Refrigerator Dilly Beans are quick and crunchy pickled green beans ready in 24 hours! They’re a healthy low calorie appetizer or snack.
Our garden green beans plants are dripping with beans, the dill is starting to set seed ~ it’s dilly bean time! Dilly beans are simply pickled green beans flavored with dill. Dilly beans can be enjoyed as a snack, added to salads or charcuterie boards, or used as a zesty side to sandwiches, burgers, etc. The quick pickling process takes just minutes and you can dive into your jar of dillies in just 24 hours!
did you know?
Quick pickling vegetables preserves them, enhances the flavor, and retains nutritional benefits. It adds tanginess and spice to raw veggies while maintaining their crunchy texture and bright color.
what you’ll need to make refrigerator dilly beans
Since we will not be canning this recipe, you can feel free to play with the ingredients and their ratios, always a plus with refrigerator pickles!
- green beans
- yellow or ‘wax’ beans can also be used, as well as slender French green beans.
- pickling spice
- look for readymade pickling spice in the spice aisle of your supermarket.
- dill seed
- The seeds contain essential oils that contribute to the characteristic taste associated with dill pickles.
- fresh dill
- dill fronds, flowers, or seed heads can all be used. Dill seed heads have a distinct and intense flavor and look pretty, too.
- apple cider vinegar
- sugar
- salt
RELATED: Recipes from the Summer Garden
choosing your beans
Look for straight beans that will fit in your jar. Bent beans won’t work well for obvious reasons. Choose slender beans and avoid large mature beans whose sugars have converted to starch.
choosing your jars
You’ll want wide mouth pint jars for dilly beans. The wide mouth will help with loading the beans for pickling, and unloading the beans for snacking! I love and use German Weck jars, which you can find on Amazon.
how to make dilly beans
- Trim your beans to fit the jar you’ll be using.
- Fit the beans snugly into the jar.
- Add pickling spices to the jar.
- Heat vinegar, water, salt and sugar until simmering.
- Pour the hot pickling liquid over the beans, right up to the top of the jar. The brine should fully cover the beans.
- Let the jar cool, then cap and refrigerate for 24 hours before enjoying.
dilly beans are quick pickles
This means they can be eaten immediately after they have chilled, but I prefer to leave them for 24 hours. They retain their bright color and snappy crunch because they aren’t hot water bath canned. It’s a fabulous technique to know.
- Quick Pickled Fennel
- Quick Pickled Rainbow Carrots
- Quick Pickled Vidalia Onions
- Quick Pickled Jalapeños
- Quick and Easy Pickled Red Onions
RELATED: How To Quick Pickle (almost) Anything!
dilly bean faqs
Do I need to ‘string’ my beans first? The development of stringless bean varieties has largely eliminated the need for stringing. These newer cultivars have been bred to be more tender and less fibrous ~ so no stringing!
How long will my refrigerator dilly beans last? They’ll last up to a month in the fridge.
Can I can my dilly beans to make them shelf stable? This recipe is for a small batch refrigerator pickle, and is not meant for canning. If you’d like to can your beans, follow the recipe from Ball Canning.
Can I ferment these pickled dilly beans? Yes, you can follow the instructions from Food in Jars.
what to do with your dilly beans
Healthy snacking, one bean at a time! Instead of a handful of chips, grab a dilly bean or two.
Make them part of your next cheese board or crudités platter.
Add them to your jarcuterie!
Slice your beans and add to bean salads or vegetable salads.
Serve them alongside sandwiches and burgers.
Refrigerator Dilly Beans
Equipment
- wide mouth jars
Ingredients
- 1 lb green beans, trimmed to fit your jars
- several dill fronds, dill flowers, or seed-heads
- 1 Tbsp pickling spice
- 1 tsp dill seeds
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 2 Tbsp kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp sugar
Instructions
- Fit your beans and a few dill fronds, flowers, or seed heads into your wide mouth jar or jars. Keep the beans as straight as possible to fit as many beans as you can in the jar.
- Add the pickling spice and dill seeds to the jar. If using 2 jars divide equally between them.
- Heat the apple cider vinegar, water, sugar and salt in a small sauce pan, stirring to dissolve the salt and sugar.
- Once it comes to a boil pour the hot brine over the beans, to fill the jar(s). The brine needs to fully cover the beans. If necessary you can top off with more water.
- Let cool then cap and refrigerate for 24 hours before enjoying. Dilly beans will stay fresh in the fridge for 2 weeks or more.
Been looking for a quick pickle bean recipe,will try this as soon as beans arrive at farmers market.I found that laying the jar flat when filling them allows for an easy an fill while fitting more in,this works well when loading cucc.spears.Thx for the post.
Great tip thanks!