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How to Make Pickled Beans (also called Pickled Dill Beans or Dilly Beans) - Easily! With Step-by-step Photos, Recipe, Directions, Ingredients and Costs

How to Make Homemade Canned Dill-Pickled Beans

You think making and canning your own pickled beans (also called pickled dill beans, or dilly beans) is difficult or expensive?  Not at all!  You can do it with basic equipment already in your kitchen - you just need a canning pot.  And thanks to the vinegar in pickled beans, you can use either a plain open water bath pot or a pressure canner (which will also let you can low acid vegetables!)

So, here's how to can pickled beans!  The directions are  complete with instructions in easy steps and completely illustrated. In the winter when you open a jar, the pickled beans will taste MUCH better than any store-bought canned pickled beans!

Prepared this way, the jars have a shelf life of about 12 months, and aside from storing in a cool, dark place, require no special attention.

Directions for Making Canned Dill Pickled Beans

Ingredients and Equipment

Recipe and Directions

Step 1 - Selecting the beans

The most important step!  You need beans that are FRESH and crisp.  Limp, old beans will make nasty tasting canned beans.  Guests will probably throw them at you.. Select firm, crisp beans. Remove and discard any soft, diseased, spotted and bug-chewed beans.

How many beans and where to get them

You can grow your own, pick your own, or buy them at the grocery store. About 4 pounds of beans makes about 8 pints of pickled beans.

Step 2 - Prepare the jars and canner

Wash the jars and lids

This is a good time to get the jars ready! The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sanitize" cycle. Otherwise put the jars in boiling water for 10 minutes. I just put the lids in a small pot of almost boiling water for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" (available from target, other big box stores, and often grocery stores; and available online - see this page) to pull them out.

Get the canner heating up

Rinse out your canner, put the rack in the bottom, and fill it  with hot tap water. (Of course, follow the instruction that came with the canner, if they are different). Put it on the stove over low heat just to get it heating up for later on.

Step 3 -Wash the beans!

I'm sure you can figure out how to scrub the beans in plain cold or lukewarm water using your hands or a vegetable brush.

Step 4 - Trim the ends and cut into smaller pieces

Just take a sharp knife and trim off beans tops, leaving an inch of stem and roots to prevent bleeding of color.

 Of course, if your prefer French cut green beans, you can cut the beans lengthwise instead, or you can use a "bean Frencher".  The "Frencher" enables you to prepare a huge quantity of beans quickly! 

See the bottom of this page for makes, models, prices and ordering info for bean frenchers.

Step 5 - Pack the herbs into the jars

In each sterile (right out of the dishwasher) pint jar, place 1 to 2 dill heads and, if desired, 1 clove of garlic.

Step 6 - Pack the beans into the jars

Place the whole trimmed beans upright in jars, leaving ½-inch of headspace. Trim the beans to ensure proper fit, if necessary.

Step 7 - Make the Pickling Solution

Combine the salt, vinegar, water and pepper flakes (the latter if desired). Bring to a boil.

Step 8 - Pour the pickling solution into the jars

Use a ladle or pyrex measuring cup to carefully fill each packed jar with the hot vinegar solution, again allowing  ½-inch headspace. The beans should be covered and there should still be 1/2 inch of airspace left in the top of each jar. Be careful not to burn yourself, (or anyone else - children should be kept back during this step!)

Step 9 - Put the lids and rings on

Put the lids on each jar and seal them by putting a ring on and screwing it down snugly (but not with all your might, just "snug").

Step 10 - Put the jars in the canner and the lid on the canner (but still vented)

Using the jar tongs, put the jars on the rack in the canner.  Make sure the tops of the jars are covered by at least 1 inch of water.

Step 11 - Process for 5 minutes*

The chart below will help you determine the right processing time and pressure, if you have a different type of canner, or are above sea level. For most people, using a plain open water bath canner, the time will be 5 minutes (check the table below for altitudes above 1,000 ft). You can use either a plain water bath canner OR a pressure canner, since the vinegar adds so much acidity (if you can vegetables other than tomatoes without adding vinegar, you must use a pressure canner). 

Step 12 - Remove the jars

Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool on a wooden cutting board or a towel,  without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight), here they won't be bumped. You can then remove the rings if you like, but if you leave them on, at least loosen them quite a bit, so they don't rust in place due to trapped moisture. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok. You're done!

Other Equipment:

From left to right: Jar lifting tongs to pick up hot jars Lid lifter - to remove lids from the pot of boiling water (sterilizing ) Lid - disposable - you may only use them once Ring - holds the lids on the jar until after the jars cool - then you don't need them Canning jar funnel - to fill the jars

"Pressure canning is the only safe method for home canning vegetables. Clostridium botulinum is the bacterium that causes botulism food poisoning in low-acid foods, such as vegetables. The bacterial spores are destroyed only when the vegetables are processed in a pressure canner at 240 degrees Fahrenheit (F) for the correct amount of time.

Clostridium botulinum is the bacterium commonly found in vegetables and meats. It is harmless until it finds itself in a moist, low-acid, oxygen-free environment or a partial vacuum. Under these conditions, the bacterium can grow and produce toxins dangerous to people and animals.

Do not process (low acid) vegetables using the boiling water bath because the botulinum bacteria can survive that method.

Can fruits and vegetables be canned without heating if aspirin is used? No. Aspirin should not be used in canning. It cannot be relied on to prevent spoilage or to give satisfactory products. Adequate heat treatment is the only safe procedure.

Is it safe to can beans in a boiling water bath if vinegar is used? No. Recommended processing methods must be used to assure safety. Recommended processing times cannot be shortened if vinegar is used in canning fresh vegetables. (This does not refer to pickled vegetables.)

Salt and sugar are not preservatives for vegetables: they are added to stabilize and improve flavor, but will not prevent spoilage.

Salicylic acid is also NOT a preservative. The University of Illinois reports:

Using Aspirin for Canning

Several years ago, a recipe circulated using aspirin to acidify tomatoes and beans for canning. Aspirin is not recommended for canning. While it contains salicylic acid, it does not sufficiently acidify tomatoes or beans for safe hot water bath canning. beans are low acid foods and may only be processed safely in a pressure canner. Lemon juice or vinegar is recommended to acidify tomato products for safe water bath processing.

Think of it like smoking.  We all know someone who smoke their entire life and lived to be 90.  But the cemeteries are filled with the vast majority who didn't.  You'll hear people say "my grandmother did it that way for 20 years".  But of course, the people who died from food poisoning aren't around and often didn't have descendants to tell their tale...

Home Canning Kits Features: * All the tools you need for hot waterbath canning - in one comprehensive set! * Complete with 21 1/2 qt. enameled waterbath canner and "Ball Blue Book" of canning. * Also includes canning rack, funnel, jar lifter, jar wrencher, bubble freer, tongs and lid lifter. * A Kitchen Krafts exclusive collection. This is the same type of  standard canner that my grandmother used to make everything from beans to jams and jellies to tomato and spaghetti sauce. This complete kit includes everything you need: the canner, jar rack, jar grabber tongs, lid lifting wand, a plastic funnel, labels, bubble freer, and the bible of canning, the Ball Blue Book. You'll never need anything else except more jars and lids! Features: * All the tools you need for hot waterbath canning - in one comprehensive set! * Complete with 21 1/2 qt. enameled waterbath canner and "Ball Blue Book" of canning. * Also includes canning rack, funnel, jar lifter, jar wrencher, bubble freer, tongs and lid lifter. * A Kitchen Krafts exclusive collection. Average Customer Review: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

In the UK, use this link:

Bean "Frenchers" It is tiring and laborious to prepare green beans for canning; there are so many of them and you do them all by hand.  But wait there's a new device that makes it easy.  Hmmm, actually, these devices have been around since our great-grandfather's day!  Here are several different types and makes, some hand fed, some cranked: choose the one that meets your need and budget! For photos and features of the bean frenchers, click here!

Deluxe Food Strainer & Sauce Maker See this page for more information, reviews, descriptions of other strainers and supplies or to order! With the Deluxe Food Strainer/Sauce Maker, you can make creamy peach sauce and smooth tomato sauce without having to peel and core! This multi-use strainer forces food through a stainless steel screen, automatically separating the juice and pulp from the seeds, shins, and stems. Perfect for purees, creamed soups, baby foods, pie filling, juices, jams, and more. Save time, effort, and money by preparing your own tasty sauces to be used immediately or boiled for future use. Do bushels with ease and in a fraction of the time. Includes the tomato/peach screen with easy twist on design and instruction/recipe booklet. The Deluxe model comes with the standard Tomato/peach Screen; as well as the Berry Screen, Pumpkin Screen, and Grape Spiral. Note

Can't find the equipment?  We ship to all 50 states!

This page was updated on 23-Apr-2012