I wrote about how great our garden was growing, and the cucumbers as well as the peppers are the winners of them all!
I wanted to make some spicey and some sweet pickles for my husband and family but I didn’t want to worry about the canning process. More so because I just don’t know how to “can” and the fact that bacteria and botulism can become trapped and thrive during the canning process concerns me. When I was picking up some fresh vegetables from a local farm, my neighbor and good friend mentioned they had a recipe for refrigerator pickles! She sent it to me and I love it! Rather than having to do the “canning” it’s using fresh ingredients then putting it all into the refrigerator! Perfect! I edited their recipe to make it my own, that’s always my goal! To make a recipe healthier! Their recipe included sugar… I kept it out! And I added peppercorns and peppers. The taste turned out deliciously pickly!!
It’s actually very easy! Just make a brine for the cucumbers and put them in a clean jar with a lid. Below you’ll see the ingredients. Water, Sea Salt, white vinegar, black peppercorns, fresh dill (this was supposed to be from my garden but a bunny or some animal got to it so I picked up some really great, fresh dill from a local farm) fresh garlic cloves (picked these garlic cloves from a farm off the black dirt, so good!) bay leaves, cucumbers and peppers (from our garden) to give it a kick or sweet banana peppers for a nice added fresh flavor. NO SUGAR!
Cut up the peppers, slice the garlic in half, slice the cucumbers longways, and add all ingredients together in a clean jar.
Below is the Scoville Rating Chart for how hot a pepper is. I took a bite of a hungarian wax pepper and had to spit it out. This is what I used for the hot pickles and you can see the rating is 2000-4000. I have a Caribbean Red pepper still growing… I plan to make pickles from it when it’s ready. Might kill me if I try it. I won’t. Dan can handle it. I think. I hope.
This fresh dill was perfect!
All packed together, let it chill in the refrigerator for a good 48 hours. They say 24 hours and we tasted them in that time-frame, the flavor was good but much better after 48 hours, even better after a full week! Look at Kali, she LOVES them! This is not the pickles with the Hungarian Wax, this was using a sweeter pepper. I was pouring the pickle juice over my grilled chicken during lunch one day!!! It had a fantastic flavor!
Nice and crunchy!!!
And… it’s all healthy for you with a very fresh taste! Different from the typical store-bought-pickle taste! These pickles are a great way to knowing exactly what’s in your food, eliminating unneeded ingredients like sugar and being healthier nutritiously well-fed! Images below found on pinterest with the original websites on the image.
| Prep Time | 15 mins |
| Servings |
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- 1-2 kirby cucumbers this depends on the size of the cucumber and the size of your jar
- 1 bunch fresh dill or 4-5 sprigs
- 1 c white wine vinegar this again might depend on the size of your jar - I love vinegar so I'm all for having a lot
- 1/2 c water
- 5-6 cloves garlic sliced in half to allow garlic aroma and flavor to flourish
- 1-2 bay leaves
- 2 tsp black peppercorn
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 3-4 peppers - sliced depending on size and hot rating. Our peppers were kind of small.
Ingredients
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- Combine water, vinegar, salt, peppercorn, bay leaf, garlic, peppers and then place sliced cucumbers throughout liquid in jar. Seal tightly, shake a little to thoroughly mix ingredients, then place in refrigerator. Lasts for about 2-3 months in refrigerator as long as you keep them chilled!