pickled red onions for all your sandwich and burger needs. If you love green beans we also have some other delicious recipes you should try like our cold green bean salad or green beans and smashed potatoes—you can’t go wrong with either.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
I could go on and on about all of the reasons this recipe is a must-make. They’re crunchy, satisfying and so versatile, to name a few. But a few we’d like to highlight:
- Great Way To Use Up Produce: This is a great way to extend the shelf life of fresh green beans. If you’ve got extra laying around and don’t want then to go to waste, this is a delicious way to preserve them and make them last longer.
- Tasty & Healthy Snack: Crunchy, briny, green beans are the perfect snack to munch on and feel good about.
- No Canning Needed: We all love a pickled moment, but the whole canning process can be a bit intimidating and time consuming. This quick pickle method is where it’s at.
Lauren’s Tip
There are four ingredients required when pickling. Water, acid (such as vinegar), sugar, and salt. This mixture is simmered together to create a brining solution that will soften the raw vegetable or fruit and give it that tangy crunch we all love. Add spices and herbs to flavor the liquid and make even more delicious pickles!
Quick Pickle Vs. Regular Pickle
So what is a quick pickle versus the regular pickling method with canning? Let’s dissect this further. With this pickled green beans recipe, we are using a quick pickle method. A regular pickle takes much longer and is more time intensive thanks to the boiling and canning method to pack the veggies into the jars for shelf-storage.
With a quick pickle, we are using acetic acid from vinegar to pickle the fruit or vegetable. A quick pickle is ready in about an hour or so (the longer you wait the better). It also holds in the fridge for at least a week, or up to 2 weeks.
A regular pickling method uses lactic acid from fermentation to pickle the food. This is done by making a pickling liquid that undergoes a curing process inside the glass jars to create bacteria that starts the fermentation process. This fermentation develops the pickled flavor over a longer period of time and allows the food to store for up to a year—much longer than quick pickling.
With these green beans, we are quick pickling but we recommend allowing them to pickle in the fridge for a few days before diving in. This allows the flavors to marinate and texture to soften.
Ingredients
Great news—most of the ingredients for pickling you probably already have on-hand! Just choose your fresh vegetable and get to it!
- Fresh green beans: Use the regular kind or haricot vert which are the French-style green beans that are a little thinner and more tender.
- Garlic: Infuses the pickles with that delicious garlicky flavor we all love.
- Shallot: Gives that sweet onion flavor and a bit of elegance to each bite.
- Dried dill: Important for infusing the bright green herby flavor in the brining liquid.
- Coriander seeds: Adds a warmth and earthiness to the pickling liquid with a hint of lemon.
- Bay leaf: Dried is fine here, it also adds another flavor of warmth similar to thyme or oregano.
- Red pepper flakes: Adds a hint of spice to the pickling liquid.
- Rice vinegar, white vinegar, or white wine vinegar: Vinegar is required in a pickling liquid, here we like to use a white based vinegar since it’s lighter in flavor but still acidic enough to pickle the green beans.
- Sugar: Also required when pickling. Just adding a tablespoon or pinch is good enough to soften the pungent flavors of the vinegar.
- Kosher salt: The last of the required ingredients in pickling, helps with brining, softening and seasoning the pickles.
How To Make Pickled Green Beans
- Add the green beans to a 24-ounce (pint and a half) or 32-ounce (quart) jar.
- Add garlic, shallot, dill, coriander seeds, bay leaf, and red pepper flakes.
- Add vinegar, water, sugar, and salt to a saucepan, bring to a boil over high heat, whisking until sugar and salt have dissolved.
- Immediately pour into jar with green beans. Let sit 5 minutes then cover with lid. Let cool at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes before refrigerating.
- These are best after sitting for at least 2 days in the fridge, but get even better around 7 days.
Variations
When it comes to pickling, the options are endless. You can really pickle almost any vegetable as well as so many fruits like these pickled cherries! Here are some flavor variations we love:
- Spicy: Add some hot peppers to the mix if you like it really spicy. We recommend sliced serranos, jalapeños, or cherry peppers.
- Sweet: Add a tablespoon or two of honey or maple syrup for a bit of a diffrent note of flavor in the brining liquid.
- Mix In Other Veggies: Explore at your local farmers’ market and pick up some exciting vegetables to pickle! We love red onions, cauliflower, radishes, shallots, and carrots to name a few.
- Add Aromatics: Take a look in your spice cabinet to enhance your pickled beans. Whole spices are best for pickling since their flavor can continue to infuse the briny liquid overtime. We love fennel seed, mustard seed, celery seed, black peppercorns, and coriander.
Pro Tips for Pickled Green Beans
- Pick Good Quality Green Beans: Be sure to use fresh and firm green beans that are vibrant in color. If you start with high quality beans, not only will they taste better, but they’ll stay nice and crunchy, too.
- Versatile: The sky is really the limit when serving these. They’re great as a tasty appetizer, and simple side dish, a quick and crunchy snack or even the perfect add-in for a bloody mary (try our Green Bloody Mary).
- Customizable: I love that you can change up the ingredients and flavors in these to cater to whoever’s enjoying them. Add a little spice, make them a touch sweeter, or add bold, zesty notes if you’re looking for big flavor. They’re super easy (not to mention, delicious) to customize.
- Great Make-Ahead Idea: Everyone loves saving time and getting ahead, myself included. These are perfect for prepping and making ahead of time, so all you have to do is serve them up when the time comes.
- Delicious Gift Idea: Is there anything better than receiving an edible gift? These are so perfect and tasty to give out to friends and family at any occasion. Use a cute jar, add some ribbon and a tag and you’ve got a fun, delicious gift idea anyone would appreciate.
Storage Instructions
For the Fridge: We call these refrigerator pickled green beans for a reason! They store great in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
We don’t recommend freezing pickled green beans, it will change their texture and can result in mushy pickled beans.
How To Use This Pickled Green Beans Recipe
Pickled green beans are good by themselves as a snack but are also always ideal to have in the fridge to use as a condiment for so many recipes. We have our favorite suggestions below:
- Green Goddess Salad: add these beans as a crunchy, briny topper to compliment all the fresh herby salad flavor.
- Pea Salad with Goat Cheese: The sweet peas are too delicious with these beans.
- Tri-Tip Sandwich with Pesto: They make a fun and unique crunchy sandwich topper too! Steak pairs wonderfully with the acid in the brine
- Turkey Peach and Basil Sandwiches: Enhance the fresh green flavor of the basil by adding some of these beans on top too! The sweetness of the peaches is insanely tasty with the tangy of the beans.
Frequently Asked Questions
For quick pickling about 2 weeks. For regular pickling they should be consumed within a year.
Yes, they’re very nutritious with good bacteria for your gut and nutrients from the vegetable itself.
This is probably due to the salt in the pickling liquid causing water to be removed from the green bean itself.
More Pickling Recipes
- Turkish Eggs with Pickled Cucumber Salad
- Crispy Vegan Tofu Noodles with Pickled Cucumbers
- Quick Pickled Red Onions
- Pickled Cherries
Picked Green Beans
Description
Ingredients
- 8–9 ounces fresh green beans
- 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 small shallot, thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons dried dill
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1 dried bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 ¼ cups rice vinegar, white vinegar, or white wine vinegar
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons water
- 1 heaping tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Add the green beans to a 24-ounce (pint and a half) or 32-ounce (quart) jar. Add garlic, shallot, dill, coriander seeds, bay leaf, and red pepper flakes.
- Add vinegar, water, sugar, and salt to a saucepan, bring to a boil over high heat, whisking until sugar and salt have dissolved.
- Immediately pour into jar with green beans. Let sit 5 minutes then cover with lid. Let cool at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes before refrigerating.
- These are best after sitting for at least 2 days in the fridge, but get even better around 7 days.
Notes
- Pick Good Quality Green Beans: Be sure to use fresh and firm green beans that are vibrant in color. If you start with high quality beans, not only will they taste better, but they’ll stay nice and crunchy, too.
- Versatile: The sky is really the limit when serving these. They’re great as a tasty appetizer, and simple side dish, a quick and crunchy snack or even the perfect add-in for a bloody mary.
- Customizable: I love that you can change up the ingredients and flavors in these to cater to whoever’s enjoying them. Add a little spice, make them a touch sweeter, or add bold, zesty notes if you’re looking for big flavor. They’re super easy (not to mention, delicious) to customize.
- Great Make-Ahead Idea: Everyone loves saving time and getting ahead, myself included. These are perfect for prepping and making ahead of time, so all you have to do is serve them up when the time comes.
- Delicious Gift Idea: Is there anything better than receiving an edible gift? These are so perfect and tasty to give out to friends and family at any occasion. Use a cute jar, add some ribbon and a tag and you’ve got a fun, delicious gift idea anyone would appreciate.
