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
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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:
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Canning Green Beans
This is the easiest method for canning green beans in a pressure canner. Save time and effort with the raw pack method!
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.
Recipe Notes
Salt is optional, but strongly recommended as the beans will be flavorless after canning and seasoning after the fact is almost pointless.
Jane K Benham says
I used this method and my beans are rancid had to throw them all out. I have canned things before with no problem I don’t know what went wrong. I did 10 pints what a waste. I have gone over the recipe several times to see what I missed, I did everything it send.
Victoria says
Hi Jane, I’m so sorry to hear this! The recipe in this post is the USDA approved canning recipe for green beans, so it definitely works. We use it for about 50-75 quarts of green beans every year without issue.
Is there any way you water bath canned it instead of pressure canning them? Or perhaps used a pressure cooker instead?
I’d love to help you troubleshoot so this doesn’t happen to you again! I’m so sorry again, I know how disheartening it is to do all that work and have to throw something out!
Heather says
Can I use sea salt instead of canning salt?
Victoria says
Hi Heather! Yes, any pure salt is fine, table salt tends to have additives that cause the quality of the finished food to suffer.
Enjoy!
West Virginia Guy says
I have recently started canning, and this year i added cooked bacon to one batch and uncooked bacon to another batch. Both turned out great! Of course with the raw bacon i had to bump up the pressure cooking time as if you were canning meat. We have always added bacon or bacon grease to our beans when we cooked them, so i decided to try this after looking at several sites. I think i will continue to always add the bacon. Everything is better with bacon. :-)
Victoria says
Amen, brother. Eat all the bacon! Glad it worked out well for you!
Katy Bain says
Hi,
I’m new to canning vegetables. But I have made and canned jelly and apple butter. My question is how long do the canned vegetables stay good stored in a cool dark place?
Thanks for the guidance!
Victoria says
Hi Katy! How exciting! Generally if they are canned and stored properly, they are still safe to eat as long as they don’t smell weird or have mold on them.
We’ve eaten veggies canned a decade earlier that were still as delicious as the day they were canned!
But if you want to have a firm timeline, I would say 3-5 years. :-)