These Homemade Pickles are quick refrigerator pickles made with fresh cucumbers, dill, garlic, and a simple vinegar brine. Crisp, tangy, and full of classic dill pickle flavor, they come together easily without any canning or special equipment.
A Quick Look at the Recipe
✅ Recipe Name: Homemade Pickles
🕒 Ready In: ~10 minutes prep + chilling time
👪 Serves: 1 quart jar
🍽 Calories: ~15 per serving (estimated)
🥣 Main Ingredients: Pickling cucumbers, dill, garlic, vinegar, spices
📖 Dietary Info: Vegan; gluten-free
👌 Difficulty: Very easy - mix and chill
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Unlike fermented or shelf-stable pickles, these homemade pickles are stored in the refrigerator and ready to eat after just 24 hours. The vinegar brine, combined with mustard seeds, peppercorns, and celery seed, creates a balanced pickle that continues to develop flavor over several days.
If you enjoy making simple homemade staples like these, you might also like our Honey Mustard Dressing, Romesco Sauce, Ranch Seasoning, or Homemade Sun-Dried Tomatoes. These easy recipes are great for rounding out sandwiches, snacks, and casual meals with bold, fresh flavor.
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Why You'll Love Homemade Pickles:
No Canning Required: These are simple refrigerator pickles, so there's no water bath or special equipment needed.
Classic Dill Flavor: Fresh dill, garlic, and traditional pickling spices create that familiar tangy pickle taste.
Quick and Easy: The brine comes together fast, and the pickles are ready to enjoy after just 24 hours.
Customizable Heat: Adjust the red pepper flakes to make them mild or spicy to suit your taste.
Great for Everyday Use: Perfect for sandwiches, burgers, snack plates, or enjoying straight from the jar.
Key Ingredients:
- pickling cucumbers. Crisp and firm, these cucumbers are perfect for pickling, holding their shape well while soaking up the tangy brine.
- fresh dill. The dill sprigs impart a classic, herbaceous flavor that is essential to traditional pickle taste.
- white vinegar. Provides the necessary acidity for preservation while adding a clean, sharp tang to the pickles.
- salt. Essential for drawing out moisture and creating the brine, it helps maintain the crispness of the cucumbers without additives.
Scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this page for exact quantities.
Easy Substitutions & Variations:
- Different vinegar: Swap white vinegar for apple cider vinegar for a slightly milder, fruitier pickle flavor.
- Slice style: Cut the cucumbers into spears, rounds, or chips depending on how you plan to use the pickles.
- Extra garlic: Add an additional garlic clove or use sliced garlic for a stronger garlic-forward pickle.
- Spicy pickles: Increase the red pepper flakes or add a sliced jalapeño for extra heat.
- Herb variation: Add fresh thyme or bay leaf along with the dill for a slightly different flavor profile.
How to Make Homemade Pickles:
- Sterilize a quart-sized jar by washing it with hot, soapy water or running it through the dishwasher.
- Wash the cucumbers thoroughly. You can leave them whole if they're small or slice them into spears or rounds for easier pickling.
- Place the cucumbers in the jar along with the fresh dill sprigs, minced garlic, black peppercorns, red pepper flakes (if using), celery seed, and mustard seeds.
- In a saucepan, combine the water, distilled white vinegar, and salt. Bring to a simmer and stir until the salt is completely dissolved.
- Carefully pour the hot brine over the cucumbers and spices in the jar, ensuring everything is fully submerged. Top off with additional water if needed.
- Allow the jar to cool to room temperature, then cover it with a lid and refrigerate. Let the pickles sit in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours to develop flavor-longer is better, with optimal taste after 3-4 days.
Recipe Notes & Tips:
- Use pickling cucumbers: Pickling cucumbers stay firmer and crunchier than slicing cucumbers, especially after sitting in the brine.
- Pack the jar tightly: Keeping the cucumbers snug helps ensure they stay fully submerged and pickle evenly.
- Let them sit long enough: While they're good after 24 hours, the flavor improves noticeably after 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator.
- Keep everything submerged: Make sure the cucumbers and spices are fully covered by the brine to prevent spoilage.
- Serving Suggestions: Enjoy these alongside recipes like Egg Salad, Reuben Wraps, or Cheeseburger Salad.
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How to Store:
Refrigeration: Once the pickles have cooled to room temperature, cover the jar tightly and store it in the refrigerator; this keeps the cucumbers crisp and safe from spoilage.
Shelf Life: For optimal flavor and texture, enjoy your homemade pickles within 2-3 weeks.
Freezing: Freezing pickles is generally not recommended as it can cause them to become mushy and lose their crisp texture.
Homemade Pickles FAQs:
These homemade pickles are vinegar-based refrigerator pickles, not fermented. They are made with a vinegar brine and stored in the refrigerator for safety and simplicity.
Homemade pickles are ready to eat after about 24 hours, but their flavor continues to develop and is best after 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator.
Pickle brine can be reused once for a second batch, but the flavor will be milder and the cucumbers may pickle more slowly.
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Homemade Pickles
Ingredients
- 3 medium pickling cucumbers
- 5 sprigs fresh dill
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 cup filtered water
- ½ cup white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
- ¼ teaspoon celery seed
Instructions
- Sterilize a quart-sized jar by washing it with hot, soapy water or running it through the dishwasher.
- Wash the cucumbers thoroughly. You can leave them whole if they're small or slice them into spears or rounds for easier pickling.
- Place the cucumbers in the jar along with the fresh dill sprigs, minced garlic, black peppercorns, red pepper flakes (if using), celery seed, and mustard seeds.
- In a saucepan, combine the water, distilled white vinegar, and salt. Bring to a simmer and stir until the salt is completely dissolved.
- Carefully pour the hot brine over the cucumbers and spices in the jar, ensuring everything is fully submerged. Top off with additional water if needed.
- Allow the jar to cool to room temperature, then cover it with a lid and refrigerate. Let the pickles sit in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours to develop flavor-longer is better, with optimal taste after 3-4 days.
Nutrition
Notes
- Use pickling cucumbers: Pickling cucumbers stay firmer and crunchier than slicing cucumbers, especially after sitting in the brine.
- Pack the jar tightly: Keeping the cucumbers snug helps ensure they stay fully submerged and pickle evenly.
- Let them sit long enough: While they're good after 24 hours, the flavor improves noticeably after 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator.
- Keep everything submerged: Make sure the cucumbers and spices are fully covered by the brine to prevent spoilage.
- Serving Suggestions: Enjoy these alongside recipes like Egg Salad, Reuben Wraps, or Cheeseburger Salad.
Lynn says
Can you use apple cidar vinegar instead of white distilled inegar?
Kaeleigh Pugliese says
You can substitute it in equal amounts!
Aimee says
I stopped hunting for the perfect refrigerator kosher dill pickle recipe after I tried this one. These pickles are THE BEST. Thank you!
Karlene says
What a delicious recipe & I love the extra heat! Once the pickles are gone, is it OK to use the leftover "brine" again with new cucumbers? I hate to waste all that yumminess 🙂
Roché Woodworth says
Hi, so sorry for the delay! We’ve tried to reuse the brine, but it didn’t give quite the same result as a fresh brine!
JJ Van says
If I don't have fresh dill... how much dill seed should I add? Can't wait to try this!
Roché Woodworth says
It probably won’t turn out exactly the same, but we’d recommend no more than a teaspoon of dill seed! Let me know how it turns out if you make it:)
Shirley says
Thank you for posting the recipe for homemade refrigerated pickeled pickles. I will be planting cucumber s and dill. I have heirloom seeds and organic that I will be planting in a couple of weeks. I'm really looking forward to making the pickels.
Adrienne says
Love this recipe! Made these yesterday and just snuck a few out, Y U M M Y! I made this exactly as stated, though for my preference I'll skip the crushed red pepper (woowee) a little to much heat for me. Aside from that this recipe turns out a great pickle! Going to the farm stand this weekend will definitely make these again. Thanks for posting!
Roche Woodworth says
Thank you for the feedback, Adrienne - So happy you enjoyed the recipe!
Kristy Moleski says
Making these for the first time! How long do these stay good in the fridge?
Roche Woodworth says
Hey Kristy, they never last long in our house, just a few days before they’re all gobbled up - but they should last perfectly fine in the fridge for at least a couple of months. Hope they turn out good for you:)
Laura Rose says
Hello....I make pickles for an organic market in Mexico and want to try your recipe. I need to know how long they keep in the fridge after opening.
Thank you,
Laura Rose
Roche Woodworth says
Hi, they should keep 3-4 months, but will become less crunchy over time. Hope that answers your question:)
Roxanne says
Loved this super easy recipe. I added other veggies and olives as well. I am the only pickle eater in the house so this makes the perfect amount.
Roche Woodworth says
Thank you so much for the feedback, Roxanne! Glad you enjoy the recipe:)
Catherine Bender says
These are so good and so easy!! My fiancé can’t get enough of them! We have a friend who has been giving us cucumbers from his garden and they work great! Thank you - these are perfect!
PS - I noticed that the cucumbers were sometimes bitter, so I Googled a possible solution. Cut the ends off of the cuke and rub it against the cut part. A white foam will appear - this is the chemical that causes the bitterness. Keep rubbing until no more foam. No more bitterness!
Roche Woodworth says
Hi Catherine! Thank you so much for the feedback! We haven’t bought pickles since we perfected this recipe haha. We always have a jar in our fridge and we’re happy you like them as well! Thank you for that tip - we’ll definitely try that with our next batch.:)
Brooke says
This was so fantastic! I like it spice so I doubled down on the red pepper flakes and turned them 3 times daily for three days. 3 is the magic number! These are so zippy! Perfect for bloody Mary’s and polish roses. I want to try this with green beans next...do you know if I have to blanch the beans before trying this?
Roche Woodworth says
Hello Brooke! We’re so happy you enjoyed this recipe - these are literally the only pickles we’ve been eating for a long time haha. We’ve tried it with uncooked green beans and it came out waaay too crunchy, so definitely blanche it. Let me know how they turn out for you if you try it.
Vanessa Holland says
First time making homemade pickles. Hope they turn out ok. I followed the recipe exactly.
Shay says
Let me know they turned out:)