Refrigerator Dill Pickles – Speedy and Straightforward

At a glance

What stands out: You can make your own from-scratch dill pickles in less than fifteen minutes, no canning necessary. Refrigerator dill pickles are straightforward!

How long it takes: 15 minutes, plus an hour chilling time
Equipment you’ll need: sharp knife, jars, large measuring cup or bowl
Servings: 8

From-scratch Dill Pickles

We love the taste of summer, don’t you? The farm markets are bursting with a rainbow of summer fruits and vegetables. Today we're going to share a recipe that is a tasty way to use some of that wonderful summer produce: refrigerator dill pickles.

Don’t you love opening a new jar of pickles? After a satisfying pop when the lid comes off, the tangy dill smell beckons you to dive in. Did you know that making your own pickles is straightforward? You don’t have to spend long hours in the kitchen canning them.

Here’s how you do it: Slice up cucumbers, put the spears into a jar, pour a straightforward-to-make brine over them, and stick them into the fridge to chill. It’s as simple as that! And they are soooo good! Crispy, fresh, and flavorful, the flavors of the cucumbers and dill shine.

All right, pickle makers, are you on board? Here we go…

How it comes together

There are a lot of recipes for refrigerator dill pickles out there. In fact, you can pickle almost any vegetable (our pickled cauliflower recipe is proof of that!). Today, we're going to show you how to make refrigerator pickles with a speedy pickle recipe that is simple and uncomplicated.

• Cut up the cucumbers. We use small salad-type cucumbers that are about six inches long and maybe one and a half inches in diameter. The skins are tender and edible. Slice the cucumbers into rounds or cut them into spears. If you’re making them to eat on a hamburger, you’ll probably want to slice them into thin rounds. If you like them on the side with a sandwich, cut the cucumbers into spears.
• Put your cucumbers into a jar. You can use any clean glass jar with a lid that fits tightly. If you have canning jars, reliable. If you have an empty pickle jar, that will work as well. Just make sure it’s nice and clean and has a pretty wide mouth so you can squeeze in the pickles.
• Drop in your flavoring. You’ll need fresh dill (sprigs and flowers), whole garlic cloves, peppercorns, red pepper flakes, or whatever else you like. This recipe is straightforward to customize so your pickles can be just the way you like them. Keep reading for more ideas.
• Make a straightforward brine. Mix together boiling water, vinegar, salt, and sugar, and pour it right into the jar. Put the cover on, place the jar in the refrigerator, and you’re done! It’s as straightforward as that!

Straightforward Recipe Variations

• Adjust the sweetness. If you like sweeter pickles, add more sugar to the brine. If you want to try making them sugar-free, go for it! It will affect the flavor, but they’ll be good and tangy!
• Make them more tangy. If you prefer, increase the amount of vinegar and decrease the amount of water for a more pungent pickle.
• Experiment with a different vinegar. Perhaps you don’t have or don’t like plain white vinegar. Try cider vinegar or rice vinegar. We wouldn’t recommend balsamic vinegar because it will turn the pickles an unappetizing color.
• Add a savory touch. You can slip a whole garlic clove or two into the jar to make garlic dills, or throw in some thinly sliced onions.
• Change up the spices. Take a look at your spice collection and scavenge for whole spices: celery seed, mustard seed, whole cumin seeds, you get the idea. Don’t use ground spices because they will muddy up the brine. If you like spicy pickles, try Korean pickles with lots of spicy gochugaru (Korean red pepper).
• Looking for more of a cucumber salad? Try cucumber onion salad with a simple vinegar dressing or cucumber ribbon salad with yogurt herb dressing. We also love this simple cucumber tomato salad. For cucumber yogurt dip/sauce, make from-scratch tzatziki.

Pickling Tips

Choose the right cucumbers. Pickling cucumbers aren’t exactly the same as regular salad bar cucumbers. For a speedy pickle, we use a small salad-type of cucumber. If you grow your own, or if you buy them at a farmers’ market, they will probably be called pickling cucumbers. A normal cucumber has larger, tougher seeds and a thicker waxy skin. Pickling cucumbers are a little more textured on the outside, with a soft and completely edible skin, and small seeds.

Use a clean jar. Although you don’t need to sterilize jars for refrigerator pickles, do make sure that the jar(s) that you use are squeaky clean. Your dishwasher does a great job of getting jars ready for pickles.

Give the pickles time to marinate. Allow at least an hour in the refrigerator before you try one of your pickles. The longer they are refrigerated in the brine, the more flavor the speedy pickles will have. Leaving them in the fridge overnight will give the flavors a chance to develop and strengthen.

Don’t re-use the brine. Although it may be tempting to throw another batch of cucumbers into the same brine, we wouldn’t recommend it. Using the same brine more than once affects the quality of your pickles and will also shorten the time they would keep in your refrigerator. The brine ingredients are inexpensive (mostly water and vinegar!) so it isn’t advisable to reuse it.

Keeping leftovers

You can keep these refrigerator dill pickles for a couple of weeks. Always use a clean fork or tongs to fish the pickles out of the jar. If the brine starts to look cloudy, it’s probably time to throw them out.

• Yield: 8
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Total: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 small salad cucumbers, scrubbed and cut lengthwise into spears, or sliced into rounds (see note)
• ½ cup fresh dill, loosely packed, washed and separated into sprigs
• ½ teaspoon black peppercorns (about 5 per jar)
• 1 ½ cups boiling water
• ¾ cup white vinegar
• 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons granulated sugar (more to taste)
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional

Method

1. In large measuring cup or bowl with a pouring spout, mix boiling water, vinegar, salt, sugar, and red pepper flakes.
2. Place cucumber spears (or slices) into clean jars, packing tightly. Add dill sprigs and peppercorns.
3. Pour brine into jars over the cucumbers, up to ¼ inch of top of jar. Cover jars with lids.
4. Let the pickles cool to room temperature before placing them in the refrigerator. Chill for at least 1 hour, and up to 2 weeks.

Notes

Cucumbers: Salad cucumbers are roughly 5 inches long and 1 ½ inches in diameter. You can also use English, Persian, or hothouse cucumbers.

Choosing jars: You can use any combination of glass jars or put all the pickles in one quart size jar. It’s important that the jars are glass, have a lid that fits tightly, and are cleaned and rinsed thoroughly. You could use recycled jars with wide mouths if you want.

Flavor variations: Add whole seeds, such as coriander, cumin, celery, mustard, and/or garlic cloves to the jars. Don’t use ground spices because they will muddy the brine. You can also tweak the sweetness and/or tartness of the pickles by increasing the amount of sugar added, or using more vinegar and less water in the brine. Don’t use less vinegar than the recipe calls for.