Homemade Pickles
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Learn how to make the best Homemade Pickles with this simple recipe! All you need are fresh cucumbers, dill, and garlic, and a couple of pantry staples, to make these traditional dill pickles at home. They’re crisp, flavorful, and quick and easy to make!
A few years ago, our neighbors got big into veggie gardening and grew hundreds of cucumbers. They were literally dropping off bags of fresh cucumbers at our door. So what did we do? Made homemade pickles, of course!
We’ve now been making these pickles at home for years, but I’ve never shared the recipe on the blog. That is, until today! This refrigerator pickle recipe means that you could be eating homemade pickles in just a couple of hours.
After making the pickle brine, I recommend at least 1 hour in the fridge for rounds, and 3 hours in the fridge for spears. Although we’ve found that they’re at their most flavorful after 24 hours, but I won’t tell if you sneak into the pickle jar after just an hour to give them a try!
You’ve heard the expression “don’t get caught with your hand in the cookie jar”? Well around here, it’s the pickle jar! After just one taste, any pickle fan will fall in love with this easy dill pickle recipe!
The best news is, they’re super easy to make, they don’t contain any added flavorings or preservatives, and they have the best flavor, making them far superior to what you get at the grocery store!
Ingredients
- Cucumbers – you can use any type of cucumber that you have on hand or that’s growing in your garden. English cucumbers, Persian cucumbers, mini cucumbers or pickling cucumbers will all work in this recipe. You’ll need 2 pounds of cucumbers, no matter the size, or variety.
- Distilled vinegar – the base of the pickle brine is water and vinegar. For this traditional dill pickle recipe, you’ll want to use distilled white vinegar.
- Sugar – just a little bit to balance out the tang of the vinegar.
- Fine sea salt – or kosher salt, just make sure it’s fine ground so that it will easily absorb into the pickling liquid.
- Black peppercorns
- Fresh dill – to make dill pickles, you’ll need plenty of fresh dill. You can leave the sprigs whole if you don’t want little pieces of dill on your pickles, or you can chop up the dill so that it disperses in the jar around the cucumbers. This is what I do, because I love the flavor of dill and don’t mind the fresh sprigs on my pickle spears!
- Garlic – you’ll want to peel fresh cloves, then smash the cloves with the edge of a large knife and add them to the jar with the cucumbers. This will disperse the flavor of the garlic, and you can still eat the garlic cloves if you want, since they’re still whole, just smashed. My husband and I both love the pickled garlic!
- Red pepper flakes – just a pinch of red pepper flakes will add a tiny bit of heat to the pickles. I always add this ingredient, but you can leave it out if you’re sensitive to spice.
I’ve included step by step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Instructions
- Prepare the brining liquid. Add water, vinegar, sugar and salt to a saucepan on the stove over high heat. Stir the ingredients constantly until the sugar and salt dissolve in the liquid. Remove the pan from the stove and let it cool while preparing the cucumbers in the jars.
- Slice the cucumbers. For pickle rounds (also called chips or coins), slice the cucumbers into thin rounds, about ⅛-¼ inch thick, using a sharp knife or mandolin. Or, for spears, slice the cucumbers in half lengthwise, then slice the halves lengthwise into quarters, then slice the quarters lengthwise into eighths. If your spears are long, slice them through the middle so they’re not too tall for your jar.
- Add the cucumbers to a large jar, or multiple smaller jars. For this recipe, I can perfectly fit it in two of these 34 ounce jars. Divide the fresh dill, smashed cloves of garlic, peppercorns, and red pepper flakes between the two jars.
- Add the liquid. Pour the cooled liquid brine over the cucumbers in the jars. If the cucumbers aren’t completely covered, add cold water to the jars, until they’re fully covered in liquid. Place lids on the jars and transfer them to the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, for rounds, and at least 3 hours, for spears. The flavor will continue to develop over the next couple of days.
Recipe tips
- The pickles can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. Do not drain the liquid from the jars anytime during this 3 weeks. The pickling liquid is what preserves the cucumbers and keeps them from spoiling.
- To make this homemade pickle recipe spicy, add two sliced jalapenos with the cucumbers, or add more red pepper flakes.
- Coriander seeds and mustard seeds can be added with the black peppercorns to add a unique flavor to the pickles.
- This recipe is naturally dairy-free and gluten-free. It’s perfect for a vegetarian or vegan diet.
- This recipe is not meant to be canned for long-term storage. This recipe is for refrigerator pickles, and is not designed to be canned in a hot water bath for pantry storage.
- I do not recommend reusing the pickle brine for another batch of cucumbers, as it won’t impart as much flavor in the cucumbers. However, you can make a chicken marinade with the brine. Simply combine 1 ½ cups pickle juice with 1 tablespoon honey (or sugar), 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon black pepper. Marinate up to 2 pounds of chicken for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
Ways to use them
These pickles are perfect for a healthy snack, added to burgers, or used in any of these delicious recipes.
- Pickle Dip
- Pickle Pasta Salad
- Creamy Pickle Roll Ups
- Buffalo Pickle Chips
- Cuban Sandwich Pinwheels
- Burger Bowls
- Animal Style Burger
- Smash Burgers
You can also serve them on the side of these sandwiches, smoked meats, or bbq dishes.
More kitchen basics
Don’t miss these other easy kitchen tutorials and how-to guides!
Homemade Pickles
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups distilled white vinegar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons sea salt
- 2 pounds cucumbers
- 2 teaspoons peppercorns
- 2 sprigs fresh dill, roughly chopped (about ¼ cup)
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
Instructions
- Add the water, vinegar, sugar and salt to a saucepan on the stove over high heat. Stir the ingredients constantly until the sugar and salt dissolve.
- Remove the pan from the stove and let it cool while preparing the cucumbers in the jars.
- For pickle rounds (or chips), slice the cucumbers into thin rounds, about ⅛-¼ inch thick. Or, for spears, slice them in half lengthwise, then slice the halves lengthwise into quarters, then slice the quarters lengthwise into eighths. If your spears are long, slice them through the middle so they’re not too tall for your jar.
- Add the cucumbers to one large jar, or multiple small jars. For this recipe, I can perfectly fit it in two of these 34 ounce jars.
- Divide the peppercorns, fresh dill, garlic and red pepper flakes between the jars, or put them all into the one large jar.
- Pour the liquid from the saucepan over the cucumbers in the jar(s).
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (for pickle rounds) or at least 3 hours (for pickle spears). The flavor will continue to develop over the next couple of days. These pickles will keep for up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator.
Notes
- The pickles can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. Do not drain the liquid from the jars anytime during this 3 weeks. The pickling liquid is what preserves the cucumbers and keeps them from spoiling.
- To make spicy pickles, add two sliced jalapenos with the cucumbers, or add more red pepper flakes.
- This recipe is not meant to be canned for long-term storage. This recipe is for refrigerator pickles, and is not designed to be canned in a hot water bath for pantry storage.
Nutrition Facts
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