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Ahhhhh three bean salad. This is a staple from my childhood and one I could absolutely founder on. Popular at cookouts and summer activities, you would always find the 3 or 4 bean version of this salad. Growing up, we would buy gigantic jars of it from Sam’s Club and that would be my lunch for days on end. SO GOOD. I got to thinking, I really should can some of this! 3 bean salad typically has green beans, yellow wax beans, and red kidney beans where I’m from, but I’ve seen variations also add garbanzo beans as well and turn it into a 4 bean salad. For this recipe, you can do whatever you want! Can up a bunch of this bean salad recipe and have a side dish for any cookout or putluck in literal seconds; just the amount of time it takes you to pop lids. It’s so good, people will ask you to bring it!

One major tip to being successful with this canned bean salad is to make sure your kidney beans are just barely cooked through. Using home canned kidney beans are pretty soft if you can them the approved way, and then dumping them and canning them some more renders a pretty mushy, unappetizing product. So, either source some store bought canned kidney beans or cook some dry beans yourself to just barely done to get the best quality product.
I have adapted this original recipe from the recipe you will find in the Ball Blue Book or Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving :D

In This Post You'll Find...

Equipment You Might Want:

Large Bowl
Stock Pot
Pint Canning Jars
Canning Lids & Screw Bands
Jar Funnel
Jar Lifter
Steam Canner
Water-Bath Canning Pot

Ingredients:

5 cups green beans
5 cups yellow wax beans
4 cups kidney beans
2 cups bell peppers, chopped
1 cup sweet onions, chopped
5 cups raw unrefined sugar
2 Tbs yellow mustard seeds
2 tsp celery seed
6 cups white 5% vinegar
3 Tbs salt
2 1/2 cups water

Let’s can some three-bean salad!

Step 1: Prep

Start by washing fresh green beans and yellow beans in cold water, snapping the ends off the beans, and breaking into bite sized pieces (1- to 2-inch pieces). Measure out 5 cups of green and yellow beans and add them to a bowl.

Rinse cooked kidney beans and add them to the same bowl. Make sure they are just barely cooked through so they don’t become mushy after the canning process.

Chop green peppers or red bell pepper and sweet onions and add them to the bowl.

Toss to combine all ingredients.

Step 2: Cook

In a large pot, add sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds, vinegar, salt, and water. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Once sugar is dissolve, cover and let the mixture continue heating to a boil. Once to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes to infuse the liquid with the spices. Decide if you want to hot pack or raw pack the bean salad. See both methods explained below!

Hot Pack Method

Working in batches, add the bean salad mixture to the boiling pickling liquid to blanch for about 5 minutes. Blanching helps with shrinkage and ensures your jars are full of beans, instead of them shrinking during canning and being half full afterward. (If you’re like me and are unbothered by that, you can absolutely skip this step and just continue to filling jars with cold unblanched bean salad in the next section labeled “cold pack method”). If you do blanch your bean salad, you will have some leftover pickling liquid, so go ahead and can that right along with the bean salad for next year or halve all the ingredients from the get-go.

As you work, remove blanched bean mixture using a slotted spoon and add it straight to a clean pint canning jar fitted with a jar funnel, filling to 1/2 inch headspace, packing gently. Set jar aside as you continue to work in batches and fill the jars.

Once all of the bean mixture is heated and in jars, ladle over the hot pickling liquid to 1/2 inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles and add more pickling liquid to maintain headspace.

Raw Pack Method

This method is quicker and gets the beans into the canner much faster and is usually what I do. It does cause some shrinkage within the jar after canning, meaning there is space in the bottom where there is just liquid because the beans have shrunk and are floating. It doesn’t bother me, but it does mean some “dead space” in your jars where you could have packed beans.

Pack bean salad mixture into pint canning jars to 1/2 inch headspace. Bang bottom of the jar to settle ingredients and fit more in. Pack moderately tightly, but be sure to keep the bean mixture BELOW 1/2 inch headspace to ensure everything is covered by pickling liquid.

Once jars are filled with the bean mixture, ladle over the hot pickling liquid to 1/2 inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles and add extra liquid if needed to maintain headspace.

Step 3: Canning

Wipe rims of jars and add lids and secure with screw bands.

Process pint jars in a steam canner or water bath canner for 15 minutes, adjusting processing time for altitude if needed.

Once processing time is complete, shut off heat and remove jars from the canner to a heat proof surface lined with a clean towel.

Allow jars to cool undisturbed for 18-24 hours.

Step 4: Storage

After cooling, remove bands, test seals, wash jars, label, and store in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight. You can store at room temperature, just avoid extreme temperatures.

Shelf life is ’til you eat them. If the seal is good, they’re good. Aim to use canned goods within 2 years for best nutritional value and taste, but they’ll last much longer if needed, so don’t go throwing food out.

Step 5: Preparing

To serve, I dump jars into a large bowl with a lid and chill for a few hours to overnight prior to serving. This bean salad is best served cold but I’m not going to lie when I say I pop a jar randomly and eat it with a fork directly out of it. A pint jar of bean salad fits nicely into a small purse for snackin’ and quick meals LOL.

I hope you enjoy this 3 bean salad canning recipe!

Notes:

You can use all white vinegar, all apple cider vinegar, or a mixture of both in this recipe. Use whatever you want!

The original recipe calls for using lima beans instead of kid beans, which is WEIRD, and I refuse to make my bean salad that way. Kidney beans or bust. If you would like to turn it into a 4 bean salad with garbanzo beans which are popular to add, just add about 2-4 cups of cooked garbanzos to the bowl and mix in!

If you would like to use less sugar, go right ahead. You don’t actually have to use anything, but the sweetness is what makes this salad what it is.

Home Canned Easy Pickled Three Bean Salad Recipe

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 30

Canning Time: 15

Servings: pints

Author: Ruby – Red Feather Farm

Equipment

Large bowl
stock pot
pint canning jars
Canning lids & screw bands
jar funnel
jar lifter
steam canner
Water bath canning pot

Ingredients

5 cups green beans
5 cups yellow wax beans
4 cups kidney beans
2 cups bell peppers chopped
1 cup sweet onions chopped
5 cups raw unrefined sugar
2 Tbs yellow mustard seeds
2 tsp celery seed
6 cups white 5% vinegar
3 Tbs salt
2 1/2 cups water

Instructions

Start by washing fresh green beans and yellow beans in cold water, snapping the ends off the beans, and breaking into bite sized pieces (1- to 2-inch pieces). Measure out 5 cups of green and yellow beans and add them to a bowl.
Rinse cooked kidney beans and add them to the same bowl. Make sure they are just barely cooked through so they don't become mushy after the canning process.
Chop green peppers or red bell pepper and sweet onions and add them to the bowl.
Toss to combine all ingredients.
In a large pot, add sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds, vinegar, salt, and water. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Once sugar is dissolve, cover and let the mixture continue heating to a boil. Once to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes to infuse the liquid with the spices.

Hot Pack Method

Working in batches, add the bean salad mixture to the boiling pickling liquid to blanch for about 5 minutes. Blanching helps with shrinkage and ensures your jars are full of beans, instead of them shrinking during canning and being half full afterward.
As you work, remove blanched bean mixture using a slotted spoon and add it straight to a clean pint canning jar fitted with a jar funnel, filling to 1/2 inch headspace, packing gently. Set jar aside as you continue to work in batches and fill the jars.
Once all of the bean mixture is heated and in jars, ladle over the hot pickling liquid to 1/2 inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles and add more pickling liquid to maintain headspace.

Raw Pack Method

This method is quicker and gets the beans into the canner much faster and is usually what I do. It does cause some shrinkage within the jar after canning, meaning there is space in the bottom where there is just liquid because the beans have shrunk and are floating. It doesn't bother me, but it does mean some "dead space" in your jars where you could have packed beans.
Pack bean salad mixture into pint canning jars to 1/2 inch headspace. Bang bottom of the jar to settle ingredients and fit more in. Pack moderately tightly, but be sure to keep the bean mixture BELOW 1/2 inch headspace to ensure everything is covered by pickling liquid.
Once jars are filled with the bean mixture, ladle over the hot pickling liquid to 1/2 inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles and add extra liquid if needed to maintain headspace.

Canning

Wipe rims of jars and add lids and secure with screw bands.
Process pint jars in a steam canner or water bath canner for 15 minutes, adjusting processing time for altitude if needed.
Once processing time is complete, shut off heat and remove jars from the canner to a heat proof surface lined with a clean towel. Allow jars to cool undisturbed for 18-24 hours.
After cooling, remove bands, test seals, wash jars, label, and store in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight. You can store at room temperature, just avoid extreme temperatures.
Shelf life is 'til you eat them. If the seal is good, they're good. Aim to use canned goods within 2 years for best nutritional value and taste, but they'll last much longer if needed, so don't go throwing food out.