Recipe: Refrigerator Pickles
I saw recipes for refrigerator pickles pop-up many times over the years and I never really though they sounded that good…until I tried them. Now regular pickles are so disappointing to me! The freshness of the homemade pickle is unparalleled. I can’t believe I waited so long to bring these into the summer fold. Now I add them to charcuterie boards and have them out, but more than anything they are my favorite mid-day snack.
Pickling has some history with the seafaring folk, who had no access to fresh fruit and vegetables containing vitamin C. The ability to pickle allowed them to carry vegetables longer than before.
Cucumbers are easy to make into pickles and a nice addition to any lunch, dinner or snack. This time of year they are getting going in the garden making them eligible for refrigerator pickles and more.
Metal lids and rings or these reusable lids from Amazon work great for pickles!
When I get a delivery from the family farm, sometimes it’s easy to be overwhelmed at the amount of work things can be, but given time and practice short-batching vegetables becomes more natural and less of a daunting task. This recipe was wrapped up in under an hour and now I have 8 jars (2 quarts and 6 pints) of pickles last me into the fall.
NOTE: I wrote this recipe to be flexible to the amount of cucumbers you receive. In some cases, you will have to make 2 batches of liquid, or you can double it ahead of time and toss the rest.
Let me know what you’ve tried with your refrigerator pickles!
Refrigerator Pickles
This is a great way to do a short preservation on all those cucumbers you're getting/picking!
Ingredients
- 6-8 cucumbers
- 3 cups water (See Note in the directions below)
- 3/4 cups white vinegar
- 3 Tablespoons sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt
- Jar-lic (minced garlic in a jar or bottle) about 1/2 teaspoon per jar
- Pickling Spices - 1/2 teaspoon per jar
- dill (1 - .5oz store bought container)
- 1 sauce pan
- 6-8 wide mouth mason jars
- wide mouth lids and rings
- butter knife
Instructions
- Note: If you think you need to double the liquid, go ahead. Double the water, vinegar, salt and sugar. It will save you time later.
- Combine vinegar, water, sugar and salt in a pan on the stove and bring to a boil. Then simmer for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes, set aside to cool a little.
- Cut up the cucumbers into spears or slices and pack into mason jars.
- Separate the dill out evenly between the number of jars you packed. Put dill into jars using the butter knife to push it down between spears.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon jar-lic and 1/2 teaspoon pickling spices to the top of each jar of packed cucumbers.
- Pour hot liquid into jars, 1/2 inch from the top.
- Slide the butter knife around the edges of the jars to remove any air bubbles. This will also move around the dill, garlic and seasonings.
- Wipe the rim, add the lid and put in the fridge.
- Pickles will be ready in 24 hours and are good for a month!
Notes
This recipe is written to be flexible to the amount of cucumbers you have. This is not a perfect science, because garden harvests are not perfect. So let yourself have fun, make notes on what works and what doesn't for you and try again!
