A sweet and tangy refrigerator pickles recipe! This old-fashioned family favorite of mine is perfect for using up a surplus of fresh cucumbers from the garden. While you’ll want to let them rest for best flavor, they take only 15 minutes of your time to make! Recipe includes a how-to video.
Sweet & Tangy Refrigerator Pickles Recipe
Refrigerator pickles are one of my favorite summertime staples. I find myself making them on repeat through the hottest months of summer, along with homemade salsa, bruschetta, and my zucchini muffins. This recipe is actually my mom’s. She made it often during the summers as a way to use up extra cucumbers from the garden, and we loved it!
These pickles are quite different from the classic dill pickles that you might be used to. Rather than savory, these are tangy and sweet; they’re closer to a bread and butter pickle than a kosher dill.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Lasts for weeks in the fridge, so you can enjoy them all summer long. They never last more than a day or two in my house though 😉
- Extra flavor, thanks to the addition of thinly sliced onions. They make such a difference!
- Uses just a few kitchen staples. You probably already have all of the ingredients in your pantry!
- Perfect for using up excess cucumbers from your garden! My cucumber salad is another great option for this during the summer months.
What You Need
As with most old-fashioned recipes, my refrigerator pickles recipe doesn’t require any fancy ingredients. Instead, we’ll combine a few pantry staples for maximum flavor!
- Cucumbers. Fresh summer cucumbers work nicely, though as kids we often requested my mom make this recipe in the winter as well, so I know that grocery store cucumbers will work just fine in a pinch. Really any variety of cucumber will work!
- Spices. Including mustard seed, celery seed, and turmeric. The seeds are pickle staples (I’m sure you’ve seen them floating near the bottom of your store-bought pickle jar) and add flavor while the turmeric adds a nice golden color.
- Onions. Yellow or sweet onions are my preference, but white or even red would also work here. If you hate onions, you can leave them out of this recipe, but they do add a little extra something in terms of flavor, so I recommend including them! If omitting, just replace them with additional cucumber slices.
- Vinegar. I use and recommend white vinegar, it works best for letting the cucumber/pickle flavor shine, but you could experiment with other similar vinegars like apple cider or rice wine vinegar.
- Sugar. I know it seems like a lot, but the sugar is a key ingredient in this recipe as it helps balance the vinegar. Also, these are sweet pickles after all!
SAM’S TIP: Slice your pickles and onions as thin as you possibly can! I like to get mine as close to paper thin as is possible; it helps them to absorb the flavor of the brine faster. A mandolin makes quick, efficient and consistent work of this, I link to the (inexpensive) one that I use in the recipe card below.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Refrigerator Pickles
- Thinly slice your veggies. To do this, I like to use this mandolin (<– my affiliate link). It doesn’t take up much space in my drawer and is easy to use. I absolutely love it!
- Make the brine by cooking the vinegar, sugar, salt, and spices over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved, then bring to a boil.
- Pour brine over the cucumbers and onions. Stir so that all pickles and onions are completely coated with brine, then cover and refrigerate for several hours.
SAM’S TIP: While I ultimately like to store my pickles in mason jars, I almost always first let them sit overnight in a large bowl. I’ve found that the bowl ensures that all of the veggies are coated in the brine, while the mason jar sometimes leaves the top layer brine-less (and therefore flavorless!).
Frequently Asked Questions
I don’t see why not, but truthfully I don’t have any canning experience, so I can’t advise on how to do this. If you do try it or have any canning advice you’d like to leave for others, please don’t hesitate to do so. I’d love to know how it goes for you.
These pickles will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator. Make sure to store in an airtight container.
This refrigerator pickles recipe makes sweet and tangy pickles similar to bread and butter pickles. You’d need to make quite a few alterations to make dill pickles (reduce the sugar, swap the spices, etc.). If you’d like to see a dill pickle recipe, let me know in the comments, it’s something I could work on if there is enough interest!
I’d like to note that I don’t recommend using these pickles for making my fried pickles. Stick with dill pickles for those!
Enjoy!
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Refrigerator Pickles
Ingredients
- 3 cups (300 g) thinly sliced¹ cucumbers this was about 2 cucumbers for me
- 1 cup (80 g) thinly sliced white or yellow onion this was about 1 small onion for me
- 1 ½ cups (355 ml) white vinegar
- 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon celery seed
- ½ teaspoon mustard seed
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Place cucumber and onion slices in a medium-sized heat-proof bowl and set aside.3 cups (300 g) thinly sliced¹ cucumbers, 1 cup (80 g) thinly sliced white or yellow onion
- Combine all remaining ingredients in a small saucepan and stir well.1 ½ cups (355 ml) white vinegar, 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon celery seed, ½ teaspoon mustard seed, ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sugar is dissolved.
- Bring to a boil then remove from heat.
- Pour vinegar mixture over cucumbers and onions, stir so that all cucumbers and onions are coated with brine.
- Allow to cool at room temperature for about 10 minutes, then cover and transfer to refrigerator.
- Allow to chill overnight (or at least for 4-6 hours, so the flavor can fully develop) before enjoying.
Notes
¹Slicing
The thinner the better! A mandolin makes this quick and easy (and all of your slices will be consistent thickness), I link to my favorite mandolin in the “equipment” section above.Storing
Refrigerator pickles will keep for up to several weeks in the refrigerator in an airtight container.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Janice
Fabulous pickles. And so easy! They’re pretty, too 🙂 I didn’t have pickling cucumbers in my garden so I used regular snacking cukes. Because they’re sliced so thinly, the tougher skin of the cucumbers was not an issue. So glad I doubled the recipe! Thanks for another out-of-the-world recipe, Sam!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you like them so much, Janice! Thanks for coming back to leave a review 🩷
Debra Bahr
Excellent
Friend love them when I give as gift!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy they were a hit for you, Debra! We really appreciate you coming back to leave a review 🩷
Sally
These pickle are excellent!
Goldie Bradley
These are great pickles — very similar to bread and butter pickles but with the onions they move up a notch. I love these pickles on a sandwich — whole grain bread, mayo, cheese, and these pickles (drain off some of the liquid). Fabulous!
I used English cucumbers and thin sliced them in food processor.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Goldie! 🙂
Donna Newell
These are super easy and delicious!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Donna! Thank you for trying my recipe! 🙂
Julie
Could these be canned?
Sam
Hi Julie! I don’t see any reason that you would have issues doing so, but I am not experienced with canning so I can’t say for sure how to do it.
Terry
Hi Sam! I’m just wondering if you use regular white vinegar, or white pickling vinegar.
Thanks so much, for this simple recipe. I just want to make sure that I don’t screw it up 🤞😕.
Sam
Hi Terry! I use regular white vinegar here. 🙂
Merari
Ok im going crazy I can’t find celery seed anywhere… What can I do if I dont find this…
Sam
Hi Merari! You could just omit them, it will just change the flavor a bit. I don’t have a good substitute here. 🙁
Donna Copeland
I use pickling spices and like the flavor it gives. You may want to try that.
PAMELA
I don’t like sweet pickles. Also like them spicy. Can I leave out sugar and add red pepper flakes?
Sam
Hi Pamela! That should work just fine here. 🙂
PAULAp
CAN I SUBSTITUTE SPLENDA FOR THE SUGAR IN THIS RECIPE?
Sam
Hi Paula! I haven’t tried it, but I think it could work. 🙂
Christin Fowler
Love these and so easy!
Maureen
Can you use English cucumbers instead?
Sam
Hi Maureen! I haven’t tried it myself but I don’t see any reason it wouldn’t work here. 🙂
Maureen
Do you have a recipe for bread and butter pickles?
Sam
Hi Maureen! I do not currently have a recipe for bread and butter pickles but I will add it to my list of things to make. 🙂
Maureen
How long do they last in a Mason jar
Sam
Hi Maureen! It depends whether you go through the process to can them or not. If you don’t can them they should be good for a couple of weeks. If you do can them they could last several months. 🙂
Amy
The recipe in the video is different than the recipe above….which one do I go by?
Sam
Hi Amy, I’m going to have to blame that on pregnancy brain, I’m sorry. The written recipe is accurate.
Amy
No worries! Just wanted to make sure I use the right one so they turn out good. Thank you!