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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These pickles are Delicious and so easy to make‼️
Trying my hand at pickles – since my cucumbers went crazy this year. Looking at your best homemade refrigerator pickle recipe. My question is can I use regular cucs for refrigerator pickles? Not sure if I know the difference between the cucumbers – just by size?
Thank you!
Hi Lynette,
You can use any type of cucumber you like. However, the smaller “pickling” cucumbers do tend to have a better (denser) texture for pickles.
Addicted! Never need to buy pickled anything again!
This was great!!! I have so many garden cucumbers. So easy!!!
Thank you
This recipe is excellent! I’ve gotten rave reviews from everyone I shared my pickles with last summer and planted several extra cucumber vines this year just so I could make more. Sometimes I add a little whole coriander to the jar along with the mustard and peppercorns, since it’s a traditional part of pickling spice, but otherwise I leave the recipe alone.
I love using whole dill seed heads in the jar as an effortless (well, effortless if your garden or your parents’ is overrun with volunteer dill plants) decorative touch, especially when I know I’m going to be giving it away. And the onion slices make great sandwich fixin’s once you’ve eaten all the pickles in the jar. I keep finding more reasons to love this recipe.
Looking forward to trying this! Can I use ground mustard in place of mustard seed?
Thanks!
Also wondering this
Hi Taylor,
Yes, you can use an equal amount of ground mustard.
We were totally amazed at this recipe! We only had 2 large pickling cucumbers so we didn’t want to make a large batch. These cucumbers made up 2-pint size jars of pickles and they tasted great! We figured we weren’t out too much money on this as the cucumbers were free and we had all the ingredients so we said let’s give a try and I am a picky person but I really like these. We have already put them on our hamburgers and just eaten them out of the jar. I just didn’t add the red pepper flakes. Very good and we are so glad we tried it!
First time making pickles. Did not disappoint! Love the flavor and bite that comes from the garlic and other spices.
I agree Kyla.. I will add a tsp of sugar next time!
Do you think I could use fennel instead of dill?
Hi RG,
Absolutely! Let me know how they turn out. :)
Can you put these in a water bath to preserve in your pantry?.
Hi Rebecca,
These are not the same as canning pickles, so they do need to be kept cold. Here is a fabulous canned pickle recipe if that is what you are looking for: https://www.foodiewithfamily.com/homemade-claussen-knock-off-pickles/
Easy and the best refrigerator pickles ever. 5 stars.
We made these and they turned out great! I know they can’t be canned, is there a certain amount of time they need to be eaten before they will “go bad”?