Grandma’s Quick Pickled Cucumbers – Refrigerator Pickles
on Sep 08, 2021, Updated May 13, 2024
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These Quick Pickled Cucumbers with green onion are made in the refrigerator for a simple summer snack!
Try these recipes if you’re looking for more pickling options: Quick and Easy Refrigerator Pickled Banana Peppers, Quick Pickled Cucumbers and Onions and Sweet and Spicy Cucumbers and Vinegar
Quick Pickled Cucumbers (Refrigerator Pickles)
When all the hard work of tilling, planting, weeding, watering, and more weeding a garden starts to pay off, I’m always astounded and thrilled by the buckets of fresh vegetables we get to play with! We usually have no shortage of green beans, basil, zucchini, summer squash, tomatoes, peppers, sweet corn, and cucumber. So, with all that fresh goodness, you’ve got to get creative in preserving some of it!
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!), and 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, too.
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.
Tips and tricks for making quick pickled cucumbers:
- White vinegar is the traditional vinegar for this recipe and a great place to start. If you know that you like apple cider or rice wine vinegar they are also good.
- These are delicious on our favorite pulled pork sandwiches (made easy in the slow cooker!), as a side for everything summer, and to eat for a snack. You can’t go wrong with this simple dish all summer long.
- Want to add a little spicy? Toss in a jalapeno cut in half (delicious!).
- 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.
What is the best vinegar for pickling?
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!
What can I pickle at home?
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, jalapenos, cauliflower, and green beans.
How do you pickle something quickly?
To pickle something, you simply need to soak the vegetables in a vinegar brine. My brine calls for water, vinegar, sugar (optional), and salt, and you simply 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 fine to eat right away!
How long do pickled cucumbers last?
These pickled cucumbers will last about a week in the fridge. The longer they stay in the fridge the less crisp they become.
What is the best cucumber for pickling?
You want to choose a cucumber that has thicker skin.The thick skin helps the cucumber to stay crunchy. Stay away from the English cucumber because the skin is too thin.
More cucumber recipes:
- Cucumber Sandwich Recipe
- Mediterranean Cucumber Salad
- Sweet and Spicy Cucumbers and Vinegar
- Midwestern Creamy Cucumber and Vinegar Salad
If you’ve tried this pickled cucumber recipe or any other recipe on Bless this Mess, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some pictures of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories.
Quick Pickled Cucumbers – Refrigerator Pickles
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 the traditional vinegar for this recipe and a great place to start. If you know that you like apple cider or rice wine vinegar they are also good.
- You really can’t mess this up. Just adjust to taste and enjoy!
- The pickles will last at least a week in the fridge but get less crisp as time goes on.
- You can reuse your brine a time or two, just add more cucumbers!
Nutrition
Other pickle recipes you’ll love:
- Quick Pickled Cucumbers and Onions
- How To Pickle Peppers (Hot Water Bath Canning Method)
- Quick and Easy Refrigerator Pickled Banana Peppers
- Midwestern Creamy Cucumber and Vinegar Salad
- Sweet and Spicy Cucumbers and Vinegar
- Quick Dilly Cucumbers in Vinegar
More simple recipes you’ll love:
- Salad dressing recipes (great to have when things are coming out of the garden!)
- Subway bread or homemade hoagie rolls – pickles are perfect on a sandwich
- Easy smoothie recipes – so great to know how to make when things are in season
Aren’t my baby onions cute?! They were the first I pulled and they are tiny… I think I’ll wait another month or two before I pick any more so they aren’t quiet so itty-bitty.
You’ll be in pickle heaven with this quick pickled cucumber recipe that comes together quickly in the fridge with minimal effort!
I made this as my first pickle recipe ever. I used apple cider vinear. It was too strong for me, but my daughter loved them. Is there any way I can make these so they can be canned in a water bath, or would I need to change ratio of water to vinegar? I’ll be making more for my daughter, either way. I’d like to try with white vinegar to see how different it will taste. It was super easy and I did write the recipe down as a keeper. 🙂
Has anyone tried canning these? I would like to can some for the winter.
This is my new addiction! Great recipe.
I made these 40 years ago. I also made yellow squash the same way, so so good. My husband would hide his jars.
That’s so fun, I’m going to try yellow squash next, thank you!
Has anyone tried sweeteners like stevia or something like that to replace sugar?
I have read many a recipe like yours; each varied in amounts of sugar/water/vinegar. I did find one that boiled the brine first. Any thoughts as to why?
Some people boil the bring to help dissolve all the sugar/salt and to help bring out some of the flavor in the spices!
If I put them in the jar, how long will they last in the fridge? Thank you.
They’ll last a week or two, they just start to get soft. If you like them really crisp eat withing the first day or two.
Thank you for this recipe! i love putting sugar in it too <3 we'll be putting them in our father's day burgers
I made this last night and hubby and I loved it! I used your basic recipe with sugar, distilled white vinegar and some white wine vinegar, just made more than one batch. I put in a sliced unpeeled english cucumber, sliced onion, carrot matchsticks and quartered a fresh jalapeno. We ate the whole thing. I’m redoing the veggies today and re-using the brine.
This was very helpful for the type of viniger to use.
These are so fresh and delicious! I add a tsp of dill and they are to die for! Perfect for snacking, on sandwiches and salads!
Yes! I like a few red pepper flakes too for a little heat! So much flexibility!