Refrigerator Pickles Recipe
Who knew that making refrigerator dill pickles was so easy and delicious? This is a very special recipe that was originally passed down through my mother-in-law's side of the family. These pickles have been made every single year - for as long as anyone can remember. (Yield approximately 10 pints, or 5 quarts)
Ingredients
- 6 cups water
- 3 cups white vinegar
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons sugar (for sweeter dills, use up to 1 cup sugar; allulose sugar substitute may be used)
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons iodized table salt
- 1¼ teaspoons pickle crisp (optional) (alum can be substituted)
- 3 medium onions (sliced, approximately ¼ cup onion slices per pint)
- 1 head of garlic (you will need 1 to 2 garlic cloves per pint)
- large bunch fresh dill with seed heads (you will need 1 seed head per pint; see notes about dill below under Variations)
- 24 small small pickling cucumbers (approximately 4" in length, 1½" diameter)
Instructions
- Clean your jars with very hot soapy liquid or run them through a dishwasher on the sanitize setting. Cool jars completely before adding ingredients.
- Wash the cucumbers under running water. Remove any bad spots with a knife. Slice the cucumbers into ¼" thick slices, or wedge them.
- In the bottom of each jar, (depending upon the size of the jar) place 1 to 3 whole garlic cloves, and a ¼ to a ½ of an onion (slices). Tightly pack the cucumbers into the jar leaving 1" of head space. Top with 1 or 2 large heads of dill.
- In a large saucepan bring water, sugar, vinegar, and salt to a boil. Stir to dissolve sugar. Turn off heat.
- Using a funnel, carefully pour the hot liquid over the top of the pickles until full, leaving about ½" head space at the top.
- Let the pickles cool before placing the lid on top. Refrigerate at least 24 hours.
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- VARIATIONS:
- Make these a sweet dill pickle by using ¾ to 1 cup granulated sugar.
- Add spice by placing a whole or half of a hot red or green chile pepper in the bottom of the jar; you can also use ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon of red pepper flakes (in each jar).
- If you can only find dill with no seed heats, that is fine. Use approximately 1 sprig per pint, or more if you love dill.
- Alum can be used instead of pickle crisp. Alum was the traditional ingredient used in the original recipe.
- If following a sugar free or keto diet, use allulose as a sugar substitute.
- AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is one of those recipes handed down where an actual recipe was just a guide. You just sort of threw together what came out of the garden into jars and covered it with hot pickling liquid. There is quite a bit of room to play with the quantities and ingredients. I made an attempt to get the exact ingredient quantities to fit into exact jars - but you know how that goes. If you are off, it's okay.
- TIPS: You can use any size jars - just adjust the garlic, onion, and dill accordingly. It doesn't have to be exact. If you like garlic add more. If you're not sure, add 1 clove per pint. One year I used a very large jar for the entire recipe and it worked like a charm - just add everything into the one jar and you're done! If you have a variety of sizes - that's fine too. It's possible you might have leftover cucumbers, dill, and onion - if so, mix up more pickling liquid and make more pickles. If you're out of jars - don't panic. Add pickle ingredients to any glass container with a lid.
- STORAGE: If you started with very fresh cucumbers and ingredients, your pickles will keep in the fridge for up to 2 months (or longer).
Nutrition
Calories: 31kcalCarbohydrates: 5gProtein: 1gFat: 0.3gSaturated Fat: 0.03gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.01gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.005gSodium: 7mgPotassium: 231mgFiber: 1gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 110IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 30mgIron: 0.4mg
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