Easy and delicious Homemade Sour & Spicy Dill Pickle Spears, or also known as refrigerator pickles. No canning required!
Are you an expert canner?
Every now-and-again I get a email or question regarding canning and I have not a clue what to respond with. My Mom canned a lot when I was a kid (maybe you could email her?) but back then I was too busy “cooking” in my Strawberry Shortcake particleboard kitchen that I never paid any attention. I was only really interested when she was baking. Naturally.
I just remember seeing rows up rows and jars upon jars of bread and butter pickles on the metal shelves in our basement.
Needless to say when I want homemade pickled-anything I like a quick and easy recipe. None of that boiling jars nonsense, give me the pickling for dummies version and I will so do it err make it.
To Make These Easy Homemade Sour and Spicy Dill Pickle Spears You Will Need:
- kirby cucumbers
- fresh garlic
- bay leaves
- 1 Jalapeno, halved lengthwise
- Fresh Dill
- 2 cups Vinegar
- 3 tablespoons Sugar
- 4 teaspoons Kosher Salt
- and 4 teaspoons Mustard Seed
THAT is exactly what I have for you today. Sure these need to sit in your fridge for a week or so before snacking… but these pickles are totally worth the wait.
Start by smashing and peeling 4 garlic cloves.
Into 2 jars, throw 2 smashed and peeled garlic cloves and 2 small bay leafs each.
Quickly wash and dry some fresh dill.
And pack, about a handful, it into the jars. I just tore and stuffed, I didn’t measure AT ALL.
Now you can’t go using regular cucumbers that you would slice up for salads. You need “pickling” cucumbers or Kirby cucumbers. I found mine at a local farm-stand down the road. The moment I sliced into them they smelled ahhhhhmazing! Nothing beats a veggie from a local garden.
BTW you’ll want to half {lengthwise} and then cut 3-4 of them into thirds or spears.
Stuff them into large jars.
Cut a jalapeno in half…
And stuff them into each of the jars. These pickles aren’t crazy-blow-smoke-out-of-ya-ears hot… but just a smidgen. It’s good stuff, promise.
But first pour 2 cups white distilled vinegar into a sauce pan.
To that add 3 tablespoons sugar and 4 teaspoons kosher salt.
Add in 4 teaspoons of the mustard seed.
Bring it up to a small simmer, stirring just until the sugar is dissolved.
Divide it evenly among the jars and top with filtered water to reach the top of the cucumbers.
Leave the jars on the counter until cool.
Finally, secure the lids on and pop into the fridge for 5 to 7 days.
And just like that… boom.
Pickles.
Before I go, here are some words of warning. You might not want to talk directly into anyone’s face after eating these, unless they’re your enemy. #garlicbreath.
Enjoy! And if you give this Homemade Sour and Spicy Dill Pickle Spears recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!
Easy Homemade Spicy & Sour Dill Pickle Spears
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 kirby cucumbers, washed well
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
- 4 small bay leafs
- 1 jalapeño, halved lengthwise
- fresh dill
- 2 cups white distilled vinegar
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 4 teaspoons mustard seed
Instructions
- Slice cucumbers in half lengthwise then cut into spears.
- In two large impeccably clean glass jars; divide in the smashed and peeled garlic cloves, bay leafs and stuff with a handful of fresh dill.
- Squeeze the cucumber spears along with one jalapeno half into each of the jars.
- In a small sauce pan add; vinegar, sugar, kosher salt and mustard seeds. Heat just until the sugar dissolves. Transfer the vinegar to a liquid measuring cup and pour half the pickling liquid into each jar.
- If the pickling liquid doesn't reach the top of the jars, fill with filtered water until the liquid covers the cucumbers.
- Let the jars cool at room temperature before securing the lids.
- Once cool, place the jars into your fridge for 5-7 days before opening and snacking.
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THANK YOU in advance for your support!
Is it bad that I would probably double the garlic? 😉
HA! Nope… just don’t talk directly to my face afterwards 😉 xo
I LOVE pickles!! And I love the spice in these!
I’m a huge DIY “pickler”!! These sound amazing 🙂
They look great. Nice photos too!
Wow, these look amazing and super easy! I may have to give these a go….
Thanks Dana!
Lol the Strawberry Shortcake kitchen brings back memories! The 80’s were a good time to grow up. 🙂 I love this recipe. It makes canning look not-so-scary.
The 80’s was totally fun! It was all about the Strawberry shortcake kitchen, water-wings and cabbage patch dolls!:)
Love. I can’t wait to try these!
Love the thought of making these at home. My hubs would eat the whole jar!
Awesome! I’m so making these with the cucumbers from my garden !!than you!
Is there a reason you do spears? Could I do pickle chips? Theses look so great – thanks for sharing!
Nope no reason… if you want pickle chips, go for it! 🙂
Homemade pickles?! YES! I’ve always wanted to try it but I just never got around to it! Thanks for reminding me to give this a try. Jason is going to be thrilled. He recently became a pickle fan.
Laurie, I love your floral plate!! it makes your pickles look so elegant. I could literally eat an entire jar of pickles in a sitting. I’d obviously have salt OVERLOAD but whatever, totally a favorite food of mine 🙂
Thanks Sally! I believe I got them at Pier1! My daughter LOVES pickles too… and always wants to drink the pickle juice!
I just adore the way you think! I’m obsessed with all things pickled and have never tried pickling anything myself because of my concern over the boiling water/long jarring process and it hadn’t dawned on me that I could still pickle things they just might not last as long (which is fine considering how quickly I’d go through the batch!). Your pickles look great with all that fresh dill and garlic. Easy peasy is the way to go and I bet those spears are very enjoyable! 🙂
These pickles were made for people like us! Ps. congrats on the TK feature 🙂
Perfection! I can SO do this!!
Ah the Strawberry Shortcake kitchen was the best!! My mom totally kept ours (unbeknownst to me) and brought it out for my daughter to play with. SSC still very cool.
That is so cool! I wish my mom did that! <3
These sound fantastic! I love how simple this recipe is!
Oh, there is NOTHING quite like homemade pickles!
Just wondering how many/what size jars the recipe is written for? 🙂
I don’t can much at all, but I need to start!!
Just made them – sometimes i make Refrigerator Pickles by Sara Foster and she doesn’t boil the vinegar so thats what I did – just shake the mixture in a jar before added and put in the refrig – These smell so good w/all the dill and jalapeno – sometimes I used red pepper flakes. Can’t wait to try them.
Oh my. I made these last weekend, with the addition of some pickling spice I had lying around. I couldn’t wait the whole 5 days to open them, but holy moly, that is already the finest pickle I have ever tasted! Stank breath, yes. But not kissing my husband for an evening, so worth it. I’ll trade love and affection for these pickles. This one is a keeper, for sure! A tip of the hat to you…
I love my pickles and they’re hard to find without artificial dyes!
Would these be sweet pickles if you didn’t put the pepper in, and put more sugar in? I just love sweet pickles! The recipe looks so easy, too! We tried pickles once, and it was really hard. Thanks for sharing!
After the 5-7 days, can I take the pickles out of the fridge and store them on a shelf at room temperature? Silly question huh?
Definitely not a silly question. But, no unfortunately you can’t. Since these aren’t canned… it would be best to just keep them in the fridge. 🙂
Can these pickles be canned so that they can be stored on a shelf instead of the refrigerator?
I cant get fresh, or any, dill. However i can get the seeds, go figure. Can I just use the dill seed? I have seen other recipes calling for the seeds instead of fresh. Thanks
Hi Gregg! I’m honestly not sure, but I did some research and I’ve read that you can. Try a couple of teaspoons per pint of pickles. I haven’t tried this personally, so I hope it works!
These sound winderful! Could you can them? Using a hot water bath?
Hi Jackie! I’m sorry to say but I’m a inexperienced canner… so I’m not sure. This makes such a small batch I just keep them in my fridge for a couple of months.
I do not care for dill pickles but am addicted to sour pickles. If I leave out the dill, garlic and jalapeno, would I then have plain sour pickles? I used to buy them by the gallon at Walmart but unfortunately they no longer carry them and they are over $25.00 per gallon on the internet so that’s not an option for me.
Like the jalapeno recipe, this is a great one. I only marginally liked Dill Spears. I tried these, once again reducing the salt and I love ’em. They were edible in a couple days. After a week they are my favorite pickle. Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks, Paul! I’m happy to hear it! 🙂