Cucumber Dill Fridge Pickles: A One Jar Method

Simple cucumber and dill fridge pickles using a one-jar method! Pickle Kirby cucumbers from your farmers market or CSA, or any cucumber you'd like. Only 15 minutes to assemble, then the pickles do the rest of the work themselves.

this recipe

I took a pickling workshop in college in a commercial kitchen, and while it was so fun and rewarding to come home with homemade pickles, it left me a little intimidated to pickle on my own. Maybe because I saw them make brine in such large quantities, it was harder for me to visualize it being done on a smaller scale in my home (apartment, at the time!).

So I experimented until I landed on a simple method that works for me every single time, and can be scaled according to how many veggies or what jar sizes I have-what I like to call a 'one-jar' method. It's exactly how I quick pickle red onions every week!

If you're excited about pickling but a little intimidated, or just curious about trying other methods, this fresh refrigerator pickle recipe could be the exact fun learning experience you need to pickle more often! Both because it's delicious and helps use up a harvest.

Jump to:

• reasons i love this method
• What You Need for Pickling
• cucumber fridge pickles: visual overview
• more pickles & things to eat them with
• 📖 Recipe

reasons i love this method

• Making a small batch is totally doable. My most-used pickle jar is a 16-ounce widemouth Mason jar!
• No need to measure brine - everything is made directly in the jar, so we'll use that to measure.
• No boiling vinegar on the stove! My partner isn't a fan of the smell of boiling vinegar, so we skip it altogether. Of course there is still vinegar in the brine, but instead of boiling it directly, we'll pour it directly into the pickle jar (where we'll also pour the hot water).
• Works for most vegetables - Some you might need to cook first, or use a truly hot brine (like actually boil the vinegar), OR use a cold brine (like when pickling strawberries). But for most vegetables, including the cucumbers we'll use for this recipe, this brine works perfectly.

What You Need for Pickling

the right salt

If you've ever had cloudy or metallic-tasting pickles, it could be that you used salt with additives (such as anti-caking agents). Totally fine for everyday cooking, but in my experience, they've prevented that clear, gorgeous pickle brine. Instead, kosher salt, pickling salt, or a sea salt with no additives will all work. I use my everyday sea salt or Morton pickling salt.

Jars & lids

16-ounce widemouth mason jars or Weck jars are some of my most-used jars for all things! For larger batches, I'll also use quart jars.

With metal lids, I find that they rust easily, so I like to make sure I have some relatively new ones on hand to avoid a metallic taste in my pickles. Metal wide mouth lids are great, but I've also been using more airtight bamboo lids or acacia lids. While I absolutely love them for general use, I've noticed they do absorb more of the pickle brine smell since they're made from a more porous material. So you might consider a dedicated wooden lid for pickling, if that bothers you.

Weck jars come with a glass lid, so no need to worry about rust there!

Vinegar & water

I usually use basic distilled white vinegar, though sometimes I'll use rice vinegar, white wine vinegar, or a mix.

And finally, this is totally optional, but since we use an electric gooseneck tea kettle for making our pour over coffee in the morning, I also just use that to heat up water for pickling. A pot or tea kettle on the stove will work just fine! You'll see me using the gooseneck tea kettle in videos, so wanted to share in case you're interested.

cucumber fridge pickles: visual overview

more pickles & things to eat them with

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📖 Recipe