When you have a surplus of cucumbers, look no further than this easy recipe for refrigerator pickles. You can make them with just 10 minutes of prep and 6 hours to brine. You don't even need to turn on the stove!
If I'd known how ridiculously easy it was to make crispy, salty, dilly, tangy pickles, our refrigerator would never have been without them - especially in summer months. No cooking required. Zero. You don't even have to boil water.
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What are Refrigerator Pickles?
Refrigerator pickles are made without they typical steps of canning, made instead with raw cucumber slices and brine - very little effort and they're ready to eat within hours. The upside of this is that they easy to make and incredibly crispy and delicious. The downside is that they are not shelf stable, i.e., but will last several weeks in the refrigerator. (Good luck on them lasting that long! 😉 )
In our CSA share this week, we had several Kirby pickling cucumbers and a beautiful bunch of fresh dill. Kirby cucumbers are those odd shaped cucumbers, covered in sharp little bumps. They aren't the most attractive of cucumbers, but they do stay crunchy in brine.
Kirby cucumbers and fresh dill sprigs look to me like pickles. But pickles require a whole canning process, right? A variety of spices, sterilized canning jars, boiled brine, and achieving a proper seal. So what's a lazy girl to do?
So I looked around at some of my favorite food blogs and came across this recipe from Deb of Smitten Kitchen. Ironic as Deb is the antithesis of lazy.
Could it really be this simple?
Yes.
Something you should know.
I'll warn you that these homemade pickles are intensely flavorful. If you're on the fence about liking vinegary, piquant dill pickles, these aren't for you. But should you be in the piquant pickle loving camp, you'll find these addictive.
Recipe Options
- For a milder vinegar flavor, use apple cider vinegar instead of standard white vinegar.
- To add a bit of spice, stir a teaspoon of whole black peppercorns, raw jalapeno slices, or ¼ teaspoon or more of red pepper flakes. You can also add celery seed, mustard seed, and/or whole garlic cloves for added depth of flavor.
More Pickling Recipes to Try
And if you happen to love the magnificent Mama Lil's Bread & Butter Pickles & Peppers: sweet, spicy, salty. You can make something similar with a simple riff on this refrigerator pickle recipe - Spicy Bread and Butter Pickles. And definitely don't miss my other quick pickles: Pickled Asparagus or these Pickled Beets and Pickled Red Onions, both honey sweetened and so delicious. Giardiniera is another must-try - Italian pickled vegetables like cauliflower, bell pepper, carrots, and celery,
[Updated: a couple of commenters found the original recipe for these too salty. Upon review of the recipe, I agreed! I've adjusted it accordingly.]
How to Make Refrigerator Pickles:
Step 1: Fill clean jar with thinly sliced cucumbers (ideally Kirby).
Step 2: Stir brine ingredients together (kosher salt, vinegar and chopped fresh dill) and pour over cucumber slices.
Step 3: Close jar lid and shake to distribute brine. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours then enjoy!
Refrigerator Pickles Recipe Video
Easy Dill Lovers Refrigerator Pickles
Ingredients
- 2 cups thinly sliced Kirby cucumber
- ½ cup white vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
Instructions
- Add cucumber slices to a clean 1-pint jar.
- Add vinegar, salt and dill. Close the lid and shake to distribute ingredients. (Liquid will not cover cucumber slices. Don't worry. The salt will draw liquid from the cucumbers in a couple of hours.)
- Place the jar in the refrigerator and remember to shake it once or twice in the next few hours.
- In about 6 hours, you'll have delicious, crispy pickles.
Thanks Marissa for the recipe, just finished two pints and they are in the fridge, what is the shelf life (in the fridge of course!)
Hi Sandra! You can store these in the refrigerator for up to a month. 🙂
Have a ton of cucumbers to use up from the garden was wondering if I could do them in tupperware.
Hi, Angela! As long as the plastic is food grade, I think that's just fine.
I am in love with these! I had some mini cucumbers (they were BOGO at my local supermarket) and really wanted to have a light little pickle for some angus burgers I was making for dinner tonight. I wantd something super easy with minimal fuss - came across your recipe and knew that I had to do this. I made them with a couple of adjustments - I added a few cranks of some fresh cracked black pepper and a few shakes from the sugar dispenser (I wanted to have a slightly sweet brine). Oh my heaven - they were so good!! They had that perfect little crunch and they went so well on my burgers! I am bookmarking this and will be making them often!
Wonderful to hear, Lisa! So glad you're enjoying them...So sweet of you to come back and let me know!
Have soooo many cucumbers this year and hated the thought of throwing them away! I AM NOT a "canner" (mason jars/pressure cooker/all that stuff). If I couldn't freeze it from the garden I usually have to toss if I can't give it away. Low and behold I find this refrigerator pickle recipe and I already had the few ingredients (except the fresh dill) Raced to town, got the dill and made a quart in minutes! Just sampled after being in the frig 5 hours and they are so good! Guess I'm going to have to grow my own dill for next year. Followed your recipe with 1 tweak....didn't have garlic cloves so I just added a tsp. of the minced garlic that comes in a squeeze bottle (or jar).....love me some garlic....I could have even added more but they re great. Thanks for this great recipe!
Fantastic, Kathy! I'm with you on canning... 🙂 So glad you're enjoying these and really appreciate you coming back to let me know.
Wait! I don't see garlic in the ingredient list! What did I miss? I absolutely think there should be garlic, but where does it say how much?
Thanks!
Hi, Kristin! The short answer is, "add as much as you like!" When I add garlic to this recipe, I typically add 4 to 6 cloves. Enjoy!
My husband and I really like these pickles. We made them a few years ago, we moved, and lost the recipe. I'm so glad I found it again. Now to get the fresh ingredients that we need to make them again. Thanks so much for the recipe.
My pleasure, Kari! So glad that you and your husband enjoy these! 🙂
Oh boy oh boy did you make this pregnant lady’s day! I cannot have a meal without a pickle these days (forgive the cliche haha) and yes that includes breakfast. My absolute favorite “store bought” pickles are only available at a very few locations and I’ve finally found an easy and delicious alternative to chasing them down. The BEST!!! 😍🤩👏😎😍
I love to hear this, Beth! I made your day? You made MY day!! So glad you're enjoying these!
This is my latest addiction. Thank you so much! I’ve already made 6 batches. So easy and fresh. I used organic cucumbers from my garden (I didn’t have pickling cucumbers so I just picked them on the smaller side), and fresh organic dill from my garden! Never made pickles before but I’ll be making these all the time! Thank you so much!
Yay! I'm so happy you're enjoying them, Cindy! And I love that you're making them with your own, home grown cucumbers and dill!! These a favorite in our house too! 🙂
How long will they last in the fridge?
Hi, Lindsey. I’ve seen several sources say they’re safe up to one month. Enjoy!
I made these but i cut the salt in half and added 1 tsp of minced garlic to the brine...they are awesome! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Love the addition of garlic, Annie! Thank you!
Love this recipe, they look delicious! I love easy recipes like this where I can just make up a few jars and put them in the refrigerator.
Thanks so much, Rachel!
Great, quick and simple, but when we went to eat them, whoa! Way too salty, I went back to look at recipe, and it calls for 1 tbls. Of salt in just a pint jar, that is way too much I think. I'll make again but will half the salt next time. Glad I only did two jars, I'm thinking I'm going to just have to rinse them and do another brine. Did anyone else think these are way too salty? And yes I did shake the jar several times.
Hi Valerie. Did you use kosher salt as the recipe specifies or regular table salt? For table salt you'd use half the amount. Either way, always good to adjust recipes to suit your taste! 🙂
I agree that these were far too salty. I used coarse kosher sea salt and although I doubled the recipe, I took the salt down a titch because of the comment, and I still think they may be too salty to even eat as is. Would love to know if the previous commentor had success with rinsing and re-brining these? Or how adjusted batches turned out? Maybe it's the cucumbers I used.
Hi Sherr,
Looking back over my recipe testing notes, I realize that you and Valerie are absolutely correct! I'm so sorry about that - the salt suggested in the recipe was off. I've adjusted the recipe accordingly. Thank you so much for your feedback!
Thank you, I wondered if it was too much salt. I did rebrine it, with a little water, salt, vinegar and added a tsp of sugar to see if that would combat the saltiness, and it did.
Oh good, I'm so glad it worked out! So kind of you to come back and let me know. 🙂
If I did spears, instead of slices, how long do you think they would take to brine? Would overnight be sufficient?
Hi, Charlene. I haven't made spears, but I would think that overnight would be enough.
I did Spears and overnight was perfect!!
Fantastic! Thanks so much for coming back to let me know. I'll do them as spears the next time I make them!
These tasted like pure vinegar. Any way to fix?
Hi Annmarie! I'm sorry these were too vinegary for you - you may have missed that warning in the post - these really are intensely flavorful. My best suggestion is to drain the pickles and create a 50/50 blend of the brine you drained and water (or even 100% water) to pour back over the pickles and give them a day or two to mellow out. I hope that helps!
Can I use apple cider vinegar for this recipe
Absolutely! The pickles will taste a little sweeter than if you use white vinegar.
Made these today. They are fantastic! We ate almost half of the pint jar. Only thing I will do different next time is use a little less salt and add more vinegar. Delicious! Thanks for sharing.
Question, have you ever added citric acid to make them sour?
I'm so glad you enjoyed the pickles and are giving them your own twist!! I haven't made them with citric acid...if you try it, let me know how it goes! 🙂
Can you can this recipe for a longer shelf life ?
Hi, John. For a longer shelf life, you'll want to work from a recipe meant for traditional canning.
We are making 3 day sun pickles can I just take a jar and put in the refrigerator? Only differences are we boiled our water, vinegar, pickling salt.
Hi, Dana. I haven't made sun pickles so I can't speak from experience, but I don't see why you couldn't refrigerate them. Adding warm water to the cucumbers and / or having them sit in the sun will likely result in a softer pickle than strict refrigerator pickles. Hope that's helpful!
Is it necessary to use that specific amount of salt?
Hi Cynthia. Not at all! Adjust it to fit your taste... 🙂
Hey Marissa! Thanks for the great recipe! Have you ever tried cutting the pickles using a mandolin slicer? If you cut them that thin, will they continue to stay crunchy through the pickling process? Thank you for your help!
I love how super easy this recipe is. This would be a big hit at my house. I have a family that loves pickles.
I hope you try them, Dawn! I wish I could make up a batch for you myself. 🙂
Pickles which are ready in 6 hours? This is amazing, Marissa. I do like pickled cucumbers, but I exactly prefer the way when cucumbers are just lightly marinated, fresh, and crispy (not a huge fan of soft and almost mushy ones). So this recipe is just perfect to me. Now I've got to find a surpl of cucumbers:)
I'm the same way, Ben! I like super crisp cucumbers, not the dull and waterlogged kind. I know what you mean about the 6 hours - they 'pickle' so quickly!
I tried your recipe with 1tsp salt. Added 1/8 cup cider vinegar, 1 tsp sugar, 1 head of garlic cloves and 10 basil leaves, 10 cilantro leaves and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Did 4 spears and the rest thin slices. These are the best pickles I have ever eaten.