Canning green beans is an easy summer activity that allows you to enjoy them all year long! Find out how to can green beans in a pressure canner, as well as how to deal with the fact that green beans are not ready to harvest at the same time.
There's nothing quite like reaching into the pantry and grabbing a jar of home canned food. Whether it's homegrown, or purchased from the store, canning your own food is a blessing that lasts all year long!
No matter what level of canner you consider yourself to be, canning green beans is a simple process that will let you enjoy your efforts for many months to come!
I especially enjoy using home-canned green beans for the holidays in from scratch green bean casseroles and soups!
Growing Green Beans
This year we had tons of fresh produce from the garden; and green beans were no exception! Our blue lake green beans did particularly well in the spring!
For the fall we are planting heirloom Lady Di pole beans, and heirloom Dragons Tongue and Red Swan bush beans - I look forward to seeing how their yields compare! Not to mention the stunning colors that will be present in our bean section for the fall!
We got so much food from our Back to Eden garden, that we even had to completely rebuild our pantry to accomedate all the new canning jars!
That was day one, now the shelves are completely full of sweet pickles, sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, cherries, strawberry jam, apple butter, cranberry sauce, tomato sauce, and green beans!
I'm starting to work on Mr. Homestead regarding the idea of a canning cellar outside of the house (climate controlled, we are in Texas after all!). ;-)
In the meantime, I'll stuff my little pantry to the brim with canned goods!
Canning Green Beans
If you've pressure canned before, you know what to expect from the process...
But if you're new to pressure canning, or canning in general, it can seem really scary!! In reality, it's very easy to do and extremely satisfying to complete!
If you're new to pressure canning, I encourage you to read my in-depth look at the process of pressure canning here. It gives a very detailed account of exactly what to expect so that you're not caught off guard!
Once you've done that, or if you're not new to pressure canning, then you're ready to get started canning your green beans!
Before you can them, make sure you snap them and remove the strings first. In the past we've had bean varieties that grew 2-4 thick strings PER bean... what a pain! That's why I've started choosing naturally string-less varieties like the Lady Di pole beans.
However, whatever type of bean you have, make sure that you don't skip the snapping process or your canned beans will be difficult to eat!
How to Snap Green Beans
Snapping green beans isn't terribly difficult, but it is something that needs to be done - especially if you are growing heirloom varieties. Unless you have a stringless heirloom like the Lady Di bean!
So, to snap (or string) your green beans, start at one end of the green bean and "snap" the tip. You can do this with a knife or with your hands. I like using a knife, but that's up to you! If you decide to use a knife, only slice through the end about 3/4 of the way and then continue.
Pull the broken tip down along the seam to remove any "string" that may be hiding there. Snap off the other end of the bean in the same way.
Discard the snapped-off ends and any strings in the small bowl and feed them to the chickens or pigs if you have any!
From there, you can leave the beans whole or cut them into 1-2" segments for canning.
Bulk Canning Green Beans from Your Garden
Even when you're harvesting several pounds of green beans a day like we were, that's not really enough to fill up the pressure canner. So in order to make the canning effort more "worth it", I tried a few different things to help the green beans stay fresh long enough to can in larger batches.
In order to do this you need to refridgerate the fresh green beans right away - without washing them first. Make sure they are in a sealed bag (press out the air before sealing), and they will stay fresh for up to 7 days!
Then you can wash and snap the green beans in larger batches for bulk canning! Once you have enough beans to can, and you have them all washed and snapped, just follow the directions below to pressure can your own home-canned green beans!
Adjusting Pressure Canning by Altitude
It is important to note that the pressure used during canning changes based on altitude at which the food is being canned. If you are pressure canning a 0-1000 ft above sea level, then no changed are needed.
Refer to the chart below for how to change the pressure according to your altitude:
PIN THIS FOR LATER
Canning Green Beans
Ingredients
- 4 Quart Canning Jars (OR 8 pint canning jars)
- 10 lbs Green Beans
- Canning Salt
- Pressure Canner (here's the one I use)
- Canning Tools
Instructions
- Prep jars according to canning instructions.
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Filtered or spring water is my preference.
- Wash and de-string green beans. Remove ends, and cut or snap into 2" pieces.
- Pack beans tightly into hot jars leaving a 1" headspace.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to pint jars, and 1 teaspoon to quarts (optional, but strongly recommended!)
- Ladle boiling water over beans/salt, leaving a 1" headspace.
- Remove air bubbles with canning knife and add additional beans or water as needed. Adjust 2-piece lids to finger tightness.
- Process pints for 20 minutes and quarts for 25 minutes, at 10 pounds pressure in a pressure canner.
- Remove from canner according to canning instructions and allow to cool for 12-24 hours before putting them away for storage.
Brenda Shrout says
Can you can green and squash in half pints for a baby? How long and how many pounds pressure?
Victoria says
Hey Brenda! Great question! The answer depends on if you want to puree the veggies or not before canning.
If you want to puree, that’s not recommended for canning. However, if you want to leave them in chunks and puree when you open a jar, you can do that!
Pressure can at 10 pounds (adjusted for your altitude) for 20 minutes.
OR you could just can the green beans in 2 inch pieces, then puree and freeze the squash in ice cube trays and keep them that way until you’re ready to use them.
I hope that helps!
Christine Berger says
I thought you had to pressure cook gren beans 90 minutes? Yours says 25 minutes
Victoria says
Hi Christine! No, green beans only need 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts. Greens (kale, spinach, chard) needs 90 minutes, but green beans don’t.
Also, just to clarify, this is pressure canning, not pressure cooking – so I’m not sure about pressure cooking. Hope that helps!
Carolyn Ware says
can you safely can snap beans in jars without a pressure cooker? or can you use a boiler with a raised rack on the bottom?
Victoria says
Hi Carolyn! The only way to safely can meat/vegetables or any low acid foods is by pressure canning.
The reason being that the temp doesn’t get high enough to kill bacteria in those foods when water bath canning.
Some people do it anyway, but I really wouldn’t recommend it! I hope that helps!