Recipes Ingredients Vegetables Cucumber Recipes Easy Homemade Pickles These crunchy bread-and-butter pickles couldn't be simpler to make. Prep Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 5 mins Total Time: 1 hr 25 mins Servings: 14 Yield: Makes 3 1/2 cups Jump to recipe Our easy pickle recipe will have you making jars of crisp, sweet-tangy pickles in no time. You’ll need a couple of English cucumbers—though Kirby cucumbers would work just as well—plus coarse salt, sugar, dill, white vinegar, and spices like turmeric, mustard seed, and celery seed. Salting and draining the cucumbers helps remove excess water, leaving them crunchier and more flavorful. Making the brine takes less than five minutes, and the pickles will be ready to enjoy in as little as 24 hours (though the flavor will improve if left to chill for a few days). Use them on sandwiches and burgers, add them to a charcuterie board, chop and stir them into potato salad, or just enjoy them straight from the jar. 12 Unexpected Ways to Use Pickle Juice to Flavor Everything From Sauces to Cocktails Credit: Jake Sternquist Vinegar Pickles vs. Fermented Pickles When it comes to pickling at home, there are two main styles to consider: vinegar pickles and lacto-fermented pickles. Both are a means of preserving produce by inhibiting the growth of harmful bacteria and microorganisms, but differ in terms of ingredients, process, and time. Vinegar pickles, the kind this recipe makes, rely on an acidic, vinegar-based solution (or brine) to turn ordinary produce like cucumbers, carrots, onions, and more into tangy, sweet, salty, and/or sour pickles. The liquid lowers the pH of the produce, making it more acidic and less prone to spoilage. These pickles have a tangy flavor thanks to the addition of vinegar, and the process can take as little as a few minutes (for quick pickles) to several days. Fermented pickles rely on a brine made with a generous amount of salt, rather than vinegar, to create lactic acid, which, in turn, preserves the produce. This process takes longer than pickling with vinegar—anywhere from a few days to several weeks—but often results in a more complex flavor. Choosing the Right Cucumbers for This Recipe Nearly all types of vegetables and many fruits can be pickled, but for this recipe, we're keeping it classic and using cucumbers. You'll need two English cucumbers, which have thin skins, minimal seeds, and firm, crunchy flesh. You can also use bumpy-skinned Kirby cucumbers, also called pickling cucumbers, for this recipe with excellent results. Avoid using larger, thicker-skinned cucumbers known as salad, garden, or slicing cucumbers here. They won't stay as crunchy as the kinds of cucumbers mentioned above, and they contain many seeds, making for a less-than-ideal eating experience. The chiles: They are an optional ingredient for these easy pickles but we really like adding a touch of heat. Use 2-4 chiles depending on the size and heat level of the chiles. Directions Credit: Jake Sternquist Salt cucumbers; let sit: Place cucumbers in a colander set in a large bowl. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon salt and toss well. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour or refrigerate for up to 3 hours. Credit: Jake Sternquist Drain and rinse cucumbers; pack into jars with dill: Drain cucumbers and rinse well under cold water. Pack cucumbers and dill tightly into two clean quart-size jars, alternating the two ingredients as you go. Credit: Jake Sternquist Make brine: In a medium saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar, remaining 2 teaspoons salt, red chiles (optional), mustard seed, celery seed, and ground turmeric. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Credit: Jake Sternquist Add brine to jars; let cool, then chill: Using a liquid measuring cup, pour hot brine into jars to completely cover vegetables, then screw on lids. Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate at least 24 hours before serving. Credit: Jake Sternquist Tip Use a clean spoon to press pickles down after adding brine to make sure they are completely submerged in the liquid. How to Store These Pickles Because these pickles aren't canned using a water bath, they are not shelf-stable and therefore need to be stored in the refrigerator, where they'll stay good for up to one month. (For shelf-stable bread-and-butter pickles, check out this recipe.) Variations When pickling, it's important not to alter the salt, acid, and water amounts called for in a recipe, but there are still plenty of ways to make these pickles your own, including: Cutting them into spears or half-moons instead of chips Using apple-cider vinegar in place of the white vinegar Adding one-quarter of a white or sweet onion, thinly sliced, to the jars before adding the brine Using other vegetables instead of cucumbers, like peeled carrots, sliced fennel, red pearl onions, green beans, or cauliflower. (For best results, blanch green beans and cauliflower before packing into jars.) Five More Pickling Recipes to Try Pickled Peppers Freezer Dill Pickles Pickled Rhubarb Quick-Pickled Beets Zucchini Dill Pickles Updated by Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds is an experienced recipe developer, recipe tester, food editor, and writer with over a decade of experience in the food and media industries.