And there were beans, lots of beans, lots of beans, lots of beans.

Reddit has a great canning community as does Intagram if you search #canning. I’ve been trying to network and talk with more canners to get recipe ideas, help, and enjoy some canning small talk. Instagram user Michca3 even got me interested in antique Ball jars and I picked up 3 this weekend.

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So if you’re in to canning be sure to check out those two resources if you haven’t already.

One of the things I was able to find was a recipe for Ranch Style Beans posted by Reddit user VicinSea (who is currently writing a canning/preserving book that I can’t wait to be published). I love the Apetite Pleasin’ Ranch Style Beans in the black can and wanted to duplicate them at home. The taste is not 100% the same, but this recipe seems to do a good job of replicating it.

Ranch Style Beans
(Ingredient Measurements Per Quart Jar)

1 1/2 cups Dry Pinto Beans
1/8 cup onion
1/4 cup tomato
1 clove garlic
1 t jalapeños
1 t green chiles
1/8 cup green pepper
1/4 t cinnamon
1 t honey
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper

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If you have never worked with beans before, you should know something. Measurements, by volume, of dried beans are different than beans that have been boiled. I counted the number of empty jars that I had available and measured that amount of dried beans into a pan. I wound up with almost twice as much as I needed. Just keep this in mind if you don’t have a large amount of empty jars on hand. I would estimate a half cup of dried beans per pint or one cup of dried beans per quart.

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Put your beans in a colander and sift through them with your fingers. You are looking for rocks, pebbles, twigs, or any beans that just don’t look right to you. Then rinse the beans off and run your fingers through them to get them all cleaned up.

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Put the beans in a large enough pot and cover with plenty of water. You’ll notice right away that some beans start floating. I tossed these out. Honestly, I don’t actually know if they are bad or not, but if 99% of the beans are sinking I don’t trust the 1% floating up there. I ran my fingers through them one more time to allow any floaters that were at the bottom to hit the surface, and then I skimmed them out. Place the pot on high heat and bring them to a boil. I let the water come to a full boil for about a minute and then I took the pot off the heat. Drain the beans and set aside.

Chop your pepper, onion, garlic, and tomato if you aren’t using canned.

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I cheated and bought canned chopped jalapenos and chopped green chilies. Also, the green chilies are my addition to the recipe. I really enjoy the mild bite that they add to dishes.

Place the measurement of beans in the bottom of each jar. Then start layering the other ingredients on top. I started with green pepper, then onion, then jalapenos, chilies, garlic, honey, Cinnamon, salt, pepper.

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I was making pints which made some of the measurements very interesting. Instead of estimating what a half a clove of garlic was, I just added a quarter teaspoon of garlic to each jar. By the time all the layers were in there it reminded me of a little Christmas tree like parfait.

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My wife has a little teapot that she uses to boil water for her tea before bedtime. It really comes in handy when I’m canning things. Add boiling water to each jar leaving 1 inch of headspace. Be aware that I had to add water to each jar, allow it to settle, and then top off each jar with a little bit more to get the proper headspace.

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I found out that my Presto 23 quart pressure cooker can hold 16 pints and 1 quart jar. It’s a beautiful sight.

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Process the beans at 10 pounds for 90 minutes.

I haven’t opened them yet because I want the flavored to mingle for a bit. Maybe I’ll try them this weekend. But, just from looks, they seem pretty dead on.

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As with anything that is pressure canned, reheat and boil for 10 minutes before serving.

Happy Canning!

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21 Responses to “And there were beans, lots of beans, lots of beans, lots of beans.”


  1. 1 Amanda Belanger September 26, 2012 at 6:37 pm

    Pretty sure I favorited loads of your pics on instagram last night!

  2. 3 Alicia September 27, 2012 at 8:35 pm

    I don’t have a pressure cooker, but these beans are making me question that! They look just like the beans my mother would make when I was growing up.

  3. 4 marriedtophrax September 29, 2012 at 6:55 am

    Wondering if you can use a water canner for these? If so, any idea what the processing time would be?

    • 5 masonjarsandmixingbowls September 29, 2012 at 1:11 pm

      No. Beans are a low acid food and USDA guidelines call for pressure canning only.

      Though if you’re in to canning, spending the extra $120 on a Presto pressure canner will pay itself back ten fold. It opens up your options to soups, green beans, dry beans, etc etc. Well worth the investment.

  4. 7 thestrawberryrose October 23, 2012 at 7:06 am

    I have beans, beans and more beans… Now I have another scrumptious way to preserve them thanks you…

  5. 8 Becky Hering March 3, 2013 at 9:22 pm

    This is awesome, I have to try it my husband loves those beans.

  6. 9 karen April 23, 2013 at 10:41 am

    And? How did the beans taste? I’m considering buying a pressure canner because I love my homemade tomato speggetti sauce and I love baked beans.

    • 10 masonjarsandmixingbowls April 23, 2013 at 11:04 am

      Its very good. This batch is a bit sweeter and a touch less spicy than the Ranch brand. My next one will have more hear added to it. Pressure cooker is totally worth it to allow for beef stew, split pea and ham soup, etc.

  7. 11 Michelle June 19, 2013 at 3:23 pm

    I have fresh pintos growing in my garden. How many fresh pintos would you suggest I put in a quart jar as opposed to dried?

  8. 12 gatsby August 17, 2014 at 10:23 pm

    So did you end up modifying the recipe to make it less sweet? And was it better? I’d be interested in the new rations. And, I can’t help but ask, what did you see, in a parallel dimension?

  9. 14 bigwater May 7, 2015 at 6:33 am

    Cool way to cook them and thanks for sharing, but need some cumin for them there ranch beans, cooky..

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  1. 1 Pork Loin Stuffed With Apples And Blackberries « Mason Jars and Mixing Bowls Trackback on November 15, 2012 at 5:51 pm

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