Canning Green Beans the Old-Fashioned Way: Easy How to Guide

Canning green beans the old fashioned way is easier than you might think. Learn how to preserve this simple side dish for your own pantry!

I’m not sure about anyone else, but the green beans of my childhood were always the canned ones.

Now that we grow a garden every year, I really love the crunch of fresh green beans cooked in a hot pan with lemon juice, soy sauce, and my home canned chicken broth.

However, my kids still love the classic, soft, canned green beans best.

In fact, green beans were my first pressure canning recipe and it was SO much easier than I ever thought it could be.

What You’ll Need for Canning Green Beans the Old-Fashioned Way

Tools

• Pressure canner – mine is a presto brand, dial gauge canner.
  • Note: some pressure canners are also a pressure cooker, but not all pressure cookers are pressure canners.
• Canning jars – this recipe is using quart jars, but pint jars might work better for your family size. I prefer Ball jars, but there are plenty of brands available you can use.
• Canning lids – you’ll need the flat lid with the seal and the ring to hold the lid on the jar.
• Jar lifter – to lift your hot jars from the hot canner.
• Canning funnel – I use a stainless steel canning funnel to put the jars, salt, and water into my jars mess-free.

Ingredients

• Fresh green beans – If you have your own garden, you really only have a day or two to get your home-grown green beans prepped and canned before the quality begins to decline. If you purchasing from a farmer’s market, you should try to get them preserved either the same day, or the next day at the latest. Most farmer’s will pick veggies fresh for the market, but sometimes they’re picked the day before, so you’ll already be a day behind.
  • About 2 pounds fit into one quart sized jar. About a pound of green beans will fit into a pint jar.
  • You can use yellow beans instead of green beans in this recipes as well.
• Salt – avoid using iodized salt for this recipe.
• Water – use filtered water for this recipe.

How to Pressure Can Green Beans

Prepare the Green Beans

Snap the green beans – the first thing you need to do is snap the stem end and the tips off your green beans. Snap them to the desired size. I usually snap them into thirds.

Wash the green beans – add the raw beans to your clean sink and fill it up with cold water. Swish them around until they are clean. Using a large colander, remove the beans from the sink. Drain the sink and rinse the green beans in the colander to remove any more dirt left behind.

Prepare the Jars

Clean your jars – run your jars through a cycle in your dishwasher or hand wash them in hot soapy water so that they are clean for canning.

Put the green beans into the jars – add the raw beans to the jars (about 2 pounds of green beans will fill 1 quart jar). You can pack them in pretty tightly, but leave enough room for the water to cover them by 1 inch. I usually fill the beans to the shoulder of the jar.

Add the salt – add 1 teaspoon of salt to the top of the jar for quart jars, or 1/2 teaspoon salt for pint jars. 

Fill the jars with water – fill the jars with filtered water. I use room temperature filtered water because I usually prefer raw pack methods over hot pack methods where possible.

Remove air bubbles from the jars – using a butter knife or chopstick remove the bubbles from the jars. Insert the knife into the jars on all 4 sides, moving the beans around as you go to release any hidden air bubbles. Top the jars off with water if your head-space has decreased below that 1″ line.

Clean the jar rims – use a clean dish rag dipped in vinegar to wipe the rims of your jars. This will clean the jar for a strong seal.

Add the lids to the jars – place the flat lid onto the jar. Add the ring and tighten to finger tip tightness (tightening the ring without using your wrist). For best results with sealing, use new lids.

Process the Jars

Put the jars into the canner – place jars into the canner with 2″ of water in the canner. Add the lid to the canner and place onto the burner on your stove.

Process the jars – process the jars at 10 pounds pressure (or to the pressure required for your altitude). The processing time for quart jars is 25 minutes. The processing time for pint jars is 20 minutes. Consult your manufacturer’s instructions for more information on operating your pressure canner properly.

Remove the jars from the canner – after processing, allow the jars to sit in the canner, with the lid on, for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and allow the jars to sit an additional 10 minutes. This gives these extremely hot, glass jars, a bit of time to adjust to the temperature of your home without bursting. Remove the jars of green beans from the canner and place them onto a folded dish towel or dish drying mat to rest. Allow the jars to rest for 24 hours or overnight before moving on to the next step.

Store the Jars

Check the jar’s seals – After the jars have rested, check your seals. If your jars are sealed, the pop top of your canning lid will be sucked down. If you are able to click the top of your canning lid, the seal hasn’t formed properly. You’ll want to store that jar in the refrigerator for use within 1 week.

Prepare the jars for storage – If your sealed jars have any residue, wipe them with a rag that has vinegar on it. Remove the rings before storage. This will ensure that if a seal releases, you’ll notice it. Be sure to wipe the lids before labeling. Label the jars with the year for storage and store in a cool, dark place.

Enjoy!

Can I Water Bath Can Old Fashioned Green Beans?

Green beans are a low-acid food that requires the use of a pressure canner to safely preserve the food.

You can’t use a water bath canner to achieve the proper temperatures for canning old fashioned green beans. By using the appropriate recommended pounds of pressure, the food is cooked above the temperatures of boiling to prevent the risk of botulism in low acid foods.

I have a post about the differences between Water Bath Canning vs Pressure Canning if you want to learn more about that!

For more information on food safety and processes, you can check out the Ball Blue Book, or the Ball Canning Book for more information.

The National Center for Home Food Preservation is another valuable resource for canning.

You can also look at your canner’s manufacturer’s instructions for helpful recipes and processing information.

Note: you can usually use your pressure canner as a water bath canner, but you cannot use a water bath canner for pressure canning.

Using Old-Fashioned Green Beans after Canning

Canned green beans are extremely versatile.

My kids’ favorite way to eat them is simply warmed up with some butter. They are adequately salted during the canning process, but adding a bit of flaky salt when serving is delicious!

Any recipe that calls for canned green beans works with this recipe. I find these almost identical to grocery store canned green beans.

One of our all-time-favorite green bean recipes is my Classic Green Bean Casserole Recipe.

We don’t just wait for the holidays to enjoy it, either! We make this often throughout the year and enjoy it immensely every time!