How to Make Refrigerator Sweet Pickles
If you want to make sweet, crunchy pickles without the hassle of canning, here is a recipe for you! Refrigerator sweet pickles are easy to make. All you have to do is slice some pickling cucumbers, make a brine, pour it together, throw it in the fridge for two weeks, and you will have the perfect addition to creamy salads or pairing for a savory sandwich.
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My neighbor and good friend, John, shared his refrigerator dill pickle recipe with me several years ago. I have lived next door to him for more than three decades and he has been an invaluable source of gardening, cooking, food preservation, and general life advice.
After making that recipe summer after summer, we began talking about sweet pickles and he told me how he makes those too. The process is quite simple and closely resembles the steps to making refrigerator dills, with a little tweak to the cutting of the cucumbers and the brine.
His refrigerator sweet pickles are crunchy and full of flavor. They make the perfect addition to creamy potato or pasta salad or pair well with a savory sandwich.
What I love is how easy they are to make. Since you won’t be canning these refrigerator sweet pickles, there’s no messing around with sterilizing jars or water baths. All you have to do is add cucumbers and homemade brine to a jar and place it in the fridge. That’s it! Waiting two weeks to eat them is the hardest part!
Materials Needed for Making Refrigerator Sweet Pickles
- 1-quart Mason jar
- Cutting board
- Kitchen knife
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Whisk
- Mixing bowl
- Refrigerator
This recipe will make one quart-sized jar of sweet pickles. If you want to make a bigger batch, just double the recipe!
Ingredients for Making Refrigerator Sweet Pickles
- 6-8 pickling cucumbers
- 2 cups distilled white vinegar
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- ¼ cup pickling salt
- ¾ teaspoon turmeric
- ¾ teaspoon celery salt
- ¾ teaspoon mustard seed
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
The number of cucumbers you need really depends on their size. We like to harvest ours before they get too big. Once they are overgrown, they aren’t as crisp and tend to be very seedy.
Feel free to make this refrigerator sweet pickle recipe your own by adding other spices or ingredients. Sliced onion and coriander seed are great additions!
Directions for Making Refrigerator Sweet Pickles
- Wash your pickling cucumbers to remove any dirt.
- Trim the blossom end off so that your pickles stay crunchy. Slice them into round “pickle chips” with a kitchen knife and cutting board (about a ¼ inch thickness is good).
- Place the sliced cucumbers into a clean, empty 1-quart Mason jar.
- Make the brine by combining vinegar, sugar, pickling salt, turmeric, celery salt, mustard seed, and minced garlic in a bowl with a whisk. The sugar and salt dissolve more easily if you use warm water.
- Pour the cooled brine into the jar, over the cucumbers. Make sure all cucumbers are completely submerged in the brine. You may need to add some tap water.
- Put the lid on the jar and refrigerate for 2 weeks.
- Enjoy your pickles within 6 months. Keep refrigerated!
