Refrigerator pickles, sometimes called quick pickles, are a fast and easy way to preserve cucumbers, especially when you don’t have enough produce to justify canning several batches. Learn how to make refrigerator dill pickles!
About Quick Pickles
While fermenting is one of my favorite forms of preserving foods, every once in a while I crave that vinegary taste of home canned pickles that fermented pickles don’t have.
But, sometimes you don’t have the quantity of veggies (cucumbers in this case) to justify hauling out the canner and going through that whole process.
This is where refrigerator pickles, also sometimes called quick pickles, come in. They are super simple to throw together, and you only have to make one jar at a time.
In this post, I’ll show you how to make refrigerator dill pickles with cucumbers.
If you want to get creative and preserve cucumbers in a variety of ways, try these quick pickles to use some of your garden abundance. You’ll love them!
Preserving Everything Book
This refrigerator dill pickle recipe is from the super awesome book Preserving Everything by Leda Meredith.
Leda also wrote another awesome book called The Forager’s Feast: How to Identify, Gather, and Prepare Wild Edibles.
Refrigerator Dill Pickles Recipe
I love this method of preserving because of how quick and easy the process is. You can make quick pickles out of many different types of vegetables, but for this recipe, we will use cucumbers.
Ingredients
Cucumbers: Use garden-grown or market-bought cucumbers. Small firm cucumbers work great!
Apple cider vinegar: I like this apple cider vinegar best. It’s okay to substitute white wine vinegar if that’s what you have or prefer.
Salt: Either Kosher salt, pickling salt, or sea salt works best for making refrigerator dill pickles.
Sugar: I like to use organic sugar, but use what you have!
Garlic: Use fresh whole garlic cloves.
Mustard seeds: Sometimes you can find whole mustard seeds in the bulk section at your local health food store. If not, you can buy them online.
Black peppercorns: Find whole black peppercorns in the spice aisle, in the bulk section, or buy them online.
Grape or horseradish leaves: Both are optional ingredients, but add to the delicious quick pickle flavor!
Dill flower heads: Use fresh flower heads for amazing-tasting refrigerator dill pickles.
Make the Fridge Pickles
First, cut a thin sliver off the flower end of the cucumbers (opposite the stem end). This will result in a crunchier pickle.
Then slice the cucumbers lengthwise into halves or spears, or leave very small cucumbers whole.
Bring the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar or honey to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once it’s boiling, turn off the heat and let it cool to room temperature.
Put the garlic, mustard seeds, peppercorns, and one of the grape or horseradish leaves (if using) into the bottom of a clean glass quart-sized jar.
Pack the cucumbers as tightly as possible into the jar. Tuck in the dill and remaining leaves as you add the cucumbers.
Pour the cooled brine over the cucumbers. They should be completely covered by the liquid. Cover with a lid, and put your pickles-to-be in the refrigerator.
Wait 4 to 5 days for the flavor of the pickles to develop before tasting. That’s a quick pickle!
Quick Pickle Notes
One thing to remember with refrigerator dill pickles is that they need to be kept in the fridge, hence the name.
If you have tons of veggies to use up this might not be the best method to use. For large harvests, I’d break out the canner.
See my recipe for Kosher Dill Pickles if you would like a traditional canning recipe for pickles.
Enjoy Refrigerator Dill Pickles!
I am extremely happy with how this recipe turned out! It is a simple, and tasty way to quickly preserve some of your garden cucumbers.
These quick pickles are crunchy and flavorful. Perfect for snacking, on a sandwich, or chopped up and added to salads.
Eat these fridge pickles within a few months, although it’s doubtful they’ll last that long without getting gobbled up!
Happy quick pickling!
Here are a few other fun pickle recipes for you to try:
- Bread and Butter Pickles
- Fermented Cucumber Pickles
- Quick Refrigerator Pickled Pepperoncini Peppers
- Refrigerator Pickled Green Tomatoes
- Kosher Dill Pickles
- Pickled Jalapeño Peppers: Quick Refrigerator Recipe
Quick Refrigerator Dill Pickles
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds cucumbers
- 2 cups filtered water
- 6 Tbsp apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
- 1.5 Tbsp kosher, pickling, or sea salt
- 1 Tbsp sugar or 2 Tbsp light honey, such as clover or wildflower
- 2-4 cloves garlic to taste
- 1 tsp whole mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- 2-4 small grape leaves or 3-inch piece horseradish leaf (optional)
- 2-3 dill flower heads or 2 large sprigs fresh dill leaves
Instructions
- Cut a thin sliver off the flower end of the cucumbers (opposite the stem end). This will result in a crunchier pickle.
- Slice the cucumbers lengthwise into halves or spears, or leave very small cucumbers whole.
- Bring the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar or honey to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once it’s boiling, turn off the heat and let it cool to room temperature.
- Put the garlic, mustard seeds, peppercorns, and one of the grape or horseradish leaves (if using) into the bottom of a clean glass quart sized jar.
- Pack the cucumbers as tightly as possible into the jar. Tuck in the dill and remaining leaves as you add the cucumbers.
- Pour the cooled brine over the cucumbers. They should be completely covered by the liquid. Cover with a lid, and put your pickles-to-be in the refrigerator.
- Wait 4 to 5 days for the flavor of the pickles to develop before tasting.
Notes
- Any variety of cucumbers work well for this recipes, especially pickling cucumbers.
- This recipe makes one quart jar of pickles, but can easily be doubled or tripled.
- Store the pickles in the refrigerator and they will last for several months.
- Recipe is from the book Preserving Everything by Leda Meredith.
Most people are very particular about the kinds of sizes and shapes of pickles they throw into their jar, but I respect that you took any and every pickle regardless of size and still made them a part of the fun! This looks like a great recipe – I’m excited to give pickling peppers a try too. Thank you for sharing!
So much fun, Colleen! Thank you!