Homemade refrigerator pickles are as easy as can be to make and totally customizable to your own tastes – my choices were lemon garlic basil pickles and peppers and onions pickles.
Whether they are served along side a sandwich and fries, sliced in ridged chips atop a burger, or even as a quick snack right from the jar, pickles are a food that I absolutely adore. A garden full of cucumbers this past summer inspired me to finally make my own pickles, which was a surprisingly quick and easy process with incredibly tasty results. I settled on making “refrigerator pickles,” which are super simple to make and last in the fridge for about a month without having to go through the full jarring process. It may not be summer anymore and my cucumbers may be coming from the grocery store instead of from my backyard, but that hasn’t stopped me from making these refrigerator pickles at any chance I get.
As much as I love any kind of pickle, I wanted to make something a little out of the ordinary for my homemade refrigerator pickles. I knew the brine would be a simple recipe – water, vinegar, salt and sugar – but I decided to play around with the added flavors. I settled on lemon basil garlic cucumbers for one batch as a way of paying homage to my Italian heritage, and also because I have always adored sweet and tangy pickled lemons. The other batch were what I like to call “peppers and onions pickles,” a pairing of red onion with little shishito peppers – a thin and curly Japanese pepper with a mild and deep pepper flavor. And while these peppers tend to be on the sweet side, about 1 in 10 can actually be pretty hot, which is perfect for these pickles since you’ll probably get just one to kick the spice up a bit. These pickles are also a nod to my Italian heritage – just ask any Italian American about what they would choose to pair with a sausage sandwich.
Instead of going though the whole jarring process, these pickles are as simple as pouring the brine over vegetables that are packed in a jar. They will last about a month in the fridge in air tight containers or mason jars, and the small amount of effort it takes to make them is well worth the tastiness. My first time venture into pickling has taught me a few very important things. Number one, making pickles is incredibly simple. Number two, homemade pickles are waaaay more delicious than the ones you get at the grocery store. And number three and most importantly, making pickles at home means you get to experiment and play around with all your favorite flavors and ingredients, yielding you a pickle made perfectly to your taste and unlike any one you’ve had before.
- ½ cup white or apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon coarse ground pepper or peppercorns
- ½ cup sugar
- Vegetables of choice, washed and cut or sliced.
- 16 oz mason jar
- Bring vinegar, water, salt, pepper, and sugar to a boil in a small pan. Pack vegetables into jar tightly and pour brine over vegetables. Seal tightly with lid. Let cool on counter until room temperature and store in refrigerator at least a day to let flavors come together and up to a month.
- ½ lb cucumber of choice, cut into spears
- 1 lemon, thinly sliced
- 5 cloves garlic, smashed
- ½ cup basil including stems
- Simple pickle brine, see above
- Pack cucumbers, lemon slices, garlic, and basil tightly into a 16oz mason jar. Pour boiling brine over top. Seal tightly with lid. Let cool on counter until room temperature and store in refrigerator at least a day to let flavors come together and up to a month.
- 1 lb cucumber of choice, cut into spears
- ½ large red onion, sliced
- 7-10 shishito peppers, cut in half lengthwise
- Simple pickle brine, see above
- Pack cucumbers, onion and peppers tightly into 16 oz mason jar. Pour boiling brine over top. Seal tightly with lid. Let cool on counter until room temperature and store in refrigerator at least a day to let flavors come together and up to a month.
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