Learn how to make quick pickles with cucumbers and a simple brine with this easy overnight refrigerator dill pickle recipe!
Making pickles doesn’t have to take weeks.
These crisp and refreshing pickles can be made overnight in your fridge, no canning required!
Make a batch today and enjoy them tomorrow on your sandwiches and burgers, in salads, or as a tasty snack.
They are also delicious on top of this cheeseburger casserole – yum!
Ingredients
Here is what you will need to make quick pickles…
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
- 4-5 sprigs fresh dill
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups cucumber (or carrots), sliced or speared
Additions and Substitutions
- You can use white vinegar or rice vinegar can be used in place of apple cider vinegar.
- Add 2-4 Tbsp of sugar to the brine for a bit of sweetness.
- Try adding 1/2 – 1 cup thinly sliced onions to the jars along with the cucumbers.
- For some heat add 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.
- While I demonstrated this quick dill pickle recipe using cucumbers and carrots, you can really pickle pretty much any vegetable: red onion, beets, summer squash, okra, green beans, etc…
How to Make Quick Refrigerator Pickles
Add the cucumbers and dill to glass jars.
In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, bring the water, vinegar, salt, and garlic to a simmer. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until all the salt has dissolved.
Pour the brine over the cucumbers. The cucumbers should be covered with liquid. Top off with cool water if needed to cover all the cucumbers.
Cool for about an hour at room temperature then cover and refrigerator overnight or until serving.
If you like this recipe, you will also love these delicious fried pickle spears!
Recipe FAQ
Kirby cucumbers or other small, firm cucumbers are great for pickling. They have fewer seeds and tend to stay crispy longer and keep their “snap”.
Homemade pickles will last for several weeks when stored in an airtight jar in the refrigerator.
Quick Pickles
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
- 4-5 sprigs fresh dill
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups cucumber or carrot sliced
Instructions
- Add the cucumbers and dill sprigs to glass jars.
- In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, bring the water, vinegar, salt, and garlic to a simmer. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until all the salt has dissolved.
- Pour the brine over the cucumbers and dill sprigs. The cucumbers should be covered with liquid. Top off with cool water if needed to cover all the cucumbers.
- Cool to room temperature (about an hour) then cover and refrigerator overnight or until serving.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by a third party and intended to serve as an estimate only. The accuracy of nutritional information is not guaranteed.
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Thank you so much for this, it’s really easy and it taste awesome! Very helpful!
Can I use regular vinegar instead of apple cider?
This is awesome a delicious recipe thank you I will be using it a lot!!! It is more than a five star recipe in my opinion!!!
I use this recipe ALL the time…and it comes out great all the time. I make either cucumber pickles or pickled carrots a lot as hostess gifts or just visiting a neighbor. Am always getting requests. So, Thank you!
I am so happy to hear that you enjoy my quick pickle recipe! Thank you for coming back to let me know, your comment really made my day 🙂
I wonder if pouring the extra water at the end would dilute the water:vinegar ratio too much and be risk for bacteria growth…
Hi Jaclyn! This is just the recipe I needed, but I do have a question.
Do I have to use canning jars, or can I use (sterilized) recycled glass bottles? I have a bunch that I was about to send to the recycling depot, but if I can make use of them for making my own pickles, it would definitely be a win (& money saver) in my book.
Thanks, from Alberta, Canada, where it’s currently 58°F. Brr!
Hi Terry! You can use any glass jars that you have, canning jars are not required for this recipe since you will be keeping the pickles in the refrigerator. As long as your glass containers have lids they should be fine. Enjoy!
Thanks so much for the speedy reply, I appreciate it. Have a great one!
Could this recipe be canned??
I do not have experience with canning, only with making quick pickles in the fridge. I would suggest you use a pickle recipe specific for canning.
I see there’s 41 reviews with 4.7 star rating. Where are the reviews with ratings? I can only see a handful of comments on here. Thanks.
Hi Amanda! The way my site is set up is different than many other recipe blogs. The star ratings are left in the recipe card itself by clicking on the stars. The comments are separate and not “attached” to the star rating. I hope that makes sense!
The photos show fresh dill, but the recipe calls for a tablespoon of what I’m assuming is dried dill. Which is it? I’m looking forward to trying your pickles!
Fresh dill! I will update the recipe to make it clearer, I can see how it was confusing–sorry about that!