Quick Pickles – Recipe for salty, crunchy kosher dill pickles in a simple salt and vinegar brine. Easy fast method for great refrigerator pickles with homemade pickling spice.
A friend of mine grew up in New York surrounded by kosher delis and appetizing shops. One of his favorite childhood memories was walking down to the corner store, where they kept large wooden barrels filled with pickles. His father would give him a boost so he could reach deep down into the bottom of the barrel to retrieve what he called “armpit pickles,” so named because you’d have to reach into the brine up to your armpit to get the best, most flavorful pickles. Though the name might not sound appealing, my friend looks back on armpit pickles as one of his fondest childhood food memories.
Pickling got its start about 4,000 years ago, long before delis began popping up on the East Coast. Pickling began as a way of preserving food. To create a pickle, fresh vegetables or fruits are immersed in an acidic liquid or saltwater brine until they are no longer considered raw or susceptible to spoilage. In the case of pickled cucumbers, saltwater brine is a common choice, which results in lacto-fermentation. Lactic microbial organisms, much like the kind that cause milk to curdle, develop. These organisms turn the naturally occurring sugars of the foods into lactic acid. In turn, the environment becomes acidic quickly, so that it is no longer possible for any spoiling bacteria to multiply. Cucumber pickles can also be made with a salt and vinegar brine, a popular choice for home cooks.
Kosher dills have their own unique history. In Claudia Roden’s The Book of Jewish Food, she explains that pickled vegetables were a dietary staple for Jews living in Poland, Russia, Lithuania and the Ukraine. The sharp flavor of pickles paired nicely with the bland bread-and-potato diet of these cold weather countries. For several generations, it was a fall custom for Ashkenazim to fill barrels with cucumbers, beets and shredded cabbage (sauerkraut). They were left to ferment in a warm place for several weeks, then relocated to cool, dark cellars. The pickles would last through the long cold winter until spring, when new crops of fresh produce were available.
Sunday morning at Orchard and Rivington, New York City immigrant tenement district ca. 1915. Source: Library of Congress.
When a heavy influx of eastern European Jews arrived in New York City during the late 1800s and early 1900s, immigrants introduced kosher pickles to America. The process of “koshering” pickles required a rabbi who would supervise the entire production, ensuring that each step was done correctly and that the equipment was used exclusively for pickle making. Cucumbers were washed, then piled in large wooden barrels along with dill, garlic, spices, kosher salt and clean water. They were left to ferment for a few weeks to several months; shorter fermenting time produced brighter green “half sours,” while longer fermentation resulted in “full sours.” Pickles were sold on pushcarts in the immigrant tenement district of New York City. Over time, a multitude of Jewish owned shops began selling pickles straight out of the barrel from their storefronts. Eventually, pickling became a profitable business within the Jewish community.
Pickles are deeply ingrained in Jewish food culture, as emblematic of the Ashkenazi Jewish diet as matzo ball soup and brisket. Sadly, nowadays it’s much more difficult to find a classic kosher dill. Most of the small-scale pickle businesses have died off, replaced by mass-marketed pickles sold in grocery stores. If you’re searching for real Jewish pickles, your best bet is to visit a kosher deli. The first thing that should arrive on your table is a dish of pickles—a combination of full sour and half sour cucumbers, and sometimes a few other vegetables. In a true old-school deli, one should never have to ask for pickles. Their sharp, salty flavor and crunch is the ultimate counterpoint to a fatty corned beef or pastrami sandwich. Oy, I’m making myself hungry.
Most folks don’t have the time or patience to produce old fashioned lacto-fermented kosher dills. This Quick Pickle recipe is a super easy method for quickly producing yummy pickles. The prep only takes about 10 minutes. They aren’t true kosher dills due to the small amount of vinegar used in the brine, but they are quite delicious, and they pickle much faster than the old fashioned kind. My own blend of pickling spices, including chili pepper flakes for heat, adds terrific flavor. Keep them in the fridge for a couple of days, and voila! Quick pickles.
I recently had a reader request a recipe for lacto-fermented kosher dills (no vinegar). If you are interested too, let me know in the comments and I’ll try to squeeze it into my end-of-summer blogging schedule. What’s your favorite kind of pickle… kosher dill? Sweet? Half sour?
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Ingredients
- 8 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 handfuls fresh dill
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon dill seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
- 1/4 teaspoon fennel seed
- 1 3/4 pounds Kirby or Persian cucumbers (small pickling cucumbers, no wax on skin)
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt
NOTES
Instructions
- Place the sliced garlic in a small saucepan of water and bring to a boil. Boil the garlic for 1 minute, then drain immediately. This blanching process will keep the garlic from turning blue in the pickle jar.
- Place the blanched garlic, fresh dill, bay leaves and other spices into the pickling jar or jars. If using two jars, divide the ingredients evenly between them, half in each. The red pepper flakes are optional, and will add a little kick to your pickles—if you don’t like spice, feel free to omit.
- Slice off the tip ends of each cucumber, then place them into the jars, half in each jar. It’s okay if they’re tightly packed, they will shrink up a bit as they pickle.
- In a saucepan, bring the water, white vinegar, and kosher salt to a boil, whisking till the salt is fully dissolved. Boil the mixture for about 1 minute, then remove from heat. Pour the hot brine through a funnel into each jar, submerging the cucumbers completely in liquid.
- Let the jars cool completely to room temperature (this will take a few hours). Secure the lids and place pickles in the refrigerator. Your first pickle will be ready to eat in 48 hours; they’ll become more pickled and flavorful as they age. Pickles will keep for up to 2 months.
Nutrition
tried this recipe?
Let us know in the comments!
Hi Tori – I hope this finds you well. Do you recall a different version of this recipe about three years ago? A friend of mine gave me a jar of perfectly delicious dill pickles with a little spice and we cannot track down the recipe. Would love it if you have it in your archives and would be willing to share! Thank you.
Hi Lori, this is the only cucumber pickle recipe I’ve posted on my site. Sorry!
Yum-easy. I love pickles, and these rival the best I’ve had. My garden is turning out pickling cukes of different sizes (some hide from the harvester), so I sliced them to create more equal wedges to fit into the jars and brine at similar rates. I made them yesterday and just filched one from the jar for a test taste. So good, and I know they will continue to get better. My only significant variation from Tori’s directions is I added 1 T sugar to the brining liquid, and I threw the pickling seeds into the brine as it came to a boil. One jar is without red pepper; the other jar has two or three dried anchos in it. I will have fun all summer making fresh batches of quick picks.
The pickles from this recipe are very good. I use persian cucumbers from an Asian market in our town because the ones available in bulk at that market are all a good length for Ball 1 quart canning jars. About 6 cukes per jar, cut in half. Don’t scrimp on the garlic for the recipe. You can keep the pickled cloves for use in recipes or for eating by themselves. I like the use of extra red pepper flakes for some added spice heat. I also use Marshalls Creek brand pickling spice, available through various online sources. The refrigerator pickles can be eaten fairly soon after putting them in a jar with the other ingredients, but I have found them to reach pickle-vanna after 4 days in the refrigerator.
Delicious. I just made batch number three. They really remind me of the new green cucumbers we used to buy in Bloom’s restaurant in the East End of London. They are unavailable in Israel so I’m glad I found this recipe.
Are you using Morton salt in this recipe? I use Diamond Crystal, so if you’re using Morton, I have to multiply the salt by 1.85.
Hi Janet, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. Yes, we used Morton kosher salt for this recipe.
We make Sun pickles.very similar recipe but more salt and no vinegar. We put a slice of rye bread on top of pickles in the jar and cover with plastic wrap and put the jars in a sunny location outside for a couple of days. You will see bubbles as it percolates. When ready remove plastic wrap and bread seal and refrigerate. I make these every summer. This would also work if you have a really warm place inside. My mom even used her oven by preheating oven to the lowest setting and then would place jars on cookie sheet and then into oven. Turn oven off and just use oven light. I remember her telling me about the time she forgot to turn oven off and returned home to billowing smoke and a terrible scent emanating from the kitchen. Her pickle jars had exploded and she was left with a horrible meess to clean up! By the way I am Hungarian born but grew up in Canada.
I am looking forward to trying these. Interesting that you heated the brine. In the text, you talked about making them without vinegar, which is how my grandmothers and Dad made them as well. I have also made them that way. It would take a couple of weeks, but oh, how wonderful.
I cheat and just use Mrs Wages Kosher Dill Pickle mix.
Hi Tori,
First time pickler here! In Australia it’s hard to find a decent pickle and the only Israeli style ones are in a cna at Woolworths (I mean they are delicious but thought maybe I can make some at home). Just wondering if you have to refrigerate while they are pickling or can you put hem in the fridge once desired full pickle has been reached? Or is it a canning issue ie, if you seal cans then can leave out of the fridge?
Thanks
Chava
Hi Chava, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. For this quick pickling method you should put the jar in the refrigerator once the brine has cooled.
I will be making them tomorrow, I had a recipe for homemade Kosher dills for years but where we rent now, the thermostat in my oven died and our landlord surprised me with a new glass top electric because I take such good care of my appliances. But this mfg. said that the glass top might not support the weight of a water bath canner. I have been searching for a recipe that did not require a water bath so I was overjoyed to recive this today!
Do you have a recipe for sweet pickles that can be processed without a water bath? If so, PLEASE post a recipe for sweet pickles “from scratch” as this recipe is a “from scratch” recipe!!!
Thank you so very much for all of the hours you spend on each of your newsletters, I truly appreciate it. The recipes, the photographs and the information you include make it a pleasure to open and read.
I’m sending you a wish for blessed week ahead.
Margo
Yes,
I would love the half sour recipe;
thanks
Hi, I made 11 jars as gifts and one for me to try. Very good and fresh. I did soak in ice water prior and made for a fresh crunch.
Question, they have been in the refrigerator about a week and a half now, when I give as gifts how long can they be out of the refrigerator until opened?
Thanks so much please let me know when you can!
They were so delicious and perfect for my children’s sandwiches!
Ive been given some new half sour dills. But i want to turn them into full pickles.. Any ideas? They are in a plastic jar/jug. I justs dont know if they are still in the brine that will pickle them the rest? Do i just keep waiting lol. Any help is appreciated! Thanks 🙂
I heard that a woman should not put fingers/hands in brine during her menses or it will turn the brine and give it a bad taste. Is this an old wive’s tale?