Another great small-batch preserving recipe!
When I spotted these gorgeous purple beans at the Ottawa Farmers’ Market, I was tempted to buy a whole bushel. I adore beans and their vibrant colour made them extra alluring. My enthusiasm was tempered when the vendor explained that they lose a lot of their purple hue when cooked, so I restrained myself and bought just a pint to do some small-batch preserving. The photo below shows the beans immediately after canning; they did lose some of their colour as they brined but they still look ever so pretty and are very tasty as well! Using dill seeds instead of fresh dill is a great way to make a mid-winter batch of these quick pickled beans. If you prefer your pills on the slightly less sour side, you can use 3/4 cup vinegar and 1 1/4 cups water (or 1/2 cup vinegar and 1 1/2 cups water for the brine).
Ingredients
- 1 pint fresh beans (purple, green or yellow)
- 2 cloves garlic, bruised
- 4 heads dill or 1 tablespoon (15 mL) dill seed
- 1 teaspoon (5 mL) chili flakes
- 1 cup (250 mL) water
- 1 cup (250 mL) cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons (30 mL) coarse salt
Method
- Wash beans well to remove any dirt.
- Pack beans tightly into two 2 cup (500 mL) canning jars which have been meticulously cleaned. Add garlic, dill and chili flakes evenly to both jars, interspersing with beans.
- In a glass measure in the microwave, or in a small pot on the stove, heat water, vinegar and salt until boiling. Stir to dissolve salt.
- Pour hot brine over beans and seal jars. If you don’t have enough brine, top jars up with water.
- Let cool to room temperature then refrigerate.
- Beans will be ready to eat in 24 hours and can be stored in the fridge for up to a month.
Makes two 500 mL jars.
Constantly Cooking with Paula Roy 
i LOVE dilly beans, i will definitely be making these soon 🙂
I have multi colored beans this year (some green, some wax, some purple) can you pickle them all together or should each color be pickled separately?
You can pickle them all together. After a few days they vinegar solution tends to bleach all the color out of the beans anyway. They look their most beautiful when they’re freshly pickled but they’re at their most delicious when they rest in a few days.
Well this is disappointing. The picture shows the purple beans staying purple after the brine is added to the jar. When I poured the boiling brine over the purple beans they ultimately went green. I’m sure they’ll be fine for flavor, though I won’t know until tomorrow, but I was so hoping for a recipe that would retain the vibrant purple of the beans.
The preamble to the recipe does explain that the beans do lose their colour after pickling. Sorry you’re disappointed.
The flavor is very dilly, which for some reason, I did not expect from dill flowers as opposed to dill seed. The crunch is great. I would have loved to keep the vibrant color, but we can’t have everything. Right? I’ll probably use less vinegar in the next batch. 1:1 is a bit strong for my palette. Sorry, if I came off as witchy. This is an an awesome small batch recipe. Not your fault food science is what it is.
I am glad you mentioned that you found the pickles a little strong for your palate. Per your comment, I’ve updated the recipe to suggest modifying the water to vinegar ratio to make them less sour.