From scratch · Stocks and sauces
Refrigerator dill pickles
Cucumber slices in a hot vinegar brine with dill and garlic, kept in the fridge: no canning.
✋ 20 min hands-on
⏱ 50 min start to finish
🍽 One quart jar (about ¾ lb of pickles).
Ingredients
- ¾ lb cucumber, firm, sliced ¼ inch thick (about 3 cups); pickling cucumbers are best
- 1⅓ cup white vinegar, 5% acidity
- ⅔ cup water
- 12 g table salt, pickling salt if you have it
- 4 tsp granulated sugar
- 4 sprig fresh dill, or 2 teaspoons dried dill
- 2 clove garlic, peeled
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Time
Hands-on time is when you’re busy; the rest is rising, simmering, chilling or cooling, when you can do something else.
| Step | Hands-on | Waiting |
|---|---|---|
| Slice, pack and pour the brine | 20 min | – |
| Cool and refrigerate | – | 30 min |
| In all | 20 min | 30 min |
How long it keeps
- Refrigerator: up to 1 month (UW Extension); Oregon State’s recipe allows up to 3 months.
- Don’t freeze: they turn soft.
Nutrition
Much of the brine’s salt stays in the jar, so the numbers are USDA’s for dill pickles; this recipe’s pickles are likely lower in sodium.
Steps
You’ll need: 1-quart glass jar with lid, small saucepan.
- Wash the jar and lid in hot soapy water and rinse well, then sterilize the jar by boiling it 10 minutes, as UW Extension advises for refrigerator pickles.
- Heat the vinegar, water, salt and sugar until it simmers, stirring until they dissolve. Take it off the heat.
- Put the dill, garlic and pepper flakes in the jar. Pack the cucumber slices in closely, leaving about ½ inch at the top.
- Pour in the warm brine to cover the cucumbers. Close the jar and refrigerate.
- Wait 1 to 3 days for the flavor to develop before eating. Keep them in the refrigerator.
⚖️ ScalingKeep the vinegar-to-water ratio exactly as written (2 to 1): don’t cut the vinegar, and use vinegar labeled 5% acidity (UW Extension, NDSU). Scale by jars.
🛡 SafetyThese are not canned and must stay refrigerated. For shelf-stable pickles, use a tested recipe from NCHFP.
Good to knowTable salt works, but its additives can cloud the brine; pickling salt keeps it clear (UW Extension).
Sources
- Refrigerator Pickled Cucumbers, Oregon State University Extension. Accessed 2026-10-25.
- Homemade Pickles & Relishes (B2267), University of Wisconsin–Madison Extension. Accessed 2026-10-25.
- Food Preservation: Making Pickled Products (FN189), NDSU Extension, 2024. Accessed 2026-10-25.
- National Center for Home Food Preservation (tested canning recipes), University of Georgia. Accessed 2026-10-25.