I can eat these super easy sugar-free pickled green beans by the handful!
When Ball canning sent me a box of their pretty purple canning jars, I had a dilemma on my hands. I wanted desperately to try my hand at pickling green beans, but didn't have the time for traditional canning methods requiring immersing jars in a hot bath and making sure lids are sealed tight.
After noodling on it awhile, I decided to leave tradition to my mom. She has this food preserving method down to an art. Her canned chow chow, a sweet tomato type relish that requires hours of chopping and dropping, is my favorite addition to canned tuna. (Thanks for sharing Mom!)
I solved my dilemma by deciding to pickle my green beans in the refrigerator. No fuss with hot baths, but I'd still get to use my colorful Ball Canning Jars.
If you aren't familiar with pickling veggies, it's a cooking method where vegetables are added to a jar along with a brine that usually consists of vinegar, loads of sugar, and pickling spices like dill and celery seed.
I have to say that I wasn't comfortable with the amount of sugar called for in classic pickle recipes, so I opted to use stevia (a natural calorie-free sweetener derived from an herb) instead of granulated sugar.
After a week hanging out in the refrigerator, my sugar-free pickled green beans made a terrific addition to a tossed salad with sun-dried tomatoes and feta cheese.
Mostly, I just ate them from the jar.
Don't forget that Saturday is Can-It-Forward Day! All you need to do is bookmark this page and come back Saturday between 11:00am - 4:00pm EST to get all your canning questions answered by experts. You can also tune in by clicking this link.
Enjoy!
Ball Canning Refrigerated Pickled Green Beans
Recipe type: Pickled Vegetables
- 8 cups green beans, thinner beans trimmed (about 8 large handfuls)
- 1 large white onion, thinly sliced
- 6 cups white vinegar
- 6 cups water
- 4 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 4 teaspoons celery salt
- 4 teaspoons mustard seeds
- 2 - 4 packates stevia, add two then taste, add more if desired
- Place green beans in a vegetable steamer and steam for 3 - 5 minutes until softened. Do no over cook. Beans should still be crisp. Drain and add to a large bowl with onion.
- Place remaining ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil for one minute. Remove and allow to cool to a warm temperature. The vinegar mixture doesn't need to come to room temperature.
- Divide green beans between four Ball quart sized canning jars.
- Pour mixture over the top of the beans.
- Allow beans to come to room temperature, then screw on lids.
- Refrigerate for 7 days. Beans and onions need to be used within one month.
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