Chunky Mustard Beans with Red Peppers
Submitted by dimples
Chunky mustard beans with red peppers blanch green beans, peppers, and onions, then bind them in a turmeric-mustard pickling sauce with celery seed and mustard seed. A bright, tangy pickled relish for water-bath canning.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
40 minREADY
50 minChunky mustard beans with red peppers are the Canadian-style pickled relish that turns a bumper crop of green beans into shelf-stable jars of sunshine. The signature golden-yellow mustard sauce coats blanched green beans, hot chili pepper strips, and onions, then water-bath cans into a tangy condiment that lasts the winter.
Blanching keeps the vegetables tender-crunchy instead of mushy. Each vegetable goes into boiling water for its own short window (3 minutes for beans, 1 for peppers, 2 for onions) and then immediately into ice water to lock in color and texture.
The sauce gets its color and depth from turmeric and dry mustard, with cider or white vinegar carrying the preservation acid. Brown sugar balances the sharp mustard heat with caramel sweetness.
Canning Tips
- Whisk the mustard paste smoothly into the hot vinegar to avoid lumpy sauce. Lumps don’t dissolve and you’ll spoon them into jars for the next year.
- Sterilize jars and lids in simmering water and keep them hot until ready to fill. Cold jars on hot sauce can crack.
- Leave the proper ⅛-inch headspace. Overfilled jars don’t seal, under-filled ones discolor on top.
- Process the full time in a boiling water bath. Cutting corners on processing risks botulism in low-acid foods.
Variations
- Swap yellow wax beans for some of the green beans for a multicolor jar that looks gorgeous on the pantry shelf.
- Add sliced cauliflower florets along with the other vegetables for a piccalilli-style relish.
- Use cider vinegar instead of white for a softer, fruitier flavor profile.
Ingredients
Directions
Remove stem end from beans; cut beans into 1 inch lengths.
There should be about 8 cups.
In a large pot of rapidly boiling water, cook beans, about ⅓ at a time, until tender-crunchy, about 3 minutes.
As each batch cooks, transfer immediately to large bowl of cold water to chill.
Blanch peppers and onions in similar way, boiling peppers for 1 minute and onions for 2 minutes.
Drain thoroughly. In a medium bowl, blend tumeric, mustard, flour and salt into sugar. Stir in cold water to make a smooth paste. In a large heavy preserving kettle, combine vinegar and celery and mustard seeds; bring to boil. Stir in about 1 cup of spiced vinegar into mustard paste, then whisk mustard past into spiced vinegar in saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until sauce is smooth. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered, for 5 minutes. Pour drained vegetables into sauce; mix well and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 4 to 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Ladle into hot sterilized jars leaving ⅛ inch head space. Seal. I prefer to process these in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes for ½ pint jars and 15 minutes for pint jars. Makes about 9 cups.
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