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Growing cucumbers this year? You’re gonna need this dill pickle recipe for cool, crisp snacks all year long! Dill pickles are the easiest pickle to make, and make a great condiment to serve with burgers, barbecue, and more.

A few years ago – in 2013 to be exact – my husband grew a lot of cucumbers. I remember the year because it was the same summer our daughter was born.

And it was his garden because, well, I was pregnant while taking care of a toddler, and if you don’t think that’s a full time job, you’ve probably never been a parent. 😉

I didn’t have the brain space for making gardening decisions.

But that’s not really relevant to the story. What is relevant is that three days after our daughter was born, Gabe came in carrying two five gallon buckets full of cucumbers.

To his credit, he did most of the pickling that summer, but I may or may not have forbid him to ever grow cucumbers again after that.

Before that year, pickling had always been a fairly large part of our canning process.

We liked our dill pickle recipe of course, but we also made sweet pickles, bread and butter pickles, okra pickles, even broccoli pickles, and various relishes.

But after that summer, I was completely and totally burned out.

In fact, I can’t say I had any enthusiasm for gardening after that for a few years, and I don’t know if it was because I now had two kids to keep me busy, or if I was just really cranky about the sheer volume of stuff Gabe grew that year.

Anyway, this year has been different. I put in a garden, and I’m growing cucumbers of my own volition. Not very many mind you, but they are there.

And I’m enjoying a little pickle making to boot. Not two dozen pints a day, but a little.

And the first pickles I’m making are dill pickles, because for me, they’re the most important.

We eat them on hamburgers (made with gluten-free hamburger buns. Mmmmm), put them in potato salad, use them in enchiladas (yes, for real. It’s a family recipes I need to share one of these days), and I eat them when I’m bored-hungry but know I don’t really need to be eating snacks.

And despite my burnout on making pickles, the best thing about them is that they really are easy to make as you’ll see below, and I’ve been able to do it in my spare time so far this summer.

Ingredients for making dill pickles

As I mentioned above, dill pickles are some of the easiest to make, and along with that, they take fewer ingredients than most. Here they are:

Cucumbers – small, pickling cucumbers are best
Vinegar – distilled white vinegar is best.
Salt – Use canning salt, or an iodine-free salt
Garlic – this adds an incredible amount of flavor to your pickles. The more garlic the better, but as a general rule, one garlic clove per quart jar
Dill – fresh dill is best, but you can also use dill weed, or dill seeds
Cayenne pepper – for just a little kick. Using a whole, uncut pepper will give you a boost of flavor without the heat. Cut the pepper, and you’d be surprised how hot even one little slice can make a jar of pickles! You can also use a pinch of red pepper flakes.

Additional ingredients you can use

Classic dill pickles are a crowd pleaser, and great for sandwiches, but you don’t have to stop there – pickles with additional flavor make an especially good snack.

Some other spices you can add are:

Mustard seeds
black peppercorns
Additional garlic cloves
Celery seeds
Bay leaf

Pickles get there flavor from soaking in the brine, and the longer they soak, the more flavorful they get. So when you adda few of these spices to your jar of pickles, you may not notice the flavor for a few days, but give it some time – those whole peppercorns and dill sprigs will start to shine through!

Instructions for Homemade Dill Pickles

Prepare your cucumbers by washing them, and cutting into slices, or spears
Make a brine by heating your salt, water, and vinegar to a boil in a pot.
To each mason jar, Add a sprig of dill, or a teaspoon of dill weed, a clove of garlic, a small cayenne pepper, and any additional spices you desire (this is the same whether you’re using quart or pint jars).
Pack each prepared jar full of cucumbers, leaving a half inch of headspace
Pour hot brine over cucumbers
Wipe rims, and screw down lids and bands
For refrigerator dill pickles, go ahead and let the jars cool, and then refrigerate
For canning, water bath process pints for 5 minutes, and quarts for 10 minutes
The next day, check jars for seal, and clean, if needed, with mildly soapy water
Store in a cool place out of direct sunlight

Notes and Frequently Asked Questions

A dill pickle brine can actually used for a number of different vegetables, such as carrots and green beans. I also like dilled broccoli, but only the refrigerator pickles version – once it’s canned, the broccoli gets too soft for me.

A lot of people like to use wide-mouth jars for their pickles, especially if they’re making spears. In my experience, small mouth jars seal more reliably, and I don’t find it that difficult to get pickles in and out, so I rarely use wide mouth.

A lot of people ask how they can make a crisp pickle when canning. One way is the dessicate them in an icy salt bath. We do this with bread and butter pickles, I’m not sure why it’s not as popular with dill pickles.

There are another methods as well, such as adding a grape leaf, which is high in tannins, and can help keep them from getting mushy.

I typically rely on the much debated method of inverting. Meaning that I pour hot brine over my cukes, screw down the lids, and turn the jars upside-down for about three minutes to re-sterilize the lid. Then put them right-side-up, and let them seal as they cool.

Do they last as long? No. But they stay crispy for a while at least, preserved by the salt and vinegar.