Original Post: https://www.evolvingtable.com/refrigerator-dill-pickles/
Overnight Refrigerator Dill Pickles
Refrigerator Dill Pickles are perfectly crisp, sweet, tangy, and ready overnight with no special canning equipment or sterilizing required. These have quickly become a family favorite that we make all summer long, and after one bite you’ll never buy store-bought again!
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup distilled white vinegar
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 ¼ tsp. salt plus more to taste
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 garlic cloves whole
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes plus more to taste*
- 3 dill sprigs fresh*
- 4 cocktail cucumbers each cut into 4 spears*
Instructions
- Add vinegar, water, salt, and sugar to a medium-sized pot or sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2-3 minutes, whisking occasionally, or until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let sit while preparing the jars.⅔ cup distilled white vinegar, ⅓ cup water, 1 ¼ tsp. salt, 3 tablespoons sugar
- Place garlic cloves, peppercorns, red pepper flake, and dill sprigs in the bottom of a 16-ounce mason jar. Add cucumber spears to the jar in a vertical orientation. Pour warm vinegar solution over cucumbers and add additional water as needed to completely cover the cucumbers.2 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon black peppercorns, 1 pinch red pepper flakes, 3 dill sprigs, 4 cocktail cucumbers
- Refrigerate pickles overnight or up to 3 days for the best results.
Video
Notes
- Cucumbers: Firm, thin-skinned cocktail (mini) cucumbers stay the crispest and fit a 16-ounce jar perfectly. English seedless cucumbers work too, just cut them into similar 4-inch spears.
- For extra crunch: Trim the blossom end, the end opposite the stem, off each cucumber before slicing. It carries an enzyme that can soften pickles.
- Red pepper flakes: Optional. Add a pinch for a little heat, or leave them out.
- Dill: 1 teaspoon dried dill can be used in place of fresh.
- Jars: A 16-ounce mason jar works best, and wide-mouth pint jars work equally well. Use glass with a tight-fitting lid, never plastic, since the hot brine can leach plastic into the pickles.
- When they’re ready: Great after an overnight soak, about 8 hours, and even better on day 2 once the flavor deepens.
- Storage: Keep in the fridge in an airtight jar for up to 1 month. They slowly lose their crunch after that. Not shelf stable, so always refrigerate.
- Make ahead: These are a make-ahead recipe by design. They’re ready after an overnight soak and hold their crunch in the fridge for up to 1 month.
- Freezing: Not recommended. Cucumbers are too watery to freeze and turn soft and mushy once thawed.
- Scaling: Easily doubled or tripled. One batch fills a single 16-ounce jar.
- Nutrition: An estimate based on only half of the brine being consumed.
Nutrition
Calories: 41kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 244mg | Potassium: 96mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 325IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 0.5mg
