Refrigerator Pickles
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Jul 14, 2025 
Best Homemade Refrigerator Pickles Recipe: How to make pickles, no canning required! These perky crisp dill pickles make great sandwich toppers.
Refrigerator Pickles
Pucker up for the Best Homemade Refrigerator Pickles we’ve ever tried! These zesty garlic dills are quick and easy to make, and also pack a punch of flavor.
Sommer’s Recipe Notes
If you don’t like hot water canning, our Refrigerator Pickles are a great solution. You can make one jar or multiple jars of refrigerator pickles, and they are ready to eat after just one day of refrigeration.
Another beauty of Homemade Dill Pickles is that you can put them in any clean jar with a lid. You don’t need to buy canning jars because you don’t actually can them in the traditional way. Simply pack the jars with cucumbers, a bit of onion, and dill. Make the brine and pour it over the top. Then pop the pickles in the fridge.
If you are using unconventional jar sizes, you may need to adjust the amount of brine to fill the jars you have.
It is also fun to cut the cucumbers in whatever shape you like. I made long sandwich slices, spears, and crinkle-cut round slices. With a large enough jar and small enough cucumbers, you could leave them whole as well. Have fun with it!
Recipe Ingredients
Here’s what you’re going to need for this pickle recipe…
- Pickling Cucumbers – These are not regular cucumbers! Look for shorter cucumbers with bumpy skin.
- Vidalia Onion – This is a type of sweet onion grown in Georgia. If you can’t find these, just go with a regular sweet onion.
- Fresh Dill Weed – You’ll know this produce item by its distinct aroma. It also gives these pickles their signature dill taste.
- Apple Cider Vinegar – This has a mellow fruity flavor that melds well with the spices that go along with this recipe. (white vinegar works too!)
- Water – To fill the jar to the top.
- Garlic Cloves– You can’t go wrong with garlic!
- Pickling Salt – If you can’t find pickling salt, use kosher salt instead.
- Granulated Sugar – This balances the savoriness of the pickles but doesn’t overpower it.
- Whole Black Peppercorns – Whole black peppercorns are used instead of ground pepper for a milder taste.
- Whole Yellow Mustard Seeds – Super-small, yet these seeds are packed with bold flavor!
- Red Pepper Flakes – Adjust the spice level to your liking by adding more or less to your pickles.
How To Make Pickles
I use small pickling cucumbers with thick bumpy skin. They hold up well and stay crunchy. It doesn’t take too many cucumbers to fill a jar either; I was able to fit three 4-inch long sliced cucumbers in a pint-sized jar.
Zesty garlic dill pickles are my favorite. However, you can adjust this recipe to your own tastebuds to make it less garlicky or even sweeter.
Find the full Refrigerator Pickles recipe with ingredient proportions, detailed instructions, and a video tutorial in the printable form at the bottom of the post.
Serve These Quick Pickles On…
- Grilled French Onion Steak Sliders
- Best Slow Cooker Carnitas
- Smash Burger Recipe
- Ultimate Southern Chicken Salad
- Honey Pepper Pimento Chicken Sandwich
- Best Hamburger Patty
- Best Ever Tuna Salad Sandwich from Simply Recipes
Homemade Refrigerator Pickles Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 3 pickling cucumbers, each about 4 inches in length, sliced evenly
- 1/4 cup Vidalia onion, sliced
- 3-5 sprigs fresh dill weed
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pickling salt, or kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 1/4 teaspoon whole yellow mustard seeds
- Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Pack a clean pint-sized jar with sliced cucumbers, onion slices, and dill sprigs. Leave a 1/2 inch of space at the top of the jar for liquid.
- In a small pot heat the vinegar, water, garlic, and all spices until the mixture comes to a simmer and salt and sugar dissolve.
- Cool the brine down to warm and fill the jar so everything is covered with brine.
- Close the lid tightly and refrigerate for 24 hours before eating.
Notes
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Homemade pickles should last for two months in the refrigerator in their jar. However, the longer they sit, the less crunchy they become.
The pickles themselves are pickling cucumbers soaked in brine (water, vinegar, and salt) mixed with pickling spices. As the cucumbers soak in the mixture, they are transformed into pickles.
This question is easy. These pickles are the best! Obviously! They are homemade and straightforward to make. Knowing exactly what you are putting into your body is so empowering, especially when it tastes just as good, if not better than, store-bought.
If you are not a fan of cucumbers, consider using this pickle brine with green beans, cauliflower, bell peppers, or hot peppers.
More Pickled Recipes
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Has anyone used white vinegar instead?
Hi Desaray,
You can use white vinegar if needed. :)
Could this be used as a canning recipe? I really want to start canning vegetables but I’m trying to find good recipes first.
Why does this site never include measurements or quantities of ingredients? My pickles turned out ok but it was a lot of guessing.
Hi Freddie,
We include a full printable recipe at the bottom of each post with exact measurements. You can even use our servings slider to adjust the proportions of the ingredients as needed.
Once you’ve finished all the pickles, can the brine be reused for another batch?
I found that you can definitely use it another time. A third time is a little weak in flavor
Absolutely delicious and so easy and quick to make! Has anyone tried this recipe with distilled white vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar? And next time definitely adding sliced, fresh jalepenos and thinking of pickling cloves of garlic which I love.
i added my garlic right in the jar. and more of it, of course haha. the jalapeño sounds like an awesome idea also :) i did half apple cider and half white, and it was pretty sour! but i’m not sure if that’s because of my sweet tooth or the vinegar haha. i ended up adding a total of 2tsp of sugar which seemed to balance it out for me.
Ooh what do you use pickled garlic for?
Why doesn’t it say anywhere how long they will last in the fridge? Seems like a rather large oversight. Is it because they don’t last long at all? Maybe a few days?
The post says they will last 2 months in the refrigerator.
I love the ease of refrigerator pickles. I always avoided it because I didn’t want to do the canning, but this is so much easier. One thing I found to help keep them crunchy (if they last that long) is to put a black tea bag in the bottom of the jar before anything else. I remove the string, tag and staple if there is one. It doesn’t change the flavor so long as you make sure to use a plain black tea. I also split open a thai chili and remove the seeds instead of the red pepper flake. Different kind of heat. Thanks.
In the past I’ve tried “regular” pickling, but recently I’ve been making mostly “refrigerator” pickles.
Usually my “regular” pickles turned out fine, but the problem is that with most “regular” recipes you typically ending up with several quarts (not to mention all the work of the canning which, as you saw, at that time of year can be an ordeal). This is quite a bit more than our family will use in a year (and there’s only so much you can give away…)
So, as a result I’ve started making refrigerator pickles in which case I can make, say, three or so pints a month, which is almost just the right amount. (And if I need to make more, for a present, or for a special event, it’s easy to make extra.) Consequently, I’m always on the lookout for good recipes, like yours. Thanks much.
Well done! I use a lil bit of (raw)🍯. Thanks for the info.
Wow. Thank you for this simple and perfect pickle recipe. I’ve wanted to make refrigerator pickles for years and never got around to it. I found your recipe and it seemed just right. I went heavy on the red pepper flakes and added about one halved jalapeno for every three or four cucumbers (I quadrupled your recipe). The pickles came out quite spicy, just like I intended! Super crispy and flavorful! Thanks again.
These are fantastic! I have given them to my parents , neighbors and friends and they all LOVE them. Mee TOO!
I forgot to rate it. 5 stars….more if I could!
50% vinegar is way too much. They were not edible.