Refrigerator Dilly Beans

Adding a bright pop of flavor to salads is a snap with these crispy, tangy, slightly spicy quick and easy Refrigerator Dilly Beans. The ultimate briny snack, they’re delicious on their own but an instant punch of flavor and texture to salads, charcuterie boards, and your favorite brunch cocktail along with Pumpkin Spice Candied Bacon.

This recipe is for all of the pickle lovers out there. There’s just something irresistible about the combination of aromatic dill, crisp green beans, and a perfectly spiced acidic brine. These are so good you will be eating them straight from the jar! And because like Refrigerator Pickled Beets, these are a quick pickle meaning there’s no special equipment or laborious process involved. Anyone can make them!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Budget Friendly – Green beans are the ultimate inexpensive vegetable that are readily available year-round. While your garden might be overflowing with them during the summer months, it’s easy to pick up a bag from the grocery store any time of year without breaking the bank. The rest of the minimal ingredients are pantry staples like vinegar, salt, and sugar.
• Customizable – Not only can you switch up the type of beans you use, but you can play around with different vinegars and add ins. Have fun experimenting and making these your own.
• Texture – Green beans can sometimes be a little tough and stringy. The combination of a quick blanch and the pickling process keeps these crispy and crunchy, yet tender.
• Easy Process – These pickled green beans only require two simple steps to make, a quick blanch to slightly tenderize them, and then allowing the brine to boil long enough simply to dissolve the salt and sugar. The hardest part is allowing them to refrigerate overnight for optimal tastiness and snackability.

Ingredients

• Green Beans – You’ll need fresh green beans for this recipe. Snap beans, yellow wax beans, pole beans, and hericot verts will all work for this recipe. Have fun trying different varieties.
• Brine Solution – These easy dilly beans use a 50/50 solution of water to vinegar. Keep it simple with white vinegar or add a layer of sweetness with either rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar. I love using rice wine vinegar for this recipe.
• Salt/Sugar – This has slightly more kosher salt than sugar keeping these quick pickled green beans on the savory side. I use brown sugar for a more complex yet neutral sweetness but feel free to use white sugar.
• Spices – Black peppercorns, coriander seeds, and crushed red pepper flakes make up the pickling spice mixture. Make sure to use fresh spices for maximum flavor. If you don’t remember the last time you used them, it’s time to replace them.
• Aromatics – Fresh dill and whole garlic cloves make the one two punch of savory flavor.

What Are Dilly Beans?

Dilly beans are pickled green beans that have a similar flavor profile to dill pickles. While they can easily be found across the US, they’re most popular in both Vermont where the overabundance of green beans during the short summer made it necessary to find a way to preserve them for the hard winter months, and also the southern states.

Dilly beans always contain dill, hence the name, and usually contain garlic. Besides the brine they usually contain at least one sort of pickling spice such as black peppercorns, dill seed, red pepper flakes, mustard seeds, coriander, or even a pickling spice mix. Other recipes may include splashes of hot sauce to the brine, onion slices, and both fresh and dried chiles.

How to Make Refrigerator Dilly Beans

• Trim the green beans. Snip off the ends of your green beans and make sure that they are just slightly shorter than your jar.
• Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the green beans and let them blanch for 30-60 seconds until they turn a brighter green. You are not looking for them to cook or become tender; your simply just lightly softening them. Keep in mind they will continue to soften with the brine. Drain the beans and let them cool while you prepare the jar and brine.

• Prep your jar. Add the garlic cloves, black peppercorns, crushed red pepper flakes, and coriander seeds to the jar and set aside.
• Simmer the brine. Add the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar to a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar and salt and turn the heat off.
• Add the beans and dill to the jar. The easiest way to fill your jar with the beans is to create a bundle in your hands. Add the bundle to the center of the jar and then continue packing in as many beans as you can. Place the dill sprigs throughout the green beans.
• Pour the brine into the jar. Pour the slightly cooled brine into the jar until it just covers the beans. Let cool on the counter and then close the jar.
• Allow the green beans to refrigerate for 24 hours. For the best flavor and texture allow your green beans to refrigerate for 24 hours. While they will be delicious not long after you add the brine, they are at their best for both flavor and texture after they’ve cured for 24 hours.

Variations

• Experiment with different types of beans. I love hericot vert for their flavor, texture, and delicate appearance. Yellow wax beans are also beautiful.
• Add onion slices to the jar. Skip red onions and use a sweet onion.
• Spice it up. Add jalapeno or serrano slices to your jar, or a couple of dried chiles.
• Play around with the vinegar you use. White vinegar is a bright, neutral, and classic choice but both apple cider vinegar and rice wine vinegar will add a little sweetness.

Storage

• Pick a glass jar that seals well that will accommodate the height of the refrigerator dilly beans.
• These are quick pickle, refrigerator style pickled green beans. They are not canned and shelf stable. Unless you are serving them they should remain refrigerated.
• If kept refrigerated, they will last for up to a month. Trust me, you will find yourself snacking on these all the time!

Tips From the Beach

• Make sure that you are using the freshest green beans possible. Older beans tend to be slightly woody and stringy in texture.
• A wide mouth jar works best for these quick pickled green beans.
• This recipe is easy to double and triple. Have a lot of green beans you need to use? This is a fabulous option.
• Looking for a fun and unique gift? Add these to a bloody Mary kit. Place them in a basket with your favorite bloody Mary mix and vodka and you have an instant hostess gift.
• Have fun with how you serve this. They will cure any snack craving on their own but are also a delicious addition to salads, charcuterie boards, and crudites platters. Love a Salade niçoise? Swap out the blanched green beans for these pickled dilly beans.

Refrigerator Dilly Beans

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Adding a bright pop of flavor to salads is a snap with these crispy, tangy, slightly spicy quick and easy Refrigerator Dilly Beans. 

• Author: Nicole Stover
• Prep Time: 15
• Cook Time: 10
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 4-6 1x
• Category: Appetizer
• Method: Pickling
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 pounds green beans, hericot verts, pole beans, or yellow wax beans, ends snipped
• 1 cup rice wine vinegar, white vinegar, or apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1/2–1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you like it)
• 2–3 garlic cloves peeled
• 6 sprigs fresh dill

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Instructions

1. Trim the ends of your green beans and make sure they are slightly shorter than your jar. A wide mouthed jar works best for this recipe.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the green beans and allow them to blanch for 30-60 seconds until they turn a brighter green. Drain them and allow them to cool while you prepare the brine.
3. Add the garlic cloves, coriander, peppercorns, and crushed red pepper flakes to the bottom of your jar.
4. Add the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar to a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve the and sugar and turn the heat off.
5. Make a tight bundle of green beans and place them in the middle of the jar. Continue to stuff green beans around the bundle until the jar is filled.
6. Place the dill sprigs throughout the green beans.
7. Pour the slightly cooled brine over the top of the beans until they are just covered.
8. Let the jar cool on the counter and then close the lid.
9. Allow the dilly beans to refrigerate for 24 hours for the best flavor and texture. 

Notes

1. These can be eaten right away but they will have the best flavor and texture after 24 hours of curing in the refrigerator.
2. These are a quick pickle. They aren’t shelf stable and will need to be refrigerated if not being served.
3. They will last for up to a month refrigerated. 

Frequently Asked Questions About Refrigerator Dilly Beans