Dill Pickle Recipe

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Make Dill Pickles at home with this simple recipe! Persian Cucumbers are soaked in a garlic and dill pickling liquid and kept in the fridge for the most glorious, crunchy homemade pickles. Give this Dill Pickle Recipe a try today!

Best Cucumbers for Making Homemade Pickles at Home

The best cucumbers to use for homemade pickles are called Kirby Cucumbers. Kirby’s are basically any small variety of cucumber that are small and grown specifically for pickling. They are easy to find at any farmer’s market during the summer or even your local grocery or Whole Foods might have them. These are the kind that will stay crunchy after being pickled. Since I developed this recipe before cucumber season in the early spring, I used Persian Cucumbers which would be considered the next best thing.

Water Bath Canning Not Required

If you were wanting to make shelf stable cucumbers that you could store in your pantry for years to come, I would 100% recommend Water Bath Canning your jars of pickles. But since we are making ‘fridge pickles’, we won’t be water bath canning them because they will keep in the fridge for up to 3 months (or even longer).

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Vinegar, Flavorings and More!

I love the clean and crisp flavor of a dill pickle with a hint of garlic, so that is how I made these! Every ingredient was used for a reason and I’m going to break it down for you:

• White Vinegar – gives a sharp and crisp zing.
• Dill Weed and Garlic – for serious flavor. Yum!
• Kosher Salt – I love a salty pickle and am morally against sweet pickles.
• Granulated Sugar – to help balance out the salt and vinegar.
• Black Peppercorns and Red Pepper Flakes – meant for a little heat.

While I keep things pretty basic, here are a few more ingredients you can add to this homemade dill pickle recipe to experiment with: mustard seeds, jalapeños, dill seeds, fresh dill, yellow or sweet onion, coriander seeds and bay leaves.

How to Keep Homemade Pickles Crisp

There are a few tricks to ensuring your pickles stay crisp.

Choose Small, Firm, FRESH Pickles

The freshest ones will be from your local farmers market, and you can usually find the small Kirby Cucumbers there as well.

Cut Off the Blossom End of Cucumbers

This eliminates the enzyme they contain that naturally softens the cucumber. This may be the most important step to getting the most crisp pickles!

Brine Cucumbers

If you have time, it’s a good idea to soak your cut cucumbers in a salt water mixture to draw out some of the moisture.

Add Tannins

Another secret to getting crispy pickles is to add leaves to your jar that contain tannins, like Cherry, Raspberry or Grape Leaves.

How to Make Homemade Dill Pickles

While the process for making homemade pickles is pretty straight forward, it does take some time (at least 24 hours) since the cucumbers have to ‘pickle’. But the total active time is pretty minimal.

Prepare Jars

Wash and dry pint jars. Set aside.

Slice Cucumbers

Wash cucumbers, cut off ends and slice into quarters, lengthwise. Add upright into jars and top each with one smashed garlic clove. Set aside.

Make the Pickling Liquid

Make the pickling liquid by combining dill, vinegar, water, salt, peppercorns, sugar and red pepper flakes into a small pot. Place over medium heat and stir until salt and sugar has dissolved; about 2 minutes.

Refrigerate

Remove from heat and cool 10 minutes. Pour overtop of cucumbers, add lid and refrigerate at least 24 hours.

Let’s Use Those Homemade Pickles

Besides just eating these pickles straight up, I thought it would be helpful to list a few of my favorite recipes that call for dill pickles.

• Tuna Salad
• Egg Salad
• Best Burger Recipe
• Classic Deviled Eggs
• Deviled Egg Potato Salad

So there you have it! A Homemade Dill Pickle Recipe that is easy enough for anyone to make! I hope you love this recipe as much as we did! Have a great day, friends!