Learn how easy it is to make homemade pickles with this easy recipe. No canning is required, just store them in the fridge for 24 hours and they’re ready to eat!
We have a couple of people with a pickle obsession in our house and I can tell you from experience that it’s an expensive snacking habit 🙂
So this summer I decided to figure out how to make homemade pickles. I needed an easy recipe that didn’t require any canning, water baths etc. Just mix, let it sit and eat.
After a couple of rounds of testing, we’ve arrived at a recipe that my son and husband love and is so easy my eight-year-old can make a batch whenever he wants.
How To Make Easy Homemade Pickles
Here’s what you need for our recipe:
- Rice vinegar (I like its mellow flavor but you could also use white vinegar)
- Kosher salt
- Sugar
- Water
- Whole black peppercorns
- Coriander
- Whole mustard seeds
- Garlic
- Fresh dill
Once you have all of your ingredients, it’s just a matter of dissolving the salt and sugar in the vinegar, adding everything else to a jar, slicing the pickles and then adding the liquid.
So easy!
Homemade Pickles
Watch my eight-year-old show you how it’s done!
Homemade Refrigerator Pickles Recipe
Here’s the recipe we use:
PrintHow To Make Homemade Pickles
These easy homemade pickles are so much cheaper than store bought and super easy to make
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup rice vinegar (could also use white vinegar)
- 1 Tbsp kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 cup cold water
- 1 Tbsp corriander seeds
- 1 Tbsp whole black peppercorns
- 1 tsp whole mustard seeds
- 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 8 sprigs fresh dill
- 3–4 Kirby cucumbers, quartered lengthwise (or sliced)
Instructions
- Combine vinegar, salt and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir until dissolved.
- Let cool for 10 minutes, then add to cold water.
- In a jar (a 24 oz jar works best- we use a leftover storebought pickle jar), combine the pickes, dill, garlic and seasoning.
- Pour liquid over top and refrigerate 24 hours before eating.
- Store in the fridge for up to a week.
Quick and Easy Homemade Pickles FAQs
How long with homemade refrigerator pickles last?
We usually eat ours within a week, but they should be fine in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
What is the difference between canning pickles and refrigerator pickles?
Canning pickles require all the steps in a traditional canning process including a water bath, sealing the lids to the jars etc. Refrigerator pickles just involve cucumbers sitting in a mixture of spices and liquid in the fridge. Refrigerator pickles must be refrigerated and are not shelf-stable.
What kind of vinegar do you use for pickling?
We choose to use rice vinegar because we like the flavor but distilled white vinegar is the most traditional. Other people also use apple cider vinegar.
What are the three basic ingredients in pickling?
Water, salt and sugar make a brine for the cucumbers to sit in and then you flavor the brine with various fresh and dried herbs.
Can you pickle all cucumbers?
You can, but many will get soggy quickly and lose their crunch. Look for pickling cucumbers or Kirby cucumbers at the store. They are smaller than traditional cucumbers with bumpy skin.
Best way to use these pickles?
- Make wraps with turkey, cheese and these pickles in Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas.
- Add them to these Sweet Potato Egg Wraps.
- Add them to a snack tray with Apple Donuts, Hard Boiled Eggs and Microwave Popcorn.
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
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