Quick and easy pickled cucumbers with no heat or cooking required. Tasty in sandwiches or as a crunchy garnish.
My Dad used to make no cook refrigerator pickles all summer long with cucumbers and onions from the garden and this year, in honor of his passing, I decided to make them for myself! His pickling recipes were pretty much vinegar, water, cucumbers and onions with a few seasonings – but I jazzed it up to make it my own and add a little more flavor!
The best thing about these pickles is there’s no canning, no heating anything – just sliced your veggies, shove them in a jar and pour everything together – that’s it! They last for two months in the fridge!!! (Well – they won’t make it that long because I’ll eat them all first!)
Ingredients for no-cook refrigerator pickles
Refrigerator pickles are a great way to use up excess summer vegetables from the garden. And during the winter months – you can restock the jar with store-bought! Here’s what you’ll need for one quart jar of pickles:
- 1 cucumber – sliced thin – use a mandoline slicer if you have one!
- 1/4 red onion (or load up on the red onions for pickled red onions!)
- Seasonings: kosher salt, sugar, fresh garlic, dill seed (or fresh dill sprigs), coriander seeds, mustard seeds, bay leaf
- OPTIONAL: if you want a little spice, you could also add red pepper flakes
- water
- apple cider vinegar – you could also use white vinegar or red wine vinegar
- OPTIONAL: you could add sliced peppers, carrots, cauliflower, green beans or even asparagus
How do you make easy refrigerator pickles?
It’s so simple to make fridge pickles! These are tart and vinegary – no sweet pickles here – so good!
- Fill a jar with cucumbers, onions and all spices. Stuff them in tight if you like!
- Pour water to fill half the jar and then pour vinegar until the jar is full.
- Lid the jar tightly and – over the sink – shake the jar until the brine is mixed throughout the jar.
- Refrigerate up to 2 months – eat after 2 days!
When are refrigerator pickles ready to eat?
I tested my no-cook refrigerator pickles after two days and they weren’t quite ready but after 3-4 days they were perfect! Also – when I tasted mine after two days they were REALLY vinegary and it was too much for me – so I opened all three jars and put a teaspoon of sugar in each, shook them and back in the fridge. Then when I opened a couple days later – they were perfect!
How long do refrigerator pickles last?
Refrigerator pickles will last up to two months in the fridge although they may not be quite as crunchy by then. i made three jars and have one gone already!
How many cucumbers should you use? What kind?
The nice thing about these fridge pickles is you can make as much or as little as you like! I had a couple girlfriends over for craft day and we made approx. 4 quarts with probably 6-7 cucumbers in our batch.
We used a mix of “pickling” Kirby cucumbers and regular ones – we just kept slicing until they were all sliced and divied up in the jars. We sliced up two red onions into rings and then into smaller pieces. But if you only have a couple of cucumbers you can still do it!
Can you reuse the pickling liquid?
When I was growing up – we did reuse it – but not for more than a month or so. If we were getting low and more cucumbers ripened – we would slice them up and throw them in – but then you need to let the fresh cucumbers soak for a couple days.
What can you use no-cook refrigerator pickles for?
These fridge pickles are a perfect side dish! I’ve been using these pickled onions and cucumbers on burgers, in salads and just as a side to whatever I’m eating for lunch or dinner. The red onions are so delicious on tacos too!
Do you have to boil the brine for refrigerator pickles?
Nope! With this recipe – there’s no cooking whatsoever!
What is the difference between refrigerator pickles and canned pickles?
Refrigerator pickles last for 2-3 months at least – the vinegar is a natural preservative. I tend to keep refilling the jar with extra pickles and onions. Canned pickles have a much longer shelf-life – years in fact!
Delicious Summer Vegetable Recipes
More Easy Recipes with Pickles
No Cook Refrigerator Pickles
Ingredients
This is for one quart jar – multiply for the # of cucumbers or jars you have!
- 1 thinly sliced cucumber medium sized
- 1/4 thinly sliced red onion
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp dill seed (fresh dill is better)
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup white or cider vinegar
Instructions
- Fill a jar with cucumbers, onions and all spices. Stuff them in tight if you like!1 thinly sliced cucumber, 1/4 thinly sliced red onion, 1 tbsp salt, 2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp minced garlic, 1 tsp dill seed, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 bay leaf
- Pour water to fill half the jar and then pour vinegar until the jar is full.1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup white or cider vinegar
- Lid the jar tightly and – over the sink – shake the jar until the brine is mixed throughout the jar.
- Refrigerate up to 2 months – eat after 2 days!
Notes
- This recipe is for one quart jar of pickles. Slice up all your veggies and separate into whatever containers you’re using and increase as needed.
- Use pickling or regular cucumbers!
- Use red or white onions (I like red!)
- You can also use a packet of pickling spice and divvy between your jars if you like.
- If you don’t have one of the seeds – it’s fine – again my Dad’s were super simple – it will still taste good!
- If using jarred minced garlic, go heavy on it!
- Taste after 2 days and see if you like it – adjust sugar, salt, vinegar as needed!
Brittany says
This recipe looks fantastic! I’ve been looking for new ways to make pickles. Would this recipe work for any other vegetables as well? Thanks for sharing!
FoodHussy says
I think it would for sure – but I would think about a few things: cucumbers and onions soak up the liquid pretty quickly – something like carrots would take a lot longer. As far as the flavor – try it with cucumbers and onions first – then think about the flavors you would want with other veg – like you might want to add some red pepper flakes or peppers to make it spicier – less vinegar for less tartness – etc. hope that helps!!!!