It’s spring time and that means nice weather and green beans galore! Ever since writing this fermenting vegetables guide, I’ve been wanting to try dilly beans — which are pickled green beans.
Oh my gosh you guys. I had no idea green beans could taste like this. They are unimaginably delicious. Maybe even the best pickles on planet earth.
Have you ever thought about pickling green beans? I’m constantly buying them by the bag in bulk, which is a mistake because it’s really hard to eat a pound of green beans in a week.
Now that I know how easy it is to pickle them, I won’t mind buying green beans by the pound. Once you add brine and vinegar to green beans, you instantly prolong the shelf life for up to 6 months. Incredible right?
Turns out you need little more than time, crushed garlic, and red pepper flakes for absurdly flavorful pickles. You’ll have to trust me on this because I realize they aren’t much to look at. They more than make up for their muted green color though.
Even if you’ve never made pickles or fermented anything in your life, you can handle this recipe. It’s simple as can be, and you will be down right impressed with the results.
There’s no chopping involved. You can just stuff the blanched green beans into a jar and cover them with salty water. Later, when you’ve figured out the basic method, you can try this vegan kimchi or these feremented pink radishes too.
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What is the brine ratio for green bean pickles?
3 Tablespoons salt and 1 1/2 Tablespoons Vinegar per quart water
How to Lacto Ferment Green Beans aka Dilly Beans
Note: Beans must be blanched 2 minutes in boiling water to destroy toxins before pickling.
Pack green beans, dill, garlic, and chiles into mason jars or crocks and pour in cool water. drain the water out and measure it. Salt according to the brine ratio and cover the beans with the brine. Weight and ferment for 7-10 days at room temperature. Then refrigerate.
Pro Tip: When fermenting, it’s important to keep the green beans underneath the top of the water line. I like to stuff a sealed plastic bag into the mason jar to weigh down the beans. That way, you can prevent mold from growing on the green beans.
Fermented Dilly Beans
Ingredients
- 1 pound green beans
- 4 cups filtered water
- 3 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp red pepper flakes 1 fresh chile with seeds, quartered
- 3 cloves garlic smashed
- 1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add green beans and cook for 2 minutes. Strain green beans and add to mason jar(s).
- Cover green beans with the brine and seasoning (water, salt, red pepper flakes, garlic, and apple cider vinegar).
- Place a clean cloth across the top of the mason jar(s) and secure with a rubber band. Place in a dark room (out of direct sunlight) for 7-10 days to ferment. Transfer to the refrigerator with a lid and enjoy for up to 8 months.
Notes
Nutrition
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Wouldn’t The blanching kill the bacteria needed to ferment the beans?
Hi Barb. Since I’ve used this to ferment green beans, I would said, no. The blanching doesn’t inhibit the lactofermentation process. I’m making myself a note to test this recipe again using living apple cider vinegar and pasteurized. It *might be the case that the living bacteria of my vinegar played a role (though I still think you’d get a fermented green bean even if your vinegar is shelf stable). Please report back if for some reason you test this before me:)