Why you’ll love it: Have an abundance of summer vegetables? Try making refrigerator pickled green beans, no need for canning. They’ll keep in the fridge for more than a month!
How long it takes: 15 minutes hands-on
Equipment you’ll need: saucepan, jar
Servings: 8
Crisp, Tangy, and Totally Addictive
I love quick refrigerator pickles, and these pickled green beans are one of my favorites. They’re brined with garlic, dill, mustard seed, peppercorns, and red pepper flakes, making them both beautiful and flavorful.
What makes them special:
- Improves with time: Flavors deepen in the fridge, reaching peak deliciousness after a week.
- Quick and easy: No fancy canner or boiling water bath required – just a jar, brine, and a refrigerator.
- Bursting with flavor: Garlic, dill, mustard seed, and red pepper flakes make every bite exciting.
- Versatile serving: They’re perfect for snacking, adding to charcuterie boards, or garnishing a homemade Bloody Mary.
Top Tips for Making pickled green beans
Store in Fridge: As I mentioned above, these are quick pickled beans. They are not canned so they must be stored in the refrigerator. They’ll keep for at least one month. The beans get better and better every day they spend in the fridge. You can try them right away, but they’ll be sort of a disappointment. Wait three days, and wow! Wait a week, and you’ll be blown away by how good they are.
Jar Suggestions: You can use almost any glass jar. Look for one that’s about the same height as the green beans, so they can stand up nice and straight. Recycled jars are perfect as long as they have a tight fitting lid. A quart sized canning jar works well, too. Make sure your jar is spotlessly clean!
Keep Them Clean: Even though it’s tempting, don’t use your fingers to fish them out of the jar. Use a clean fork so you don’t introduce bacteria into the jar.
“These are so easy to make and are so yummy!! Perfect as is.”
Make Them Your Own
- Too crispy for you? For more tender green beans, blanch them before pickling. Bring a pot of water to boil, add beans for 2-3 minutes, drain, and put into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and preserve the green color. When beans are cool, drain well, and proceed with recipe.
- Tangier Beans: If you like the beans to be more tangy, increase the amount of vinegar and decrease the amount of water. You can go up to half vinegar and half water. Use any regular vinegar: apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, rice vinegar, red or white wine vinegar.
- Experiment with the seasonings. Consider this recipe a starting point. Adjust the seasonings to your personal preference.
More quick pickles!
I just love quick refrigerator pickles. They have such fresh flavor and retain their crispness. I’ve found that you can quick pickle almost any vegetable. My popular pickled red onions are a staple in my kitchen, but try these other recipes too:
Pickled Green Beans
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb. fresh green beans, washed, stem ends trimmed or snapped off
- 2 cups water
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
- 1 teaspoon whole mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 sprigs fresh dill leaves
Instructions
- In medium sized saucepan, combine water, vinegar, salt, and sugar; over medium high heat, bring to a boil, boiling until sugar and salt is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool slightly.2 cups water, ¼ cup apple cider vinegar, 1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- Place garlic clove, mustard seeds, peppercorns, and red pepper flakes at the bottom of a large jar (most likely a quart size jar depending on the length of green beans). Arrange green beans vertically in jar and tuck dill sprigs into the jar.1 ½ lb. fresh green beans,, 1 clove garlic, peeled, 1 teaspoon whole mustard seeds, 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns, ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, 3 sprigs fresh dill leaves
- Pour the brine into the jar, covering green beans completely.
- Cover jar and place in the fridge at least overnight but preferably three days or more before eating.
- Store the jar of pickled green beans in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Notes
- Nutrition note: Since the beans do not absorb all of the brine, the sodium count will be much lower than reflected below.
- Storage: You can store green bean pickles in the fridge for up a month or more. After that, the texture will deteriorate. If liquid appears cloudy, dump them out.
- For tender green beans, blanch them before pickling. Bring a pot of water to boil, add beans for 2-3 minutes, drain, and put into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and preserve the green color. When beans are cool, drain well, and proceed with recipe.
- If you like the beans to be more tangy, increase the amount of vinegar and decrease the amount of water. You can go up to half vinegar and half water. Use any regular vinegar: apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, rice vinegar, red or white wine vinegar.
- Adjust the seasonings to your personal preference.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
Just made a batch of these last night with fresh beans from my garden. DELICIOUS! I didn’t have fresh dill or mustard seeds so I substituted dill weed and a little bit of dry mustard. Still delicious! And easy!
Great substitutions! Glad you enjoyed them.
Easy and delicious! Husband loves them!!
So glad! Thanks for sharing a photo!
Absolutely the worst recipe I have ever tried. Have three packages of green beans that will likely end in compost.
Mayhap I used the wrong beans, fresh, unnamed recipe variety, but even the flavor of the ingredients gave me pause beforehand. Deleted!
What flavors did you not like? It’s a pretty standard pickling solution. Have you ever had pickled green beans?
This person has no clue. Excellent recipe.
Thank you so much :)
Hi!
Can this recipe be used, when creating shelf-stable beans, so long as the proper pickling techniques are used after the jars are filled?
Probably, but I’m not an expert in canning so I can’t tell you for sure.
I loved them! Loved that I could feel confident using my own spice combo! Waited a week to try and I am addicted!
So glad you liked them! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, it means a lot to me!
I am happy to have found your excellent recipe for quick-pickled green beans. You explain everything very clearly. I am looking forward to making your pickles myself. Your perfectly understandable instructions are a pleasure to read. To amp up the heat, add in a small amount of top-quality taco seasoning. It supplies a mild to moderate heat, but more importantly a pleasurably complex, even exotic flavor. Grocery-store cayenne or hot-pepper powder doesn’t offer anything but heat, but not really any flavor.
Sounds like a tasty addition!
These are so easy to make and are so yummy!! Perfect as is.
So glad to hear you like them! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
I made these just yesterday! I’m waiting to try them.
I’m concerned because I didn’t blanch them. Are they safe?
Many friends are asking if I did and that I should have not for tenderness but, for safety. I’m soo worried.
Plus, all my jars sealed. Should they have? Was my brine too warm?
I am sooo worried couldn’t sleep well.
No need to blanch these. Texture-wise, they’re crisp, but in terms of safety, you’ll be keeping these sin the fridge. They’re not shelf stable. Your brine was probably a little warm when you closed your jars, causing them to seal. It’s likely not a true seal though, so please keep them in the fridge.
It is really a good way to preserve
For sure, but these still need to be refrigerated!
sounds delicious!
Thanks, Denise!