How to Pickle Anything
This easy pickling tutorial teaches you how to make quick refrigerator pickles that can be applied to just about any vegetable!
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We're going back to school again! This time it's all about pickling 101. Pickled foods are the best kinds of foods, in my humble opinion. Crunchy, salty and tangy with very few calories, pickles are a great bang for the buck. They're great on their own, or used to cut through rich foods like cheeseburgers and fried chicken. Plus, the leftover pickle juice is perfect for whisking into a salad dressing, or better yet, chasing shots of whiskey, called a pickleback (seriously, give it a try!).
Making your own pickles from scratch is seriously one of the easiest culinary techniques out there. I love pickling everything from cucumbers and carrots, to hard boiled eggs and shrimp. You really can pickle just about anything your little heart desires. This video shows my basic recipe for a classic dill pickle, but the simple ratio of sugar, vinegar, water and salt can be used to make an infinite number of puckery variations. Change up the spices and make it your own!
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Dill Pickles
Ingredients
Basic Brine
- 2 cups white distilled vinegar
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
Dill Pickles
- 6-8 small kirby cucumbers sliced ½ inch thick
- 2 cloves garlic sliced
- ¼ small onion optional
- 6 sprigs fresh dill
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 2 teaspoons coriander seed
- 2 teaspoons mustard seed
Instructions
- Combine the vinegar, water, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan and bring up to a boil. While that's cooking, layer the cucumbers, garlic, onion, dill and spices in two quart sized jars.
- When the liquid is boiling, remove it from the heat and pour over the cucumbers. Seal the jars and refrigerate. These pickles will keep for several months in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
I grew persian cukes for the first time this year and wanted to try pickling. This simple recipe worked like a charm on my first try.. The pieces of vidalia onion used for flavoring turned out to be as good as the cuke slices.
Do you think it would work for Japanese eggplant?
Thanks!
I've never pickled eggplant myself but I say give it a try! Im glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Do you have to use glass jars? I'm just asking since I am not going to process them like you do when you're doing canning Can I use sturdy heavy duty plastic containers with screw on tops?
No, definitely not! Any vessel that keeps the vegetables submerged in liquid will work.
do we need to sterilized and make sure lid is tight like you do when you can tomatoes?
If you plan on canning these to store at room temperature, yes. But if making refrigerated pickles it is not
What about carrots? can we pickle them with this recipe? would that be good?
absolutely! carrots are one of my absolute favorite veggies to pickle!
lol 54 years old I have my first taste of pickled cucumbers and like very much non christian to make my own me your recipe
I've never tried making my own quick pickles before.. so thanks for the awesome idea!