My husband has been asking me about these refrigerator dill pickles almost since the first cucumbers started appearing. He still remembers the ones that I made last year. I loved them too and this year I grew dill specifically for them.

This recipe is adapted from the recipe on Taste of Home’s website. I have tweaked it and scaled it down for those of us who may not harvest huge amounts of cucumbers. Thanks to my easy DIY cucumber trellis, I have harvested quite a few already. If you have just a few cucumbers but would still like to try making some pickles,  I have also included a recipe for making a single pint jar of pickles that only requires 3-4 pickling cucumbers.

If you have only eaten commercial canned pickles, you should at least try to make a single jar.

Also, you don’t have to have canning jars to make these pickles. You can save glass jars from jam. spaghetti sauce, salsa, etc. Can you tell that I really want you to try these?

Let’s get started! Let me show you how simple it is to make your own pickles.

For 6 pint jars of pickles you will need: 20-24 pickling cucumbers that are about 4″ long, 2 cups white vinegar, 2 cups water, 1/2 onion, handful of dill (approx. 30 sprigs), 3 cloves of  garlic, 1/8 cup canning salt, and 1/3 cup sugar.

For 1 pint jar of pickles you will need: 3-4 pickling cucumbers that are about 4″ long, 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1/2 cup water, one slice of onion, 3-5 sprigs of fresh dill, 1/2 clove of garlic, 1 tablespoon canning salt, and 1 tablespoon sugar.

Slice the cucumbers into spears, rounds, or halves,  and thinly slice the onion and garlic. Rinse the dill.

If your cucumbers are slightly overripe (like mine were after I left my garden for 6 days), then I recommend that you slice them into rounds for sandwich pickles. My first batch of pickles were sandwich pickles, then I was able to make some spears.

Put the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar into a pot over high heat.

Divide the onion, garlic, and dill among the 6 pint jars. Cram the cucumber slices into the jars as tightly as you can.

When the water-vinegar solution comes to a boil, pour the solution into the jars.

Let cool for a few moments, then put the lids on and refrigerate.

Pretty easy so far, right? Slice vegetables, boil solution, pack jars, pour solution, put on lids, refrigerate.

Now here is the tricky part.

You have to wait 24 hours until you open them.

After you open them, and take your first bite, you will never think of pickles the same way again. Look at how fresh they are!

They are delicious eaten right out of the jar as the cold air from the refrigerator blows over you.Yes, they’re that good.

They are also a fabulous accompaniment to a sandwich. We recently had my Easy Chicken Salad with Dill for dinner, and I put a few pickles and fresh garden tomatoes on the sandwiches. Yummy!

Try this recipe and let me know what you think!

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