Dilly Green Bean Salad! If you think green beans are just a boring side dish, wait until you meet their zesty cousin, Dilly Green Bean Salad—where crunch meets pickle perfection.
This vintage-inspired Dilly Green Bean Salad combines vibrant, fresh green beans with the crispness of crunchy red bell peppers, all tossed in a zesty pickling brine that packs a punch of flavor. Perfect for picnics, potlucks, or a refreshing side dish at dinner, this salad is not only delicious but also bursting with that irresistible pickle flavor we all love. Each bite offers a satisfying crunch that will keep you coming back for more.
Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.
Hi there, Ameera here!
If you, like me, can’t resist the fresh taste of garden-fresh green beans, then this lightly pickled Dilly Green Bean Salad recipe is a must-try! The delightful tang of pickling elevates the green beans, making them a standout side dish for any meal.
Tips for Success:
- Flavor Profile: This Dilly Green Bean Salad is an old school salad made with fresh green beans, crunchy red bell peppers, and pickling brine. This salad is basically a pickled green bean salad without the canning process. If you are not a fan of tender crisp green beans that are marinated in a pickling brine type of dressing, then consider skipping this recipe.
- Fresh Green Beans: The recipe is designed to use garden fresh green beans. We do not recommend canned or frozen. Do not use overly large, thick green beans as they tend to be over-mature and tough.
- Blanching the Green Beans: Start the timer for 3 minutes at the moment that you add the green beans to the rolling boiling water.
- Cold Water versus Ice Bath: Typically, when blanching green beans, they are plunged into an ice bath (large bowl filled with ice water and ice cubes). You can blanch them and plunge into an ice bath this way; however, we just run under cold tap water to stop them from cooking. We have really, cold tap water from a well and our water is super cold so running cold tap water over the green beans works equally as well.
- Red Bell Pepper Strips: We recommend adding the red bell pepper strips right before serving to retain delicious crunch and flavor.
- Overnight Marinating is Best: Allowing the green beans to marinate overnight in the pickling brine dressing is best. This allows the flavors to marry into the green beans.
- Flat Glass Container: We used a 9 x 13 inch glass pyrex cake pan for marinating.
- Fresh Dill: .5 oz of fresh dill is approximately 2 Tablespoons of finely chopped fresh dill. This is the same amount that you find in the grocery store in the small plastic clam shell containers.
- Table Salt: If using table salt, you should use less table salt than the amount listed in the ingredients as sea salt crystals are larger than table salt crystals. Since table salt crystals are very fine, less table salt is required to season a dish. We would suggest starting with about 1/4 to 1/2 the amount of sea salt listed. You can always add more salt but cannot take it away. We recommend using sea salt as it is less refined than table salt.
Leftovers and Freezing:
Leftovers will generally keep 14 days in the refrigerator. Store in a covered glass container.
This dish cannot be frozen.
Pantry Products:
- Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
Kitchen Equipment:
- Large stock pot (for blanching the green beans)
- Medium stock pot (for making the Brine Dressing)
- Flat glass container (for marinating the green beans)
If you try this flavorful green beans, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
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Dilly Green Bean Salad
- Prep Time: 15 Minutes
- Cook Time: 10 Minutes
- Total Time: 25 Minutes (+4hr Rest Time)
- Yield: 4-6 Servings 1x
- Category: Salad, Side
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This vintage-inspired Dilly Green Bean Salad combines vibrant, fresh green beans with the crispness of crunchy red bell peppers, all tossed in a zesty pickling brine that packs a punch of flavor.
Ingredients
Base Ingredients:
- 20 oz. fresh green beans, cleaned, ends trimmed *
Brine Dressing Ingredients:
- 2 Tablespoons dried dill seeds
- 1 Tablespoon dried mustard seeds
- 1 Tablespoon black peppercorns
- 1 ½ cups distilled white vinegar
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup pure maple syrup (+/-)
- 6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
- ½ to 1 teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
Other Ingredients:
- .5 oz. finely chopped fresh dill *
- Pinch crushed red peppers
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into long thin strips *
Instructions
- Blanch the green beans. Fill a large stock pot 2/3 full with cold water. Bring to a rolling bowl, add 1 Tablespoon of sea salt. Add the green beans, set the timer, and boil for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, immediately drain the beans into a colander and run cold tap water over them until cool. Once cool, drain thoroughly and set aside.
- Make the brine dressing. Place the dried dill seeds, mustard seeds, and black peppercorns into a dry medium-sized stockpot. Heat over medium heat until fragrant and the seeds begin to pop, approximately 2 minutes, then add all the remaining Brine Dressing Ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Pour the brine dressing through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl. Discard the solids.
- Arrange the blanched green beans into a flat glass container, such as a 9 x 13 glass baking dish. Pour the Brine Dressing over top. Sprinkle with fresh dill and crushed red peppers and mix well. Cover tightly with lid or plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
- Right before serving, add the red bell pepper strips, mix well, serve, and enjoy.
Notes
*Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used.
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
*Servings: 4 to 6
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