Refrigerator Pickles Recipe

With all of our preserving this summer, we had to try refrigerator pickles too! I have never made refrigerator pickles but had heard how easy they are. Well, they were right and, man oh man, are they delicious! Don’t tell my great aunt who’s canned dill pickle recipe we love, but these *might* be better! Maybe it was just because they were so quick and easy. And my kitchen didn’t get turned into a boiler room while water bath canning. Maybe they are better. Either way, you’ve got to try them!

How to Make Refrigerator Pickles

To make your own refrigerator pickles, start with your fresh grown (or cheat and hit up your local farmers market!) cucumbers. Wash and thinly slice your cucumbers. For my first time, I used 4 regular sized cukes, thinking I’d get a couple jars. Once thinly sliced (I used our mandolin as it’s so fast and easy!), sprinkle them with kosher salt and toss together in a large bowl. Place them in the fridge for at least an hour. The salt helps to get some of the bitter taste out of the cucumbers. After an hour or so, I rinsed the cucumbers slices well and placed them back into a larger bowl.

Thinly slice up 1-2 sweet onions. Gently toss the onions with the cucumbers.

Set this aside while you make your brine. For my brine, I used 1 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 cup white vinegar, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (with the mother!), about 2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp celery seeds and 1/8 tsp turmeric. Heat all of these together in a medium sauce pan until the sugars are dissolved. Once the brine is ready, place the cucumber/onion slices in a large jar (I used quarts).

Next, I poured brine over the top. For my first experience, I had to triple the brine recipe to fill the 3 jars of pickles/onions I had. I think I could have used less brine if I had a giant jar or bowl instead of filling quart size jars, but I like the way these fit in our fridge (plus with canning, we have a ton of them around!). Let the jars sit out for an hour or so for the flavors to meld together, then store your freshly made refrigerator pickles in the (surprise-surprise) refrigerator! You should be able to safely store these for up to 2 months, though I don’t think they will last that long around here!

But what do they taste like?

Since I can’t wait too long to eat these, I pulled them out one day later to “test” them. Amazing. With just one little taste test, the first jar is half gone. Looks like I’m going to have to find some more cukes in the near future!

I hope you enjoyed this awesome pickle recipe. It is one of my favorite condiments to put on a hot dog or a sandwich. It’s such a great way to quickly add some kick to your home. If you like this recipe, check out our others from the Foraging Minnesota series or check out our other preserved foods like these: