How To Make Easy Homemade Pickles
Skip the store-bought pickles, and make your own tangy and fresh homemade pickles! You can easily have nicely spiced and crisp pickles soaked in vinegar!
Serves:
Ingredients
- 1medium-large cucumber,or 2 small cucumbers ideally 12oz in total, such as English cucumbers, or Kirby, or Persian
- ½cupwater,at room temperature, or cooler
- ½cuprice vinegar
- 1½tbspmaple syrup,or sugar
- 1½tspsea salt,fine
- ¼tspred pepper flakes,optional, for heat
- 20twists of freshly ground black pepper
- 2fresh dill,leafy sprigs, roughly chopped about ¼ cup
- 2garlic cloves,peeled, smashed
- 1bay leaf
Instructions
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For pickle rounds, slice the cucumber(s) into thin rounds, about ⅛-inch thick. Or, for spears, slice them in half lengthwise, then slice the halves lengthwise into quarters, then slice the quarters lengthwise into eighths.
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If the spears are long (from one long cucumber), slice them through the middle so they’re not too tall for your jar. Set aside.
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In a liquid measuring cup or bowl, combine the water, vinegar, maple syrup, salt, red pepper flakes (if using), and black pepper. Stir for about 30 seconds to 1 minute until most of the salt has dissolved into the liquid. Set aside.
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Place the cucumbers into a wide-mouth jar about 3 to 4-inches in diameter, tall enough to offer at least 1 inch of extra space on top (for pickle spears, it’s important that all the pickles fit snugly, vertically—a wide-mouth pint-sized mason jar would work well).
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Top the cucumbers with the dill and garlic. Tuck the bay leaf into the side of the jar. Pour all of the liquid over the cucumbers so they’re fully submerged.
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Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (for pickle rounds) or at least 3 hours (for pickle spears). The flavor will continue to develop over the next couple of days.
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These pickles can be kept for up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator.
Recipe Notes
- For sweeter pickles (bread and butter pickles), add a lot more maple syrup (which will make the mixture more brown) or sugar. Add it to the vinegar mixture, to taste, before pouring it over the cucumbers. Sweetness is subjective.
- Please do not attempt to can the recipe. This recipe is a “refrigerator pickle” recipe. It is not designed for canning in a water bath, and it has not been tested for canning safety. Follow a recipe specifically designed for canning instead.
Nutrition
- Calories: 86.57kcal
- Fat: 0.34g
- Saturated Fat: 0.11g
- Monounsaturated Fat: 0.06g
- Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.10g
- Carbohydrates: 18.91g
- Fiber: 1.73g
- Sugar: 11.69g
- Protein: 1.60g
- Sodium: 681.47mg
- Calcium: 71.40mg
- Potassium: 327.36mg
- Iron: 1.10mg
- Vitamin A: 19.80µg
- Vitamin C: 7.36mg
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