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Quick and Easy Refrigerator Dill Pickles Recipe | The Old Farmer's Almanac

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Quick and Easy Refrigerator Dill Pickles

Photo Credit
Sam Jones/Quinn Brein
Yield
7 to 9 pints
Category
Pickles and Preserves
Course
Other
Special Considerations
Vegetarian
Preparation Method
Easy Does It

Quick and Easy Refrigerator Dill Pickles
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Looking for a quick pickles recipe? Refrigerator Dill Pickles are the way to go. Slice and serve on sandwiches and burgers or enjoy straight from the jar. Pickling is a great way to store and enjoy excess vegetables—or just make a tasty snack for the summer!

To get crisper pickles, we recommend brining in salt water. This step (#2 below) is optional, but we think it keeps pickles crunchy, not mushy. Quality and freshness of your pickles at start of process also can impact crunch.  Also, a little sugar is added to recipes to cut the acidity; if you don’t add sugar, the taste may turn out “vinegary.”

These Refrigerator PIckles will last one month in the fridge. Quick pickles (refrigerator pickles) are meant to be prepared quickly and consumed quickly! However, if you wish to process the pickles (boiling water bath), the pickles will store for one year on the shelf and, after opening, up to 3 months in the refrigerator.

See the full Guide on How to Pickle and Guide to Water-Bath Canning to learn how to can HIGH acid foods such as pickled cucumbers.

Note: This recipe was updated in 2020 to comply with the latest safety measures. It’s been adapted from the “Complete Guide to Home Canning,” Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539, USDA. We no longer have a copy of the old recipe.

Ingredients
8 lbs of 3- to 5-inch pickling cucumbers
2 gallons of water
1¼ cups canning or pickling salt
1½ quarts vinegar (5 percent or high)
¼ cup sugar
2 quarts water
2 tbsp whole mixed pickling spice (such as Pickling Crisp™ or Mrs Wages)
3 tbsp whole mustard seed (about 1 tsp to 2 tsp per pint jar)
14 heads of fresh dill (about 1½ heads per pint jar
) OR 
4½ tbsp dill seed (about 1½ tsp per pint jar)
Garlic clove, peeled – one per jar
Instructions
  1. Wash cucumbers and cut 1/16-inch slice off blossom end and discard, but leave ¼-inch of stem attached.  
  2. Dissolve ¾ cup salt into 2 gallons of water. Pour over cucumbers and let stand 12 hours in the refrigerator. Drain and cut into halves or quarters.
  3. Combine 1 ½ qt vinegar, ½ cup salt, 1.4 cup sugar and 2 quarts water into a stainless-steel pot. Add mixed pickling spices tied in a clean white cheesecloth bag. Heat to boiling. 
  4. Fill pint jars with the cucumbers. Add 1 tsp mustard seed, 1½ heads fresh dill and garlic clove per pint.
  5. Cover with boiling pickling solution, leaving ½-inch headspace. If you run out of vinegar solution to fill up to headspace, make a ½ vinegar:1/2 water solution and using a microwave oven, microwave to boiling before using.
  6. Top each pint with a lid and screw bands to finger tight only leaving ½ inch headspace.
  7. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks allowing flavor to develop to taste. Enjoy.
  8. For storing pickles at room temperature process pints in boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes.

Learn More
Are you a pickle enthusiast? See our How to Pickle Guide with more recipes!

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Comments

georgehwilson (not verified)

2 years 4 months ago

how long do these pickles last?

For regular “Quick Pickles” (unprocessed), the recommendation is one month in the refrigerator. It can take a week or two for the flavor to develop, so let’s say no more than 6 weeks. Some manufacturers say that quick pickles can last up to 2 or 3 months, but we tend to be more cautious.

Also, if the pickles include onions, then they are good for only 2 weeks in the refrigerator; the onions will degrade in the vinegar.  Quick pickles (refrigerator pickles) are meant to be prepared quickly and consumed quickly!

Note: If you kept store-bought pickles in a fridge, they can be kept for up to 1 year in the refrigerator after opening.  The manufacturers put stabilizers/crisping agent to help the pickle keep the texture.

If you process these pickles (boiling water bath), they are good for one year on the shelf and after opening up to 3 months in refrigerator per Ball. 
 

Terri Donoho (not verified)

3 years 4 months ago

Can I use white vinegar or apple vinegar?

We recommend white vinegar. You can use apple cider vinegar if it’s 5% acidity or greater. The correct amount to use is 4 tablespoons per quart of tomatoes.  Just note that apple cider vinegar may cause undesirable flavor changes and for that reason it is not typically recommended or used in recipes.
 

Sarah Moore (not verified)

3 years 5 months ago

Can you make these according to the recipe and then water bath can them?