A simple old-fashioned recipe for easy homemade Refrigerator Pickles! My mom makes this recipe every year as a way to use up our surplus of fresh cucumbers from the garden. This recipe take only 15 minutes to make and yields sweet and tangy homemade pickles and onions!
The Easiest Refrigerator Pickles
How is everyone’s garden coming along this year?
As I mentioned, I’m garden-less over here in the new house so I’m relying on friends, family, and roadside produce stands to make my favorite summertime staples like homemade salsa, bruschetta, zucchini bread, and now these refrigerator pickles. Send me all of your produce!
Today’s recipe is one that I got from my mom (like so many favorites around here). She would make these refrigerator pickles every summer as a way to use up extra cucumbers from the garden, though we often requested it in the winter as well so I know that grocery store cucumbers will work just fine in a pinch.
Refrigerator pickles are quite different from classic dill pickles that you might be used to. Rather than savory, these are tangy and sweet, closer to a bread and butter pickle than a kosher dill.
How to Make Refrigerator Pickles
- Start by making your brine (see image above!). Combine vinegar, sugar, salt, celery seed, mustard seed, and turmeric in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil.
- Pour brine over thinly sliced pickles and onions. Stir so that all pickles and onions are completely coated with brine.
- Cover and refrigerate for several hours.
How Long Do Refrigerator Pickles Last?
These refrigerator pickles will keep for up to several weeks in the refrigerator. I imagine that they can be canned and would last much longer that way, but having never canned anything in my life I can’t advise here. Make sure to store your pickles in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
Tips for Making Refrigerator Pickles
- 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.
- 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!
- While I ultimately like to store my refrigerator pickles in mason jars, when I am making them I almost always first let the cucumbers/onions/brine sit overnight in a large bowl (rather than putting them directly into a mason jar). I’ve found that the bowl makes it possible to ensure that all of the cucumbers and onions are coated in the brine, while the mason jar sometimes leaves the top layer brine-less (and therefore flavorless!).
I’d also like to note that I don’t recommend using these refrigerator pickles for making my fried pickles. These are a sweet & tangy pickle, almost like bread and butter pickles, and I recommend sticking to dill pickles when frying.
Enjoy!
More Recipes You Might Like:
- Caprese Salad
- Corn Salad
- Texas Caviar
- Broccoli Salad
- Or find more of my favorite Summer Recipes here!
Refrigerator Pickles
Ingredients
- 3 cups thinly sliced¹ cucumbers this was about 2 cucumbers for me (300g)
- 1 cup thinly sliced white or yellow onion this was about 1 small onion for me (80g)
- 1 ½ cups white vinegar 355ml
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar 300g
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon celery seed
- ½ teaspoon mustard seed
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
Instructions
- Place cucumber and onion slices in a medium-sized heat-proof bowl and set aside.
- Combine all remaining ingredients (vinegar, sugar, salt, celery seed, mustard seed, and ground turmeric) in a small saucepan and stir well.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sugar is dissolved.
- Bring to a boil and 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.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Debbie in California says
July 10, 2019 at 11:20 pmHello,
These pickles look delicious.
I hope no one laughs..but..is it O.K. to use regular old pickle jars from shop bought pickles that have been well washed or do I need special canning jars?
Obviously I am not an expert in the kitchen !
Thank you
Sam says
July 11, 2019 at 9:02 pmHi Debbie! You could certainly reuse those jars. I don’t know how well you could can them with those jars, but the pickles will be good for several weeks in the refrigerator without going through the canning process. 🙂
Jeff Stone says
July 8, 2019 at 4:27 pmWhy don’t you use self rising? Why add the extra ingredients?
Sam says
July 8, 2019 at 4:50 pmHi Jeff! This recipe uses no self rising flour (or self rising anything) so I’m not sure what you mean.
Cindy W says
July 8, 2019 at 2:49 pmlooks good but how would I make dill pickles??
Is it the same recipe but just adding dill seeds??
please help — I am a freak for dill pickles (and I will make the sweet ones for my hubby)
Sam says
July 8, 2019 at 5:37 pmHi Cindy! Unfortunately, I have not tried making a dill version so I wouldn’t be able to give good advice on making dill pickles. I’m sorry. 🙁
Cricket says
July 8, 2019 at 12:56 pmDo you have to add celery seed and mustard seed? Is there a substitute if possible?
Sam says
July 8, 2019 at 1:00 pmI’m sorry but I don’t really have any recommendations for substitutes, it would alter the flavor if you leave them out.