Learn how to make pickles at home! This easy 8-ingredient recipe yields crisp, tangy dill pickles that are a delicious snack or sandwich topping.
The first time I tried this dill pickle recipe, I wondered why on earth I’d spent so many years buying pickles at the grocery store. Sure, store bought pickles can be tasty, but these little guys take dill pickles to a whole new level. They’re super easy to make (the refrigerator does most of the work for you!), and they taste awesome. They’re crisp, tangy, and refreshing, with an addictive garlic-dill flavor. Most often, I eat them as a snack right out of the fridge, but they’re delicious on sandwiches and veggie burgers too. If you like dill pickles, you’re going to love this recipe.
How to Make Pickles
My method for how to make pickles couldn’t be simpler! Here’s how it goes:
- First, slice the cucumbers. I usually make this recipe with Persian cucumbers, but small pickling cucumbers work here too. Slice them lengthwise into quarters to make spears, or thinly slice them horizontally to make dill pickle chips.
- Then, fill the jars. Divide the cucumbers among 4 8-ounce or 2 16-ounce jars, and add fresh dill, halved garlic cloves, mustard seeds, and peppercorns to each jar of pickles.
- Next, make the brine. I use a mix of water, white vinegar, sugar, and salt. If you’re not a sweet pickle person, don’t worry! The sugar doesn’t actually make the refrigerator pickles sweet. Instead, it balances the pungent vinegar and salt to create an irresistible sour pickle flavor. Heat the brine on the stove until the sugar and salt dissolve and pour it over the jarred cucumbers. Then, set the jars aside to cool to room temperature.
- Finally, chill! This is the hard part! These guys aren’t ready right away – they need some time in the fridge to soak up the brine and become really flavorful. Dill pickle chips will be ready in 24 hours, while spears will take at least 48. They’ll keep in the fridge for several weeks, and they get better as time goes on. For best flavor, wait about 5 days.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Dill Pickle Recipe Serving Suggestions
These homemade pickles taste great on sandwiches, burgers, and more! Pile dill pickle chips onto veggie burgers, mushroom burgers, cauliflower po’ boys, black bean burgers, or BBQ jackfruit sandwiches at your next cookout. Alternatively, serve spears alongside one of these sandwiches for a deli-style lunch:
- Caprese Sandwich
- Avocado Sandwich
- Chickpea Salad Sandwich
- Egg Salad Sandwich or Vegan Egg Salad Sandwich
If you’re not in the mood for a sandwich, try adding your refrigerator pickles to a salad. I love to toss diced dill pickles into my Easy Macaroni Salad.
Last but not least, they’re delicious on their own! Enjoy them straight out of the fridge for a tangy, refreshing snack.
More Favorite Homemade Pickles
If you love this dill pickle recipe, try making pickled jalapeños, pickled red onions, or banh mi pickles next!
Dill Pickles
Ingredients
- 12 to 14 Persian cucumbers or 8 to 10 pickling cucumbers
- 4 garlic cloves, halved
- 2 teaspoons mustard seeds
- 2 teaspoons peppercorns
- a few good-sized dill sprigs, per jar
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups distilled white vinegar
- ¼ cup cane sugar
- 2 tablespoons sea salt
Instructions
- To make dill pickle spears, slice the cucumbers lengthwise into quarters. To make dill pickle chips, thinly slice them horizontally.
- Divide the cucumbers among 4 (8-ounce) or 2 (16-ounce) jars. Divide the garlic, mustard seeds, peppercorns, and dill sprigs among each jar.
- Heat the water, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar and salt dissolve, about 1 minute. Let cool slightly and pour over the cucumbers. Set aside to cool to room temperature, then store the pickles in the fridge.
- Pickle spears will be lightly pickled in 2 days, but their best flavor will start to develop around day 5 or 6. Pickle chips will be lightly pickled in 1 day, and will become more flavorful every day after that. Store in the fridge for several weeks.
Is it possible to top up the Cucumbers as you use them or does the pickle juice have a shelf life? Made the twice one sliced and one smaller but whole Cucumbers, I prefer the smaller ones as they don’t go soft over time
Do you still have to boil the jars
Hi Briana, no this recipe is for refrigerator pickles, so you don’t have to prep the jars but they do have to go in the fridge.
Thank you for this recipe! Not sure why I haven’t tried this until now as it was so easy to do. I ended up using less sugar, a bit of rice vinegar, more garlic, and jalapeños (I really enjoyed the added heat!). Turned out great!
Hi Randy, so glad you loved the pickles!
What kind of mustard seeds? Yellow? Brown ?
Hi, we typically use yellow mustard seeds for this recipe.
How are these dill pickles if they have no dill in the ingredients
Hi Zelda, the dill is the 5th ingredient down.
Can you can these to have them stable for shelf life or do you have a recipe for dill pickles to be made that way? thank you
I’m really excited to try this recipe! I’m making my foray into the at-home pickle-making game because my favorite store-bought pickles seem to be getting more expensive every time I go to the market! I’m like, “it’s cucumbers, people!”
I came to Love and Lemons first because I’ve had wonderful success with some of your recipes so far, After discovering How to Cook Brown Rice I have not desired to buy microwave rice ever again! Also, Pinto Beans from Scratch literally taught me how to cook dried beans and opened up a whole new world.
I have two questions. I read what you said in another comment about how keeping the pickles whole will require them to brine for a lot longer. About how long, would you say? What about halving the pickles? Whole are my favorite but if I don’t want to wait that long, approximately how long will it take if I cut the pickles in half? (I don’t like spears). I may try making halves in some jars and waiting for the wholes in other jars.
My second question is, what to do about the sugar? I don’t want the pickles to be even a little bit sweet, so should I use less sugar?
Thank you in advance. I’m so excited to make my first attempt at these!
I made these pickles according to the recipe, but halving the pickles. They were great after a week in the fridge. Next time I will make them with zero sugar. They were too sweet for kosher dills imo.
I’ve been using this recipe for years and it’s amazing! Crisp, crunchy dill pickles. My favorite! Thanks for sharing.
I’m so glad you’ve loved them!
Every year all our friends and family start calling wanting to know if we made these yet, they are amazing!
Ha ha, I’m so glad they’ve been a hit!
how do you get rid of the bitter taste .when the cucunber is over ripen to make dill pickles.
I cannot wait to try these. I made two jars of chips with cucumbers from my garden. . One I followed your recipe exactly. The other jar, I changed up the spice mix with one that my grandmother used, still with dill and garlic.
Wow, these turned out amazing. Great dill flavor with a slight sweetness. I can’t stop eating them!!
I’m so glad you loved them!
Can you store these outside of
The refrigerator after a few days?
Hi Joe, no, these are meant to be refrigerator pickles since these instructions don’t go through the whole canning process.
Wow. I made 6 pints yesterday and just had to make myself walk away from the jar I opened this morning! Super easy recipe and well worth the slicing of the cukes. I used pickle cukes and sliced about 1/4” thick. Heavy hand with the garlic and dill. Recipe is a keeper! I’m off to the farm stand for more pickle cukes!