Quick and Easy Refrigerator Pickles
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Refrigerator pickles are quick and easy to make—no sterilizing jars or special equipment required. Perfect with burgers, sandwiches, or straight from the jar.
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
The kids and I discovered a jar of these homemade refrigerator pickles in my parents’ fridge 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 canning supplies or sterilized jars needed. Simply slice Kirby cucumbers into spears, cover them with brine, tuck them into the fridge, and they’re ready to eat the next day.
“For the first time, I grew pickling cucumbers and found your recipe to make pickles. I can’t believe how wonderful they are!”
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
Step 1: Make 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.
Pro tip: 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.
Step 2: Fill the jars. 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.
Step 3: Add the brine. Cover the cucumbers with the chilled brine. If needed, you can add a bit of cold water to the jars until the brine covers the cucumbers.
Step 4: Refrigerate. Cover the jars and let sit in the refrigerator for about 24 hours, then serve. The pickles will keep in the fridge for up to one month. Enjoy!
Pro tip: These pickles disappear quickly. If you’d like to make 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
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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 the best dill pickles I have ever eaten!! I make them every summer with the pickling cucumbers that I plant just to make this recipe. I even used to make them when I was living in France, where you can’t buy dill pickles. The seeds for “cornichons” in France are the same type of cucumber. I just let them get bigger. My cucumbers are just starting to produce, and I can’t wait!
These are amazing! They haven’t even been pickling for 24 hours, and we’ve already down most of a jar. My daughter loves anything pickled, and she was delighted with these. I’m already thinking of what else I can stick in the empty jar of brine (carrots, peppers, radishes…) once I run out of cucumbers!
In my local (Canadian) grocery store, the cukes were called “pickling cucumbers” (no reference to Kirby), and I used black mustard seeds because they were on hand — delicious!!
Absolutely delicious!!! Jenn, you’ve made a pickler of me. I think these are the best pickles I’ve ever eaten.
And I just used your recipe to pickle some onions!
Can you help me? I messed up with too much vinegar in a refrigerator pickle recipe and mine are way too sour. Is there a way I can fix this? It was a different recipe and I can’t wait to try this one – I just didn’t want to throw out the two containers I made last week. Thank you!!!
Hi Rosie, You can add more water to dilute the vinegar (and if your recipe includes sugar, I’d add both sugar and water). Hope that helps!
I make this recipe about five times a summer. I share the with family and we all agree; they are outstanding!!!
what is the equivalent of Kirby cucumbers in Italian? I live in Italy. Grazie
Hi Nancy, I don’t know what name they go by in Italy. I googled it, but came up empty handed. They are small (up to about 6 inches long) and have bumpy skins. I’d ask your grocer what the best pickling cucumbers are and hopefully, they’ll fit this description. I hope you can find them!
Is this a sour dill pickle or a bread and butter pickle?
Hi Debra, It’s more of a dill pickle. Hope you enjoy if you make them!
Made these and so far these are my favorite I was able to adapt to what I had on hand but the flavors and amazing thanks
Hi,
I love dill pickles and would like to make these, I’ve only done the boil and seal kind. I don’t like sugar in my dills, can I just leave it out? Or is this an ingredient needed in this method? Thank you in advance, your recipes are always terrific!
Anna Frost
Hi Anna, Instead of omitting the sugar, I’d suggest cutting it in half as it balances out the flavors nicely. If you want to eliminate it completely, the pickles may be lip-puckeringly vinegary. 🙂
Hi Jennifer,
I haven’t made these pickles yet. I’m just wondering if these pickle are sweet or dill & sour?
Thanks!
Mary Nell
Hi Mary, they’re more sour like dill pickles. Hope you enjoy if you make them!
Will the Persian cukes work with this recipe?
Yes, you can use Persian or mini cucs but they may not be quite as crisp and crunchy as Kirbys. Please LMK how they turn out if you try them!
I just made these again using Persian cukes and both times they turn out very well. I never use sugar but may use a little in my next batch as I don’t like sweet pickles. I also sliced the garlic into thin slices using the slicer on my mini mandolin. Yummy!