Have you ever made Refrigerator Dill Pickles?
If not, let me tell you that you are missing out!
After many years of gardening failures here in Tennessee, I actually have a successful little backyard garden this year. I think the key was building a garden box full of rich custom mixed dirt from my local nursery! Now for the first time since I have moved here, I have lots of tomatoes, zucchinis, and butternut squash coming along well! The current star of the show is my cucumber plant, which is currently doing especially well. We have A LOT of cucumbers and I needed something to do with them. So, my 10 year old, Cannon and I tried several different refrigerator pickle recipes until we found one that we thought was just perfect!
This recipe was the clear winner! We made jars of pickle spears and slices and loved them both! The fresh garlic, dill and spices work together in a water and vinegar brine to turn the cucumbers magically into pickles in just a couple of days! With cucumbers being on the ‘dirty dozen list’ (as one of the 12 vegetables that commercially are very contaminated with pesticides and you should purchase organic, if possible) you can now rest assured that the pickles you make yourself are actually GOOD for you and taste SO much better than anything you buy in the store! You can tweek this recipe with your favorite flavors–more garlic or spices according to your tastes.
I love to add a pinch of red pepper flakes. Don’t worry, it really does not make them spicy (unless you add more than a pinch), but a great punch of flavor! Also, you can use dried dill, but fresh dill really is the best! And luckily, it is easy to find during the summer and quite inexpensive to buy. I think I may try to grow some dill in my herb garden. Have any of you had experience growing dill? Now that I found this wonderful Easy Refrigerator Dill Pickles, I would love to have the herb on hand! I added celery seed to the short jar on the far right (you can see it in one of the pictures above). It was fine but didn’t really make too much of a difference. I may try adding some sweet onion slices next time. If you wanted a sweet pickle, you could add a tablespoon or more of sugar.
Also, you do not need to have garden cucumbers to make great refrigerator pickles. We tried a batch using an English cucumber and it was fantastic! I would recommend using English cucumbers because they are a practically seedless variety, so they make nice an crisp pickles!
I like to use these little canning jars and plastic lids I bought here.
The other plant in my garden producing lots is zucchini! So you have lots of zucchini too? If so try a couple of these–they are my favorite!!
Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Zucchini and Red Onion Flat Bread (seriously sooo good!!)
Print
Refrigerator Pickles
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 3 tablespoons white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher or pickling salt*
- 2 teaspoons black peppercorns
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled
- 6 large sprigs fresh dill
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or more/less to taste* (optional)
- 1 large English hothouse seedless cucumber, sliced into rounds or spears
Instructions
- Add the water, vinegar, salt, peppercorns, garlic, dill and bay leaf to a large (1-quart) jar — or divide the mixture evenly between two small (1-pint) jars — and stir to combine.
- Add the sliced cucumbers to the jar(s). Then place the lids on the jar(s), and shake to combine.
- Refrigerate ideally for at least 2 days before eating, although you can totally dive in before that time. The pickles will keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
* Do not use table salt because the iodine interferes with the pickling process. Also add the crushed red pepper according to how spicy you like them!
Recipe Source: Gimmie Some Oven
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