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These Quick Pickled Cucumbers with green onion are made in the refrigerator for a simple summer snack or quick side dish!
My grandma was a wiz in the kitchen and always created the most incredible recipes for her family of 13 kids (11 of whom were boys!). I got this recipe for quick pickled cucumbers from her. She is an incredible woman, and thinking about her makes me happy. She’d create a simple brine and throw anything from the garden in—not just cucumbers, but onions, bell peppers, and whole cherry tomatoes.
It tastes like summer in a jar, and whether you’re an avid gardener or more of a grocery store frequenter, anyone can make these easy refrigerator pickles in no time.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Quick Pickled Cucumbers Recipe
- Quick & Easy: One of the best things about Refrigerator Pickles is that you can make them quickly and then let them sit in the fridge.
- No Special Equipment: Unlike traditional canning, this recipe doesn’t require any special equipment.
- Garden Abundance: If you have an abundance of fresh cucumbers, this recipe is a fantastic way to preserve them and enjoy them longer.
- Versatile Recipe: I love tossing in other veggies just like my Grandma did. Use whatever onions you have, add garlic or peppers, and whatever fresh or dried herbs and seasonings to get the flavor of pickles your family likes best. There’s no wrong way to do it!
🥒 For maximum use of the flavored liquid, reuse it a time or two! Just add more cucumbers or other vegetables to the brine!
Recipe Ingredients
- Vinegar — Apple cider, white, and rice wine are all good options.
- Sugar — This is optional, but it takes a little of the “bite” out of the vinegar.
- Garden Cucumbers — Kirby cucumbers or a similar thick-skinned variety is best!
- Onion or Green Onion
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Refrigerator Pickles
- Combine the water, vinegar, sugar, and salt.
- Add the cucumber and onion, cut into slices.
- Cover all the vegetables with the brine.
- Place in the refrigerator until ready to eat!
Recipe FAQs
Most recipes call for distilled white vinegar — it’s clear, colorless, and has a mellow aroma and tart acidic flavor. But you can really use whatever vinegar you like and have on hand, like apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar. This recipe is flexible!
If you ask my grandma, you can pickle any vegetables you like! A few common ones to pickle are cucumbers (of course!), radishes, carrots, red onions, asparagus, jalapeños, cauliflower, and green beans. The recipe will work for any of these veggies!
To pickle something, you must soak the vegetables in a vinegar brine. My brine calls for water, vinegar, sugar (optional), and salt. You let the cucumbers rest in the brine in the fridge until you’re ready to eat them. Letting them sit longer helps the flavors develop more, so an overnight soak is ideal, but they’re also okay to eat right away!
You want to choose a cucumber with thicker skin, like Kirby cucumbers as the thick skin helps the cucumber stay crunchy. Stay away from the English cucumber, like Persian cucumbers, as the skin is too thin.
Expert Tips
- Vinegar Options: White vinegar is the traditional vinegar for this recipe and a great place to start. Apple cider or rice wine vinegar are also good.
- Spice It Up: Want to add a little spice? Toss in a jalapeño cut in half (delicious!) or add some red pepper flakes.
- Pickle Jars: I love these glass containers with lids to have things like this in my fridge. I also use a mason jar and one of these reusable lids really often.
- Other Seasoning Options: If you love dill pickles, add some fresh dill, or even dried, to get that classic flavor! You can also add mustard seeds or garlic cloves to kick up the flavor.
The Best Jars For Pickles
Whether you’re making quick refrigerator pickles like in this recipe or water-bath canning your garden’s bumper crop harvest of cucumbers into pickles, the jars I always recommend are still the classic Ball Wide Mouth Mason Jars.
Available in a pack of 12, they’re affordable and top-quality thanks to the extra tight lids and durable glass. The 32-ounce size also holds plenty of cucumbers, and you can also use them for other recipes like my and my hot water bath canned .
Favorite Easy Pickle Recipes
Try these recipes if you’re looking for more pickling options:
- Quick and Easy Refrigerator Pickled Banana Peppers
- Quick Pickled Cucumbers and Onions
- Sweet and Spicy Cucumbers and Vinegar
- Pickled Red Onions
- How To Pickle Peppers (Hot Water Bath Canning Method)
More Preserving Recipes to Consider
Preserving Food
How To Preserve Carrots
Preserving Guide
How To Preserve Cantaloupe
Preserving Guide
How To Preserve Cabbage
Preserving Guide
How To Preserve Brussels Sprouts
Did you make this recipe? Leave a ⭐️ review and share it on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!
Quick Pickled Cucumbers – Refrigerator Pickles
Equipment
- small bowl : I love these because they have lids and double as serving bowls.
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup vinegar, (apple cider, white, and rice wine are all good)
- 2 tablespoons sugar, optional
- 1 to 2 teaspoons salt
- sliced garden cucumbers, (about 2 cups)
- sliced onion or green onion, (about 1/2 cup)
- additional vegetables as you like, (bell pepper, whole cherry tomatoes, etc.)
Instructions
- In a small bowl add the water, vinegar, sugar, and salt. Stir to combine and until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Add the cucumber and onion. Taste and adjust the ingredients to your liking.
- All the cucumbers should be covered in the brine, if you have lots of cucumber or are making a big batch, make more brine.
- Let the mixture rest in the fridge until you are ready to eat. The flavors develop over time, so an overnight soak is great but mine are normally gone by dinner.
Video
Notes
- I love adding the sugar and my mom does too, but my grandma doesn’t add that much (she only adds a few teaspoons). I say try it and see what you like.
- White vinegar is a great place to start but if you like apple cider or rice wine vinegar, they are also good. You really can’t mess this up. Just adjust to the taste and enjoy!
- The pickles will last at least a week in the fridge but get less crisp with time.
- You can reuse your brine for a time or two; add more cucumbers!
Super quick, easy, and delicious way to use up my extra garden cukes. I added some dill and a bit of crushed red pepper for punch.
Can this last for weeks? I have a ton of cucumbers in my garden and I had to harvest them. but I will be out of town for the next two weeks. This recipe looks great and I’m hoping it will last for a couple of weeks.
They start to get soft after a few days but they do last a long time in there, it just changes the texture. I don’t know if it’s weeks though…
I made this recipe for a relative who loves pickled vegetables. I used garden-fresh cucumbers that a friend gifted me, and they were delicious. I did add a sprinkle of Italian herbs and some dill for a dash of more color. Again, delicious. Thank you very much for sharing.
Ohhh that sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing!
Hi there, do you think this would work with cucumber spears instead of slices? Thank you 😉
Yes! Works great Mari!
Perfect recipe. My mouth waters when I think of these pickles. So GOOD. And so easy. I never have to worry about cucumbers rotting in the fridge again.
Glad you like them as much as we do Tracy!
You really shouldn’t have put Mason jars in the equipment when it’s not used in the recipe. I ended up putting it in a jar first. Now, my sister’s mad at me because she thinks I botched the recipe.
I’m not sure what you mean?
Can i use store brought english cucumbers for this recipe, didn’t grow any this year, also can peppercorn be added?
Yes, that will work great!
Thank you!!
Magical simple recipe! I’m so glad you liked them Nikki!
Love Nans recipe.10/10.😍
Thanks Nans!
I just love pickles, I just wanted to know have you ever heard of ‘🍉 rind pickles’ my g ma use to make them when I was a kid, but I can tell you this, they never lasted long that’s for sure!
I have heard of them but never tried them, I’m sure I’d love them though! Give me all the pickles!
I used thin sliced red onions and turned out really good
And you can eat the onion too obviously, it’s so good on sandwiches!