Refrigerator Pickles
Refrigerator Pickles
Last week, I told you about the Dill Pickle Relish I made from the rather large cucumbers in our garden. There were still many pounds of cucumbers left after making the relish so I decided to make a batch of refrigerator pickles.
Kevin loved the idea of refrigerator pickles, but he absolutely insisted I use his mothers’ recipe. So – this is her recipe, because nothing else will do in our home (apparently lol).
She has brought us batches of this recipe many times over the years, and I admit it – they are very good. She does use quite a bit of sugar for my liking, so don’t tell Kevin, but I added another 2 cups of vinegar to make up for it and it turned out I needed that much to cover the amount of vegetables in both jars. But the recipe below is written as my MIL presented it.
She makes them in a 1 gallon ice cream bucket, but my ice cream buckets are in use for foraging and berry picking over the summer so I used pickle jars. Any plastic or glass container will do.
These are simple and delicious and are great for using up your garden cucumbers. You can add more cucumbers every few days as you eat them, mix them in, and have a continuous batch until you finally run out of cucumbers.:)
Refrigerator Pickles Recipe
Vegetable Mix
4 lbs. cucumbers
1 large red onion
2 carrots
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
Brine Mix
3 cups white vinegar
5 cups white sugar
3 tbsps. pickling or coarse salt
1 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
1 1/2 tsp. celery seed
1 1/2 tsp. mustard seed
2 sprigs fresh dill weed or 1 tsp. dried dill
Use a mandolin
Heat the brine mixture to boiling. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 5 minutes. Let cool and pour over vegetable mixture. Top with vinegar if there is not enough brine to cover vegetables.
Cover your refrigerator pickles and store in fridge. I stir them daily for a few days to make sure everything is completely covered with vinegar. Allow to pickle for 3 – 7 days before serving.
Mix in more sliced cucumbers as you eat these to make a continuous batch. Will last 3 months in the fridge.
Have you made refrigerator pickles?
