Want to learn how to make easy homemade pickles?
Refrigerator Garlic Dill Pickles are the easiest pickles to make and you don't need any canning experience. These quick pickles are easy to make and only take about 30 minutes to make.
A few years ago I tried my hand at making refrigerator garlic dill pickles for the first time.
At that time, I had grown a few vines of Kirby cucumbers just so I could make homemade garlic dill pickles.
Jump to:
- What kind of cucumbers to make pickles?
- Growing pickling cucumbers
- What is the difference between refrigerator pickles and canned dill pickles?
- FREE Quick Pickling Guide
- Easy Homemade Pickles
- Brine Ingredients & Directions
- Directions on how to fill the jars
- Basic Canning Supplies Needed
- Gourmet Pickling Spice
- Pickling Tips
- Garlic Dill Pickles Canning Label
- More quick pickling recipes
- How to Make Refrigerator Garlic Dill Pickles
I am so glad I did because they turned out so delicious.
What kind of cucumbers to make pickles?
I haven't had much luck growing Kirby cucumbers since so when I saw what I knew to be pickling cucumbers at the grocery store I bought almost all they had.
I wanted to make a bigger batch of Spicy Refrigerator Garlic Dill Pickles.
Growing pickling cucumbers
Summer is winding down and you may or may not be staring down at a growing pile of pickling cucumbers from your garden.
That is if you are lucky enough to have a garden.
Or maybe you happen to have an awesome farmers market close by. Maybe occasionally you entertain the idea of making pickles as you walk by the bins of pickling cucumbers.
Making pickles is so easy and they taste so much better than store bought.
So if you have the chance to grow or buy some small pickling cucumbers do it!
Try this recipe and I promise you will look forward to the cucumber season every year.
What is the difference between refrigerator pickles and canned dill pickles?
With refrigerator or quick pickles, you never process them in a hot water bath canner. They are not meant to be stored long term in a cabinet.
You make them and refrigerate them. You can eat them after a day but they taste so much better after about a week.
Refrigerator pickles stay nice and crunchy because they are not exposed to the high heat from the hot water bath canner which will soften the cucumbers during the canning process.
I have made homemade pickles both ways and prefer a refrigerator pickle that is crisp when I bite into it.
The refrigerator garlic dill pickles I make taste awesome.
I like to make them spicy. I even make a few jars of extra garlicky and spicy.
As with any canning process all utensils, jars, and lids still need to be sterilized.
FREE Quick Pickling Guide
New to making pickles? Grab my Quick Pickling guide for tips to get started.
Easy Homemade Pickles
If for some reason you thought making pickles was too difficult let me ease your mind. If you can....
- wash and sterilize jars & lids
- measure spices
- slice cucumbers
- boil a brine
Then you can make these pickles. That is all there is to making refrigerator dill pickles. You can make them spicy.
You can make them garlicky. You can make them mild. It's up to you.
Let me know if you try it. I'd love to hear what you think about this homemade refrigerator pickle recipe.
Brine Ingredients & Directions
Ingredients needed to make enough pickling brine for about 4 pints size jars of pickles.
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon pickling salt
- Kirby or other small thin skinned pickling cucumbers (sometimes labeled salad cucumbers)
Spices to place into each jar. Into each jar of pickle spears or rounds add:
- 1-2 whole garlic cloves, peeled
- 4 sprigs of fresh dill per jar if you don't have fresh dill on hand you can add 1 tablespoon of dried dill to each jar. I prefer fresh dill when I am making pickles but dried or dehydrated dill will also work.
- 1 teaspoons peppercorns and ½ teaspoon hot pepper flakes(adjust for personal taste)
- Or use my Gourmet Pickling Spice in place of the peppercorns and pepper flakes.
Directions on how to fill the jars
- Sterilize jars + lids by boiling them or running them through the dishwasher.
- Put 1-2 whole garlic cloves into the bottom of each jar.
- Add 4 dill sprigs to each jar.
- Add peppercorns and hot pepper flakes.
- Wash and trim the ends of your cucumbers.
- Cut into thin rounds or spears and pack into the jars tightly.
- To make the brine boil the water, vinegar and pickling salt.
- Pour the boiling brine into the jars over the cucumbers and put the lids on the jars.
- Let cool on the counter and then refrigerate.
- Cure for one week before eating.
- Please follow proper safety measures for food storage when canning or pickling!
Basic Canning Supplies Needed
- Wide Mouth Canning Jars Amazon Best Seller!
- Wide Mouth Funnel makes filling jars with brine mess free
- Pickling Spice
- Pickling Salt: you must use pickling salt.
This recipe was adapted from Food In Jars Urban Preserving: Refrigerator Dill Pickles.
You can find the original recipe here. Take a look while you are there. She has some of the best canning recipes out there.
Buy my new Gourmet Pickling Spice to make the best homemade pickles ever.
Gourmet Pickling Spice
A bold blend of eight hand-selected herbs and spices that adds just the right punch to all your pickling projects—crunchy cucumbers, tangy beets, zesty pickled onions, carrots, or your favorite veggie blends. Endless homemade pickle possibilities!
Pickling Tips
- Filtered water: Use filtered untreated water for best results. Treated (city water) has a tendency to turn the garlic cloves a weird dark almost black color. The garlic is still safe to eat but it is very unappealing looking.
- Dill: fresh dill is best when making refrigerated pickles but in a pinch you can use a teaspoon of dill weed or dill seeds instead.
- You can use a mixed pickling spice in place of the pepper corns and red pepper flakes. If you want extra spicy pickles add the red pepper flakes even if you use a pickling spice.
- You may need to double or triple the amounts for the brine depending on how many jars of pickles you are making.
- Choose firm unblemished cucumbers.
- Test out the recipe and then make adjustments to the garlic and pepper flakes to find your perfect spicy garlic pickle flavor.
- You can use recycled glass jars to make refrigerator pickles because they will not be processed in a water bath canner.
Label your pickle jars with these cute Dill Pickle Canning labels. Perfect for quick pickles or water bathed pickles.
Garlic Dill Pickles Canning Label
Dress up your homemade garlic dill pickles with these printable canning labels!
They’re perfect for water bath or refrigerator quick pickles. Add your own date for easy tracking, and print as many as you need right from home.
Bonus:
Make your homemade pickles look as good as they taste! Grab these printable Garlic Dill Pickles labels free with any Gourmet Pickling Spice purchase. Print them at home, stick them on your jars, and you’re all set to show off your delicious creations. Freebie code will be printed on your invoice.
More quick pickling recipes
Email questions or recipe requests to flouronmyface@gmail.com. Follow me on Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.
How to Make Refrigerator Garlic Dill Pickles
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. kirby or other pickling cucumbers
To Make the Pickling Brine for about 4 pints jars
- 2 cups water (unfiltered untreated water is highly recommended)
- 1 cup 5% white vinegar
- 1 tablespoons pickling salt
Into each jar of pickle spears or sliced rounds add
- 2 cloves garlic (peeled)
- 4 sprigs sprigs of fresh dill per jar
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns (or pickling spice)
- ½ teaspoon hot pepper flakes (adjust for personal taste)
Instructions
Sterilize the jars
- Sterilize jars + lids by dipping them into a pot of boiling water. Allow the water to drain on a towel near by. Or run them through the dishwasher on high heat.
Prepare Canning Jars
- Put 1-2 garlic cloves into the bottom of each jar. Add 4 sprigs of fresh dill to each jar.
- Add the peppercorns and hot pepper flakes. Or ½ a teaspoon of pickling spice.
- Wash and trim the ends of the cucumbers.
- Cut the pickles into thin rounds or spears and pack the cucumbers into the jars tightly.
Make the brine
- Measure the vinegar and water into a large saucepan.
- Add the pickling salt to the pan.
- Bring to a boil.
- Use a ladle to pour the boiling brine into the jars over the cucumbers leaving ¼ inch head space. Use a chop stick or canning bubbling tool to release the bubbles in the jars. If there is room in the jar push more cucumber pieces in. Wipe the jar rims and place a flat lid on top of the jars and twist a band on.
- Place on a towel and let cool on the counter to room temperature before refrigerating.
- Refrigerate the pickles for about a week to cure before eating.
Video
Recipe Expert Tips
- filtered water: treated (city water) has a tendency to turn the garlic cloves a weird dark almost black color. The garlic is still safe to eat but it is very unappealing looking.
- dill: fresh dill is best when making refrigerated pickles but in a pinch you can use a teaspoon of dill weed or seeds.
- You can use a mixed pickling spice in place of the pepper corns and red pepper flakes. If you want spicy pickles add the red pepper flakes even if you use a pickling spice.
- You may need to double or triple the amounts for the brine depending on how many jars of pickles you are making.
- Choose firm unblemished cucumbers.
- Test out the recipe and then make adjustments to the garlic and pepper flakes to find your perfect spicy garlic pickle flavor.
- You can use recycled glass jars to make refrigerator pickles because they will not be processed in a water bath canner.
- I tasted mine after 4 days and they were awesome.
- Please follow proper safety measures for canning or pickling!
- Use within 2 months (if they last that long!)
Nutrition
Did you enjoy the How to Make Refrigerator Garlic Dill Pickles post? Since I made them I have canned Dill Pickles.
After making and processing Kosher Dills a few years later I have to agree.
You can read about it over at the How to Make Kosher Dill Pickles recipe.
Looking for more canning recipes? Head over to my canning recipes page where you will find all my canning recipes.
Tina Waldrep
These are so easy and good...Hubby's work mates claim these are the best pickles they have ever eaten in their lives!
Carmen
These turned out delicious and so crisp. I altered it a bit due to getting my bread and butter pickle recipe mixed up with the garlic dill pickle recipe. I thought the ingredient was pickling spice instead of pickling salt and I had already added it, so I then added the salt. I also salted and sliced the cucumbers and put them in frig for an hour. Before I put them in jars I rinsed the salt off. Turned out scrumptious! Not too salty.
Arlene Mobley
Carmen glad you enjoyed the recipe!