Dilly beans are basically pickled green beans…and oh, so delicious in a bloody Mary or straight out of the jar! This recipe makes 4 pint jars; just enough to have on the pantry shelves for when you have unexpected guests, but not so much that you don’t have room in the pantry for anything else. These are easy to make, so they’re perfect if you’re new to canning…you can do it!

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. green beans, cleaned, trimmed & cut into 4″ lengths
• 4 large cloves garlic
• 1 bunch fresh dill
• 4 tsp. mustard seeds
• 2-4 tsp. dried red chili flakes, like the kind you’d sprinkle on pizza
• 2 1/2 c. water
• 2 1/2 c. white vinegar
• 1/4 c. canning salt (I use this brand)

Directions:

1. Wash & sterilize 4 pint size jars.
2. Heat a pot of water; leave on stove until later.
3. In each jar add one clove of garlic, 1/4 of the dill bunch, 1 tsp. mustard seeds and 1/2 to 1 tsp. chili flakes, depending on how spicy you want these to be. With 1 tsp. chili flakes, the beans aren’t so hot that your mouth will be on fire, but they were a little too spicy for my kids.
4. Pack the green beans in the jar. Just when you think you can’t add any more beans, shove in 2-3 more. The beans will shrink a little when you heat the jars later.
5. In a stainless steel pot, mix the vinegar, water and pickling salt. Over medium heat, stir the mixture until the salt has completely dissolved.
6. Ladle the vinegar & salt brine into each jar, leaving 1/2″ of space at the top of the jar.
7. Wipe the rims of the jars to make sure they’re clean. Let the jar lids sit in warm water for a few minutes (this will soften the rim and allow the jars to seal properly), dry them off, then put on the jars. Put lid rings on, but don’t tighten them too tight.
8. Place jars in the pot or water; water should cover the lids of the jars. Let simmer in this hot water bath for 10 minutes.
9. Using a jar lifter, remove the jars from the hot water bath and place on a wire rack.
10. Let jars cool 24 hours. Once the jars cool, the lids should seal. Usually you’ll hear a pop or a click of the air getting sucked out. Sometimes you won’t hear the seal, but if you press on the top of the lid there won’t be any give. If the lids don’t seal, remove the old lid, wipe down the jar rim, use a fresh lid and reprocess.

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