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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Hi, these are lovely but as there’s only 2 of us it does take us 3-4 weeks to use them so is the pickling water still safe to reuse another couple of times even after that ?
Yes, you can reuse it for a second batch. Glad you like them!
Delicious and so easy!!
Hi! I’d like to make & ship these out to family for Christmas. How long are these pickles good for in the refrigerator (unopened) and once opened?
( I don’t plan on canning them, just shipping them out in mason jars ) thank you!!
Regardless of whether or not they’re opened, the pickles keep nicely in the fridge for up to a month.
Did you ship these successfully? My daughter loves pickles & I’m wanting to ship her some from Virginia to Chicago, so I’m curious if that works bcz I’m afraid of spoiling during shipment.
Delicious crispy made 6 jars gave away 5 every body loved them, will definitely keep this recipe 😊🩵
Simply amazing! Five star rating is not enough! Please multiply by ten!
Can you “process” these precious delights to extend their life? Two jars go pretty quick, but love them so much, that I would make thirty jars!
THANK YOU Jenn, for yet another incredible recipe!
Well, I have become the designated pickle briner for my family and it’s all your fault! You provided such a good recipe that my people won’t leave me in peace. They want more while dill cucumber harvests are still available. Thank you for this great recipe which I made as it was written. Adding it to my repertoire. May experiment later.
What type of cucumbers did you use?
Hi Kenny, the recipe calls for Kirby cucumbers.
I’ve made a lot of different refrigerator pickle recipes, as well as lacto fermented pickles in the last few years, and these came out so good! Instead of the individual spices I just used 2 to 3 tablespoons of pickling spice that I got at my local natural health food store bulk bin. I also have access to grape leaves from the Vine from the neighbors. I understand those add a little extra flavor and the tannic acid crisps things up! Excellent recipe! The only thing I might change besides is, I might add a tsp dill seeds since the supermarket dill usually doesn’t come with the seed pods. I’m gonna make more this weekend!!!
I can’t see that this recipe ever says what to do with the 2 cups water. Other recipes I’ve read say to combine water and vinegar, so that’s what I did here, but I wanted to point it out since this recipe never actually says to do that and I’m wondering if that should be fixed. They certainly taste great!
Hi Molly, glad you like the pickles! At the bottom of the first paragraph,the recipe indicates that the vinegar, salt and sugar mixture should be combined with the water. Hope that clarifies!
I just made my 4th batch of these. I ran out of my own pickling cukes but thank goodness for farm stands. Friends tell me they are the best they’ve ever had and re-use the brine over and over. I love that the brine goes over the cukes cool. I think it makes a big difference in keeping them crisp!
These are really good. Trying to use up my garden variety cucumbers, not kirby’s, and it worked fine. I remove the seeds which is what I assume would make a normal cucumber soggy. I see Morton kosher salt in the picture, so I assumed that is what you used. I use Diamond so I doubled the amount of salt. I do wish people would specify in recipes, the difference in the size of the salt crystals makes a huge difference.
Hi Terri, Glad you enjoyed them! When a recipe of my says salt in the ingredients, I’m referring to regular/table salt. If it requires something else, like kosher salt, I will specify that in the recipe.