Making Refrigerator Pickles
Image source: Stacy Spensley

Making Refrigerator Pickles

This recipe comes from Leanne Brown, a fantastic resource for learning to cook low cost food. She’s published two free books - one of which is a cookbook for a $4/day food stamps budget. This recipe comes from the other book “Cooking from Scratch”.

I buy the Persian Cucumbers from Trader Joe’s ($2.29) because they’re exactly the right size for my jars! You’ll also need -

  • 1 one-quart mason jar
  • field cucumbers (this is where the Persian cucumbers come in!)
  • 1 shallot or ½ small onion, sliced
  • 3 garlic cloves, quartered
  • 3-4 sprigs dill
  • 1 cup white vinegar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1½ tsp mustard seeds
  • 1½ tsp dill seeds
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 1 bay leaf

I could not for the life of me find ‘dill seeds’ so I just did without.

Here are the rest of Leanne’s instructions:

  1. Cut up the cucumbers however you like. I usually slice them lengthwise into four or six slices each. Lean the jar on its side and alternate layers of cucumbers with with the onion, garlic, and dill.

  2. In a pot, bring the vinegar, water, seeds, salt, and bay leaf to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for about five minutes.

  3. Pour the hot liquid over the cucumbers in the jar. This may not be quite enough liquid because it’s difficult to predict how much space the cucumbers will take up. If you run out, just make a bit more liquid with a ratio of equal parts vinegar and water and half a tablespoon of salt per cup of liquid. Don’t worry about all the other stuff.

  4. Let it hang out until the jar is reasonably cool. Put the lid on, give it a good shake and put the jar in the fridge for two weeks. After that, the pickles are ready to eat!

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