Quick and Easy Refrigerator Pickles
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Refrigerator pickles are quick and easy to make — no sterilizing jars or special equipment required.
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
The kids and I discovered a jar of these homemade refrigerator pickles in my parents’ refrigerator door one day and since then, no deli or store-bought pickles have ever come close. They were made by one of my mom’s oldest and dearest friends, Joanne Biltekoff, who is like an aunt to me. The best thing about Joanne’s pickles is that they’re quick and easy — no sterilizing jars or special canning equipment required. All you do is slice Kirby cucumbers into spears, cover them with brine, tuck them into the fridge, and they’re ready to eat the next day.
What You’ll Need To Make Refrigerator Pickles
The most important part of the recipe is to start with Kirby or pickling cucumbers. They’re short, squat and sometimes full of warts, but they make deliciously crisp pickles. Don’t be tempted to substitute another kind of cucumber or you’ll end up with soggy pickles.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Begin by making the brine. Combine the vinegar, salt and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat and stir until the salt and sugar are completely dissolved. Whisk in the cold water, then chill.
When cooking high-acid foods, be sure to use a cooking vessel made of a nonreactive material such as stainless steel, glass, ceramic or Teflon. Pots made from metals like aluminum, copper or cast iron will react with the acid and give your food a metallic taste.
Next, stuff the cucumbers into two 1-quart jars. Add the coriander and mustard seeds, garlic, red pepper flakes, dill sprigs to the jars, dividing evenly.
Cover the cucumbers with the chilled brine.
Cover and let sit in the refrigerator for about 24 hours, then serve. The pickles will keep in the fridge for up to one month.
These pickles will disappear quickly and you’ll likely get requests for more. You don’t have to start from scratch. You can use the pickle brine more than once — it should last for another batch or two of pickles!
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Quick & Easy Refrigerator Pickles
Refrigerator pickles are quick and easy to make — no sterilizing jars or special equipment required.
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups distilled white vinegar (5% acidity)
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 cups cold water
- 1¾ to 2 pounds Kirby cucumbers (about 6), cut into halves or spears
- 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
- 6 large garlic cloves, peeled and halved
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 16 dill sprigs
Instructions
- Combine the vinegar, salt and sugar in a small non-reactive saucepan (such as stainless steel, glass, ceramic or teflon) over high heat. Whisk until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Transfer the liquid into a bowl and whisk in the cold water. Refrigerate brine until ready to use.
- Stuff the cucumbers into two clean 1-quart jars. Add the coriander seeds, garlic cloves, mustard seeds, red pepper flakes, dill sprigs, and chilled brine into jars, dividing evenly. If necessary, add a bit of cold water to the jars until the brine covers the cucumbers. Cover and refrigerate about 24 hours, then serve. The pickles will keep in the refrigerator for up to one month.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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These are delicious and so easy to make. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
This was an awesome recipe to make quick dill pickles. I grow my own dill and coriander and it all came together beautifully. My daughters ate 2 jars the day after I made them. I used Northern Pickling cucumbers that I grew from seed (Johnnys Seeds) and they were crunchy and delicious. The only thing I changed was rather than add red pepper flakes, I took a jalepeno from the garden and split it in half. One for each jar. And I ended up with a delicious dill pickled jalepeno. Thanks for this great recipe.
This is our new family favorite pickle recipe. I used the pickling cucumbers, dill and green beans I grew in my garden for the first batch. And, I didn’t have coriander, so just used the other spices. My son loved them so much that he said he has to change his answer to what food he would take if stranded on a desert island – “my mom’s” pickles. đŸ™‚ Thanks for making me look so good!
I made these pickles 4 days before the 4th of July. Served them on the fourth to family and friends and they raved about them and they were gone in a second. They are now my dill pickle go to recipe….no need to try any others. Can’t wait to make more.
I’m about to make these tomorrow and just wondering if I can use other vegtables as well? Also what would make it a little spicy?
Hi Candace, Yes, you can definitely use other veggies. Some good options are green beans, bell peppers, celery and cauliflower. And if you want to spice things up a bit more, you could double the red pepper flakes. Enjoy!
Hi, can I make the brine a day ahead and add to pickles the next day?
Definitely- hope you enjoy them!
These are the absolute best dill pickles that I have ever eaten !!! They are flavorful, crisp, and addictive. I have now made 4 batches at the request of my family and they are clamoring for more. I would say however that I bought organic coriander and mustard seeds and it was a substantial improvement in flavor. Thank you for the great recipe.
I read your website regularly, and came across this recipe when I was looking for an alternative to my usual fresh dill pickle recipe. I have never had such delicious dill pickles….ever! You do have to have the pickling cucumbers….that is a must. In France I grew their “cornichons” in my garden, but I let them get bigger than the French people use them. They are the same type of cucumber as the Kirbys, and they always stay crisp. However, it seems to me that there is something special about this recipe. It is probably the ratio of water to vinegar (I think I used to use 50-50) and also chilling the brine before pouring it over the cucumbers. Whatever it is….I love them!!!
Excellent recipe! I brought these to a cocktail party and they were gone in less than 15 minutes. The only question I have is that I’ve read it is important to cut the blossom end of the cucumber because there’s an enzyme in the blossom that can make the pickle soft.
Made these for the first time yesterday and had to leave a review. If you like garlic dill pickles, make these! They are nothing but fabulous. I doubled the recipe but didn’t double the garlic and they’re still plenty garlicky. I’m super impressed by how easy this recipe is with such wonderful results. Thanks so much for posting. I have already shared the recipe AND the pickles!
can you substitute dried coriander and dry dill in place of fresh? Have not made the recipe yet but was wondering about substituting dried herbs. Would also wonder how much to use if substituting.
Hi Cathy, Sure that should work. I would use 1 teaspoon ground coriander and 2 teaspoons dried dill. Please let me know how it turns out.
Used the dry ingredients and the pickles were wonderful…thanks for sharing the recipe.
Fabulous recipe!!! Absolutely delicious! Question.. Can I reuse the brine? If so, for how long? Thanks!
Hi Emily, Yes, you can use refrigerator pickle brine again — should last for at least another batch or two.
Rave reviews from everyone who ate them! You’re right – they get gobbled up well before the one-month mark. Thanks for the recipe!
Now you’ve done it. I just picked my first quart of kirbys for the year, not exactly enough to start a traditional kosher fermented batch. So I looked for a refrigerator recipe and found yours. The reviews looked great and I had everything on hand, so I made them. Then today after opening the jar to try one, I lost all control. I ate half a quart of pickles in 5 minutes. I just put the pickle jar in a brown paper bag and pushed it to the back of the refrigerator so I can’t see them. I can and eat a LOT of pickles of all types…these are the best I have ever had. Even worse they’re SIMPLE to make. Now I’m stuck at the house and forced to leave the jar alone so my lovely wife can have some. I’m already having anxiety over what’s going to happen in winter when I can’t have these! (Shudder)
I love those glass jars. What is the brand name? Can’t wait to make these.
Hi Julie, I don’t remember the brand name but I got them at Whole Foods đŸ™‚
See http://www.weckjars.com
I think that’s the type of jar. Lots of really unusual shapes on the site.
very good recipe. No changes needed but I cut pickles in half instead of spears with great results.
These are the best made them for the first time last summer and they would get ate as fast as I could make them. Now our local farmers market is open again. So I’m back in pickle heaven.
My husband is a pickle snob. He only wants to buy Bubbies at Whole Foods, but they are really expensive. These are even better and I can make the quantity I like.
Just got a box of cucumber and would like to slice them and pickle only got dill seed so tell me a easy way to do this
Hi Cathy, As long as you have all of the other ingredients, I think they should still be good.
Can I use Mini cucumbers instead? I could not find pickling or Kirby cucumbers at the store. If so, should I keep them whole. I think they are Persian cucumbers but not sure.
Hi Danielle, You can use Persian or mini cucumbers (I would still slice them in half) but they may not be quite as crisp and crunchy as Kirby cucumbers. Please let me know how they turn out.
I had an over abundance of homegrown pickling cucumbers in my community garden plot. Thankfully they didn’t all ripen at the same time. I made batch one last weekend. They are the best darn pickles ever. The red pepper flakes add a subtle heat. My mom doesn’t like spicy or hot but she loved them. Neighbor loved them. I have shared the recipe many times already after my friends saw the pictures on facebook and instagram. I linked them back to your website. Making batch two now and will leave red pepper flakes out of a few jars. I was out of fresh coriander seed for batch one and the pickles still came out fine. This batch will have the coriander seeds.
I was asked for a good recipe for bread and butter as well as sweet pickles (one of my friends said they are different then bread and butter). Do you have a quick refrigerator recipe for any of them?
So glad you enjoyed the pickles, Lori — and thank you for spreading the word about my site! Unfortunately, I don’t have recipes for bread and butter or sweet pickles but I will add them to my list. Stay tuned đŸ™‚
to Lori-
try this Bread & Butter recipe it is not refrigerator- but still pretty easy
Here is the basic Bread & butter pickle recipe I use
15 c sliced pickling cucumbers
2 onions thinky sliced
1/4 cup course salt
4 cups cracked ice
2 1/2 c cider vinegar
2 1/2 c sugar
3/4 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp celery seed
1 T mustard seed
1. clean your cucumbers slice them and the onions & let them sit in salt & ice for 3 hours
2. Mix well
3. Put a weight & let sit for 3 hours
4. Drain well
5. Combine vinegar, sugar, tumeric, celery seed & mustard seed
6. Add drained cucumbers
7. Place on medium low heat- bring almost to a boil but don’t boil
8. I boil jars for 10 minutes to process
Lori, the very best B&B refrigerator pickle recipe I’ve found is Alton Brown’s B&B recipe. Google it. They last far longer than what the recipe recommends. I made my last batch in October 2015 and in April or May they were still as good as when I first made them.
Recipe is simply amazing. I compared a few others and this was the hands down winner.
Question- Can I can these? I know I need to sterilize the jars and following canning processes, but is there anything I need to do to the recipe itself?
Hi Paul, So glad you enjoyed the pickles! Unfortunately, the recipe will not work for canning.
is there anything I can do to modify this recipe so I can can it. I have a lot of cucumbers and I can’t make refrigerator pickles out of all of them đŸ™‚
Hi Paul, To be honest, I don’t have a lot of experience with canning but my main concern is that most canned pickle recipes call for a brine with a 1:1 water-vinegar ratio. I believe that is necessary to make the pickles shelf stable. This recipe is much less acidic with almost a 2:1 water-vinegar ratio. For me, that’s what makes these pickles so good; they aren’t overly sour like so many others. So, unfortunately, if you change the brine, the pickles will taste much different.
Is it possible to use this recipe and can them instead of using them just in the fridge? If so, would I need to change anything about the preparation and/or ingredients?
Hi Leah, Unfortunately, the recipe won’t work for canning. Sorry!
I made two quarts of refrigerator pickles (another recipe) last week, and tried them today….I was extremely disappointed in their bland flavor. I dumped a bunch of seasoning into those jars today and went on a search for another recipe to try….
I found this one through Pinterest, and immediately saw that it had more seasoning and vinegar than the other recipe I’d tried. So I used a 2 quart bail and toggle jar from Ikea and put everything in one jar today.
(I don’t usually have pickling cucumbers on hand, but I went to the Farmer’s Market and canned some bread and butter pickles yesterday, so I had the leftovers to use.)
I didn’t have fresh dill on hand, so I used 4 tsps dried dill leaves. I calculated 1 tsp per four fresh strands in the recipe.
When I open the refrigerator, I shake the jar and put it back. I can hardly wait to open it, but I’ll wait a couple days to let the flavors permeate. I’ll report back!! đŸ™‚
They turned out very well!! In fact, there are only a few left! Using the dried dill worked fine, but since the little leaves stick to the spears, I think you get a little more dill flavor than you would using fresh dill. If you aren’t a huge fan of dill, you might want to reduce the dried dill just a little when you make it.
I’ll be making this recipe again! đŸ™‚
Excellent recipe…we put of 9 quarts of pickles and I tried on less than 24 hrs. later and Wow !, it was already good and I can only imagine how much better they will taste in a few days…Very easy recipe too….
This summer, I grew cucumbers and dill in my garden. So, I thought I’d try making pickles of course.
I’ve never done this before so I was a bit apprehensive. I think the hardest part was waiting for 24 hours for the cucumbers to marinate, or whatever cucumbers do!
I was really surprised! These are really, really good!
I have a date this Friday and I am going to give her the gift of pickles đŸ™‚ (Heck with flowers!)
We love this recipe! These are now our favorite dill pickles! Thanks!
I LOVE these pickles! I’ve made them several times. Since we live in Mexico, we have to many foods from scratch. I’ve been using small whole Mediterranean cucumbers instead Kirby and they are SUPER crunchy. In my most recent batch, I bumped up the red pepper flakes to 3/4 tsp. and used minced garlic instead of cloves just to amp up the flavor. They are a favorite of the whole family! The hardest part is waiting for a WHOLE day to taste them. Thanks for such a great recipe. đŸ™‚
Looked at loads of these types of recipes and cannot see how long they will last on my shelf in the pantry…do they have to go in the fridge? If so
Why are the ones on the supermarket shelf any different
Hi Andrea, These are quick refrigerator pickles, and they do need to be kept in the fridge as they aren’t properly canned (using sterile jars, etc.).
Im pregnant and craving pickles. I’m so glad that I found this recipe! Doing this today!!
This is on my to-do list now! I am still tweaking my own pickle recipe. I do prefer to use rice wine vinegar but it gets expensive quickly. Thanks for this one!
KD-
We buy rice wine vinegar by the gallon from Amazon- much cheaper than the small containers!
I finally got around to making these two days ago and had my first one today, all I can say is OMG! These are wonderful! I have never made pickles and I am just shocked at how simple this recipe is. Thank you soooo much. This will satisfy my crunchy salty craving! Much better for you than a bag of chips!
Yummy! These are DELICIOUS!
I made these the other night and OMG – absolutely addictive, easy & delish. I used chipotle pepper flakes (I was out of the regular ones), which added a slightly smoky flavor, and recommend that as a variation if you like chipotle. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe – it’ll be in regular rotation here.
Love that idea. Thank you!
Since receiving this recipe by e-mail from Once Upon a Chef, I have made 12 jars of these pickles. They disappear as fast as I make them!!! I sent some to both my mother and my brother, and then sent back their jars with a request for MORE. The frst time I made them, I didn’t have whole coriander or mustard seeds on hand, so I used ground of each (1 tsp. of each). Also, I reduced the sugar by 1 T. Still delicous. Since then, I’ve experimented with different variations….adding chopped red onions to the jars, eliminating the red pepper flakes, adding black peppercorns. The base recipe is SO good that it’s easy to substitute and still come out with a crave-worthy pickle. I’ve got four more jars in the fridge right now, and I’m sure they’ll be gone by the weekend!! Thanks for a great recipe!!
I had no idea making pickles at home could be so quick and easy. Thanks for the recipe!
I made these with my granddaughter a couple of weeks ago. I was excited to find a refrigerator pickle recipe and she was excited that we were making them. After letting them sit in the fridge a few days I added more sugar. The next time I will probably cut back on the vinegar, replace it with water and add more sugar. They were great!
I made these with my grandchildren and it was so quick and easy!! Great pickle recipe!! Even my grandchildren loved them!!! WOW!Thanks for sharing!
These pickles are amazing. I may never buy pickles again. Super easy to make. Thanks for the recipe!
I just made these 2 days ago and they are FANTASTIC! My adjustments: since I like garlic (the more the better) I added an additional clove each jar. I also doubled the sugar (which you can’t even taste). These pickles remind me of NYC deli pickles. Yum!!!
My fiance and I are both huge pickle fans – I’ll definitely have to try this for sure! They keep such a lovely green hue!
I am inspired! My daughter loves this type of pickle, so I will try it. Thanks for the recipe and the information on the pretty jars.
A really easy way to make dill pickles… If you have purchased a jar and eaten all the pickels…save the brine/juice, cut up cucumbers and place in the jar. After a few days…voila!!
Great suggestion, Barbara. You can also do the same with these. Once the pickles are gone, simply cut up more cucumbers and stuff them in the jar. They’re ready in 24 hours!
These were awesome! I now have 2 empty jars and 2 more pounds of cukes! If I was to use the same brine over, do I stick with the “use within one month” timeframe? Using the date on the original jar of pickles and brine?
Hi Katie, Yes, that’s correct. So glad you enjoyed them!
Hi Jenn,
Great recipe, best I’ve made/tried. I’ve been making refrigerator pickles for yrs now because they’re so easy to make. 2 things I still do from my earlier pickle caning days are that I always cut the blossom ends off and add 1-2 fresh grape leaves per jar. This ensures they stay crispy till the last one! There’s something in cuke blossoms that make pickles soft over time and the tannins in grape leaves also preserve crisp.
Thank you for all your great recipes & information.
Trent
thanks for the recipe. I have made regular pickles before but my busy life prohibits that. I have heard of refrigerator pickles before but never tried to make them. I will now. I love pickles!
thanks
Oh I love pickles! Thanks for the idea!
ahh i LOVE pickles! Thanks for the great idea! would be great to serve as a side for a sandwich.
Fantastic pickles! Will cut down the salt next time, but the flavor is excellent! I’ll make these all year long. Thank you for a great recipe!
Aunt JoJo’s pickles are the BEST!!! Claussen beware!
I totally ageee! We used to do Claussen, but once we made this recipe, it doesn’t compare. The garlic cloves are delicious as well.
What kind of jars are you using and where did you get them?
Hi Sarah, I got the jars (by WECK) at Whole Foods.
Beautiful pics! Makes you just want to crunch right into one of them.
I make pickles all the time. Love my bread and butter ones and also dill. Will definitely try this recipe.