Quick Refrigerator Dill Pickles
Make these quick refrigerator dill pickles with small, or oversize pickling cucumbers from your garden. Once in a brine, cucumber slices will keep for months in the fridge.
I love gardening, and I like growing cucumbers. It's satisfying to use my homegrown cukes for canned pickles, and I think my fermented dill pickles recipe is especially tasty. I even discovered a quick way to clean cucumbers in large batches. You can get the tutorial here: how to wash cucumbers for pickling.
But I have to confess that I don't always stay on top of my cucumber harvest. Every year, I have at least one harvest of cucumbers that are too large and soft for canning or fermenting.
In our kitchen, we don't use a lot of relish, so I started using overgrown cucumbers to make quick, refrigerator pickles.
It's tasty, fast, and unlike canning or fermenting, even keeps the crunch in large cucumbers!
Recipe Ingredient List
These ingredients are specific to garlic dill refrigerator pickles, but you can also add other things to your jar. I give you additional options below.
- Pickling cucumbers: can be normal or oversized, but do trim bitter ends on large cucumbers and peel the skin, if yellow.
- Garlic: always peel fresh garlic and you can cut large cloves in half to release flavor faster.
- Dill heads: use fresh dill with seed heads for stronger flavor.
- Vinegar: you can use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
- Water: water helps dilute the strength of the brine.
- Salt: avoid iodized salt and use a good pickling salt, sea salt or Himalayan salt.
Additives for Refrigerator Pickles
You can safely add other vegetables, herbs and seeds to your brine. Just remember other additives will affect the flavor (and even color) of your cucumbers!
Helpful tip: if you are using dry herbs or seeds, add them to your brine as you make it. The heat will help release flavors, faster.
Herbs & Seeds
- Bay leaf
- Caraway seed
- Celery seed
- Coriander seed
- Fennel seed
- Mustard seed
- Onions
- Rosemary
- Shallots
- Tarragon
- Thyme
Vegetables
- Beets (cook until tender before adding to brine)
- Carrots (sliced)
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Celeriac root (sliced)
- Fennel
- Green beans
- Kohlrabi (peel and slice into rings or sticks)
- Peppers (sweet or hot should be sliced)
- Radishes
How to Make Quick Refrigerator Pickles
Prepare Your Cucumbers
It's best to harvest cucumbers in the morning, before the sun's heat warms them up. Be sure to wash well and remove dirt or bits of leaves.
Small Cucumbers: test cucumbers before pickling, to see if ends are bitter. If not, you can pickle them whole.
Large Cucumbers: the ends of large cucumbers are often bitter, so trim them off. Yellow skin can be tough, so peel yellow skin away. Slice large cucumbers into rings. I do mine in about 1/2 inch chunks, but any thickness is fine.
Get Dill and Garlic Ready (along with any additives)
Rinse fresh dill heads to remove bugs. Peel your garlic and set it aside, then prepare any other additives you want to include in the pickle.
Stuff the Jar
Place dill heads or other fresh herbs on the bottom of your jar.
Layer cucumbers with fresh peeled garlic, and any additional vegetables or grape leaves, if using.
Finish with a solid layer of cucumber. They form a good barrier, so smaller vegetables won't float to the surface of your brine, where they could possibly mold.
Create a Pickling Brine
In a stockpot, measure vinegar, water and salt. Add any dry herbs or seeds, if using. Bring brine to a boil, to dissolve salt. Let your brine cool, until there's no danger of being burnt or cracking a glass jar.
Add Brine to Your Jar of Cucumbers
Pour the warm brine over your cucumbers, covering by 1/2-1 inch. Use glass weights to keep cucumbers under the liquid.
Cool and Refrigerate
Let the jar of cucumber pickles cool to room temperature, then refrigerate. Your pickles will keep for 4-6 months in the fridge.
Tips for Making Crunchy Refrigerator Pickles
If you want really crunchy refrigerator pickles, try following these tips!
- Use small cucumbers for this recipe, instead of oversize cukes.
- Soak whole cucumbers in ice cold water for 1-2 hours before making refrigerator pickles.
- Add 6-8 grape leaves to your cucumbers before adding brine.
- Let your brine cool before pouring over the cucumbers.
- Refrigerate immediately after adding brine.
Tips for Recipe Adjustments
If you like milder pickles, you can safely do a 50/50 ratio with vinegar to water (e.g. 4 cups vinegar and 4 cups of water). Feel free to add a few tablespoons of honey or sugar to mellow the flavor as well.
Quick Refrigerator Dill Pickles
Ingredients
- 4 pounds (1.8 kg) oversize pickling cucumbers
- 3 heads fresh dill heads
- 12 cloves fresh garlic
- 5 cups white vinegar
- 3 cups water
- 3 Tablespoons pickling or canning salt
Instructions
- Harvest oversize pickling cucumbers from the garden.
- Wash cucumbers at the kitchen sink, and set large yellowing fruits aside.
- Cut bitter ends away with a sharp kitchen knife.
- Slice cucumbers into 1/2-1 inch thick rings.
- Peel garlic cloves and cut large ones in half.
- Layer garlic, dill and cucumbers in the gallon jar.
- Measure vinegar, water and salt into a stockpot, and bring to a boil on the stove, until salt dissolves.
- Let the brine cool for a few minutes before pouring over your stuffed jar of cucumbers.
- Weigh down cucumbers with a glass lid or weight to keep submerged under the brine.
- Let cool to room temperatures, then refrigerate for 24 hours before consuming.
- Refrigerator dill pickles will last for months in the fridge.
Notes
- This recipe can be made with whole, small cucumbers, or oversized cucumbers that have been sliced into rings.
- If you have cucumbers with yellow skin, be sure to trim the ends and peel before pickling.
- You can safely reduce the amount of vinegar in this recipe for a lighter brine. Use a 50/50 ratio with water and vinegar (e.g. 4 cups water to 4 cups vinegar). Keep the same amount of salt.
