How to Make Pickles From Scratch Recipe
This easy homemade pickle recipe shows you how to make crunchy, flavorful pickles from scratch using fresh cucumbers and simple pickling spices. With just a few basic ingredients and a little patience, you can enjoy delicious refrigerator pickles packed with dill, garlic, and spice. These pickles are perfect as a snack, side dish, or garnish and require no canning—just store and chill for a couple of weeks until fully pickled.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes (plus 1-2 weeks refrigeration)
- Yield: About 2 jars (48 oz each) of pickles
- Category: Pickling
- Method: No-Cook
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
Pickling Brine and Spices
- Distilled white vinegar – enough to fill jars halfway
- Cold water – equal parts to vinegar
- Granulated cane sugar – 1 tablespoon per 48 oz jar
- Salt – 1 tablespoon per 48 oz jar
- Bay leaves – 1 to 2 per jar
- Fresh dill – a small handful per jar
- Whole black peppercorns – a small handful per jar
- Red pepper flakes – to taste
- Optional: whole cloves or cinnamon sticks – a few per jar
Main Ingredient
- Pickling cucumbers – as many as fit per jar, leaving 1-inch headspace
Instructions
- Prepare the Cucumbers: Submerge the pickling cucumbers in an ice-cold water bath for 10-15 minutes to firm up their texture before pickling.
- Add Spices to Jar: In large airtight glass jars, place 1 to 2 bay leaves, a small handful of fresh dill, red pepper flakes, whole black peppercorns, granulated sugar, salt, and optionally whole cloves or cinnamon sticks. For a 48 oz jar, use about 1 tablespoon each of sugar and salt.
- Pack the Cucumbers: Fit the cucumbers snugly into the jars, leaving approximately 1 inch of space at the top for the brine.
- Fill with Pickling Brine: Pour a mixture of half distilled white vinegar and half cold water over the cucumbers until they are fully submerged, leaving headspace. Seal the jars tightly with their lids.
- Refrigerate and Pickle: Store the sealed jars in the refrigerator and let the cucumbers pickle for 1 to 2 weeks, depending on the cucumber size, until they develop the desired flavor and crunch.
Notes
- Use fresh pickling cucumbers for best crunch and flavor.
- The longer you let the cucumbers sit in the brine, the more flavorful they become.
- Adjust the amount of red pepper flakes to control the spice level.
- You can omit or include optional spices like cloves or cinnamon based on your taste preference.
- Always use airtight resealable glass jars to store pickles safely in the refrigerator.
- If you want sourer pickles, increase the vinegar proportion slightly.
