Ridiculously Easy Homemade Dill Pickles

At my farmer’s market, there’s an amazing pickle stand with about 12 different kinds of delicious homemade pickles. They have garlic pickles, super dilly dill pickles, sweet pickles, spicy pickles and all the flavors in between. I love my pickles so the pickle stand was a weekly must stop for me.

…..Until I realized how ridiculously easy it was to make my own pickles. I’m talking really, really easy. I can’t stress to you how simple this is. Like so easy I could kick myself for spending so much of my hard earned money at the pickle stand for years and years when I could have been making them myself all this time. No canning, no special equipment – just water, salt, spices and your cucumbers! Easy peasy.

This will literally take you 10 minutes tops and in 3-7 days, you’ll have the best homemade pickles in town. I like to make a bunch of jars of pickles at one time while I have all the ingredients out. I can knock out a couple jars of pickles in no time flat.

The recipe down below is a basic recipe for old fashioned dill pickles and it’s my very favorite, cut right out of a falling apart old, old church recipe book that I think was my grandmother’s (best kind of recipes, right?!).  But, I also like to experiment with the spices, add some hot peppers to one jar, add extra garlic to another jar – you get the idea.

Oh! I almost forgot to tell you about the second best part of this recipe – or maybe it’s the first best part, I can’t decide between this and how easy they are. These pickles are lacto-fermented, which means they contain the really good, beneficial bacteria (probiotics!). So eating these will help heal our gut lining, provide anti-inflammatory benefits, give us better digestion, strengthen our immune system, and turn us into super heroes. Okay maybe not so much the last part, but I sure feel like a super hero when everyone who eats these pickles tells me how amazing they are 

Ridiculously Easy Homemade Dill Pickles

Makes 1 quart sized jar

Ingredients:

cucumbers

2 cloves of garlic

2 sprigs of fresh dill (the flowered heads of the dill taste the best for these pickles, so use them if you can get them)

½ tsp coriander seeds

¼ tsp mustard seeds

¼ tsp whole peppercorns

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

2 cups of water

1 T sea salt

optional ingredients:

handful of fresh grape, raspberry, oak, blackberry or cherry leaves (these types of leaves supply tannins, which help keep the pickles crispy and crunchy)

onion or a clean rock piece to weigh the cucumbers down and keep them submerged in the brine

DIRECTIONS:

Decide what size pickles you would like and cut your cucumbers into your desired size. Keep in mind that sliced cucumbers will ferment faster than whole cucumbers. Pack your cucumber slices into your jar. Pack them tight! Add the spices on top. Mix the water and sea salt together until the salt is dissolved. Pour your water/salt over the pickles. Leave about an inch of space between the water and the top of the jar. All the cucumbers must be submerged in the water. If you are having trouble getting them totally submerged, you may need to add a “weight” to the jar to keep them submerged. I like to add a big chunk of onion. Not only does the onion give great flavor, but it does a good job of keeping the cucumbers under the water. You may also add a clean rock if you don’t want to use an onion.

Put a top on your jar and leave on the counter for 3 days. Test a pickle on day 3. If it is to your liking, put the jar in the fridge. This stops the fermentation process. You won’t have to worry about keeping the pickles submerged once they go in the fridge. If the pickles are not to your liking, keep testing them each day. You know they are perfect when they taste great to you and they still have their crunch. If you leave them out on the counter too long, they will lose their crunch and get really soft so it’s important to put them in the fridge when they are to your liking. No one likes a limp pickle 

If you start to see a white film or mold on top, just skim it off. It is harmless (just yeast!), but it will impact the taste of the pickles, so you want to skim it off as soon as you see it.

Your pickles will keep for 6 months in the fridge. Enjoy!

Step by step picture instructions:

CHOOSE YOUR CUCUMBERS
Pickling cucumbers are the best for making pickles, but any cucumbers will work. I use plain old regular cucumbers most of the time because I can get them easier. I will say that regular cucumbers have more seeds and sometimes don’t get as crunchy as the pickling cucumbers. Mini cucumbers are also great for pickles!

CUT YOUR CUCUMBERS INTO YOUR DESIRED SIZE
You can leave the cucumbers whole, but they take longer to ferment. You can cut them in halves or in spears or even cut them in coins. The smaller you cut them, the shorter the fermentation process.

PUT THEM IN YOUR JAR
The recipe calls for a 1 quart jar. You can use any size jar, though! Pack your cucumbers in tight! I can usually pack 1 to 1 1/2 regular large cucumbers in one quart sized jar.

MEASURE YOUR SPICES
Some tips on spices: The flowered dill heads taste the best, but use what you can find. I only had the sprigs of dill this time so that’s what I used. I also ran out of coriander seeds, so ground coriander it is this time around! Get creative with your spices if you are feeling brave. Want your pickles extra hot? Add some more red pepper flakes. Want them super garlicy? Add some more garlic. Have fun with creating your own homemade pickle creations!

ADD THE SPICES IN YOUR JAR
Once you figure out your spices, add them right on top of the cucumbers.

MIX YOUR WATER AND SALT AND ADD IT TO YOUR JAR
You will need 2 cups of water and 1 tablespoon of sea salt for every quart. If your jar is bigger, just make another 2 cups water/1 T sea salt mix and add it to your jar. You want to completely cover the cucumbers but make sure to leave a one inch head space so the gases can release in the fermentation process. Your cucumbers MUST be submerged at all times during the fermentation process. If they are not staying down in the brine, you will need to “weigh” them down. If this happens, I like to use a cut onion to weigh them down. The onion gives great flavor and does a really good job of keeping everything submerged in the water. You may also use a clean rock. Once the pickles are submerged in the brine, put the lid on the jar and leave it on your counter. If you see a white film or mold develop on top, open the jar and skim it off.  This is harmless (it’s just yeast!), but it can impact the flavor of the pickles so skim it off as soon as you can if you see it.

TEST YOUR PICKLES
On day 3, open your jar and taste test a pickle. If it tastes great and is crunchy, then it’s done and you need to put the jar in the fridge. If the pickles aren’t ready, put the lid back on and try again the next day. Keep testing the pickles everyday until they taste great to you – this takes between 3 and 7 days. If your house is warm, they will be ready on the lower end of the spectrum. If your house is cool, they will take longer.
Also, once they are to your liking, make sure to put them in the fridge right away so the fermentation process halts. Remember you want your pickles to taste great and still be crunchy. If you leave them out on the counter for too long, the pickles will get soggy and limp – and no one likes a limp pickle  Once the pickles are in the fridge, there is no need to keep them submerged in the water. They will keep for 6 months in the fridge. Enjoy your homemade pickles!