by Texas Homesteader ~
*contains affiliate link
This recipe for lightly sweet and crisp sweet pickles can be made one quart at a time. Perfect since the garden doesn’t always crank out those fresh cucumbers at the same rate. And this sweet pickle recipe is so simple anyone can do it!
(Note: Some links in this post are for further information from earlier posts I’ve written. But links preceded with * are affiliate links. If you click them and buy something (almost anything, not just the item noted) I could receive a tiny commission. But the price you pay will NOT change. It’s an easy way to support this blog without anything coming out of your pocket. So click often! Thank you!)
What Cucumbers To Plant For Pickles?
I was planning on making homemade pickles with my garden cucumbers. So I planted *Pickler Cucumber seeds in my garden and they’d been producing well.
But I only planted one vine since there are only two of us at our home. I didn’t want it to produce more than RancherMan & I could consume.
Picking Cucumbers From The Garden
So each morning I’d go out to the garden and pick a few 3″ – 4″ pickling-sized cucumbers and set them in the fridge until I figured I had enough to make refrigerator pickles.
It doesn’t take long since I’m making them 1 quart jar at a time this year.
Easier Homemade Refrigerator Pickles
I personally prefer to enjoy my homemade pickles as dill pickles but I’ve never successfully made a dill pickle brine that I care for. So I typically use a shortcut when I make dills – *Mrs. Wages Dill Pickle Mix .
But RancherMan prefers sweet pickles instead. And I do love my recipe for sweet pickle brine. So when making sweet pickles I always make the brine myself.
I’ve found an easy way to whip up a quart of sweet pickles for the refrigerator using a recipe that has just the right amount of sweetness for him without being too sweet for me.
Now in the heat & humidity of our NE Texas summers I hate to fire up the canner. So I often opt for refrigerator pickles instead.
Hey, whip ’em up & toss the jar in the fridge to let them get all pickley! What’s not to love??!!
Easy Refrigerator Sweet Pickles Recipe
First I whip up my brine by mixing into a small saucepan: 1 cup filtered water, 1/2 cup vinegar (5% acidity), 3/4 cup sugar, 2 Tablespoons pickling spice, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1-2 cloves garlic.
I stir it until it starts simmering to fully incorporate all ingredients, then turn the heat off and turn my attention to my cucumbers.
Preparing The Cucumbers For Making Pickles
I like to pick my pickler cucumbers when they’re young & tender, about 3-4 inches long. They’ve been stored in the fridge since I picked them. But now I bring ’em out & wash and dry them, cut the ends off
I use my *crinkle cutter to cut them into thick 1/2-inch slices to drop into a wide mount quart canning jar. Hey, mama always said presentation is half the dish and I want them to look pretty!
Depending upon how long the cucumbers are I typically can get 3-5 of them in the jar.
Making Refrigerator Sweet Pickle Slices
I always add at least one grapevine leaf because it’s been said that helps keep your pickles crisp.
Now I don’t know if it’s an old wives tale or not, all I’m sayin’ is that my pickles were always soft before, now they’re always crisp. Coincidence?? You decide!
Now it’s time to pour the hot brine over the pickles covering them completely and put a lid on the jar.
I leave the jar sitting on the counter until it’s cool, then I wipe it down with a wet cloth to remove any sticky brine that may have dribbled onto the outside of the jar.
Before I put it in the fridge I use a permanent sharpie marker to write directly onto the glass jar. That helps us to know what kind of pickles are inside (sweet or dill).
I also include the date I made them. That lets me know when they’ve been in the brine long enough to begin serving with our meals.
I’ll let them sit in the fridge pickling in their jars for about a week or so. Then I bring them out of the fridge and enjoy them as a cooling condiment on a hot day with our supper.
So there ya go. I’m a big believer that delicious crisp homemade pickles need not be difficult nor expensive.
And since the garden doesn’t always crank those cukes out at the same rate, this method works great since you can make ’em one quart jar at a time!
We always have a fresh supply of homemade pickles to enjoy throughout the summer.
If you shy away from sweet pickles because they’re so darn syrupy sweet, you’ll love these – lightly sweet and crispy as can be. Sure I’ll share the recipe!
Did you make these pickles? Please rate the recipe in your comment below!
Refrigerator Sweet Pickle Recipe
This simple sweet-pickle recipe makes refrigerator pickles the same way you harvest cucumbers: One quart at a time. Not syrupy sweet like other pickles, lightly sweet and delightfully crisp. #TexasHomesteader
Ingredients
- Enough sliced pickling cucumbers to fit into a quart-sized jar About 4-5 small cucumbers
- Wide-mouth quart canning jar
- 1 cup filtered water
- 1/2 cup vinegar 5% acidity
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 Tablespoons pickling spice
- 1/2 teaspoon pickling salt
- 1-2 cloves garlic
- 1-2 fresh grapevine leaves - washed & patted dry
Instructions
-
Mix all ingredients together except grapevine leaves and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly.
-
Place grapevine leaves in bottom of a clean wide-mouth quart jar, add washed, sliced cucumbers.
-
Pour hot brine over cucumbers, place lid on jar & let pickles sit about 30 minutes to cool, then store in refrigerator. Can taste after 48 hours but they're perfect for us in about a week.
-
Use within about 3 months.
~TxH~
This post categorized in 
Tagged in 
Preserving The Harvest Posts
- Making Tomato Sauce
- Canning Fresh Asparagus
- Water-Bath Canning Pears In Light Syrup
- Canning Garden Corn
- Easier Dill Pickles
- One Quart At A Time Refrigerator Pickles
- Harvesting & Preserving Coriander (Cilantro)
- Growing, Harvesting & Preserving Garlic
- Keeping Garlic
- Preserving The Harvest: Oregano
- Accumulating Okra When Your Harvest Is Small
- My Simple, Zero-Waste Herb Drying Setup
…And Much MORE!
See All Preserving The Harvest Posts
C’mon by & sit a spell! Come hang out at our Facebook Page. It’s like sitting in a front porch rocker with a glass of cold iced tea – lots of good folks sharing! You can also follow along on Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.
If you’d like to receive an email each time a new blog post goes live it’s EASY to
Subscribe to our blog!
I haven’t made the recipe yet, so I can’t give it a rating. I was wondering if this recipe is safe for canning?
I typically use this recipe for refrigerator pickles, I don’t typically can these one-at-a-time jars of sweet pickles. I’d imagine it would be fine to water-bath can them as well since the vinegar/water ratios look about the same as is typically recommended. When I can pickles I add cucumbers/spices in the jar, fill with brine to within 1/2″ headspace and water-bath can for 10 minutes. ~TxH~
Can I leave these whole if they r small enough? I looked at a gherkin recipe but it is way time consuming and also requires hot water bath at end so was thinking of trying this recipe instead but leaving the small pickles whole. What do you think?
I don’t think that would be a problem Noelle. You might have to let them sit in the brine a little longer to fully ‘pickle’ than you would slices but I can’t imagine leaving them whole would be a problem. Let us know what you think of the finished whole pickles. YUM! ~TxH~
Thank You for sharing. One quart at a time would be perfect for this single lady. My dad use to put a grapevine leaf in his pickled okra, but I never knew why. I have a problem with my dill pickles being soft and mushy. Maybe this would work for them. Now to find a grapevine. Have a Fabulous Day. I found you over at Sustainable Sunday.
I’m so glad you stopped by, Becky! I have found my pickles are always crispy now with the addition of the grape leaves but I’m growing a concord grapevine so I always have fresh leaves available to me. Perhaps one of your friends or neighbors are growing grapes as well and would give you a stem from time to time? ~TxH~
Just made pickles yesterday but still have more cucumbers so I love this! And I had never heard the tip about the grapevine leaf – will have to try it!
Stephanie, it seems to be true. My pickles are always crisp now – try it! ~TxH~
This looks like a simple recipe. We are loaded with cucumbers and I have made several cases of pickles both dill and bread and butter. I am in the give away stage now, but a jar or 2 in the refrigerator would be nice now. My husband said plant a lot and I did and the rabbits most not like cucumbers because the have left them alone and eaten my green beans. Replanting beans today and adding a barrier to keep out rabbits. Thanks for the recipe
Ugh – the rabbits are hard to tame aren’t they Cynthia?? My veggie garden is surrounded by fence so rabbits can’t get in there, but anything that is planted elsewhere is fair game to the rabbits. I thought I’d plant a small patch of green beans in the back yard and like you found that the rabbits loved them, all the way to the ground! ~TxH~
Your jar of pickles look great and like the crinkle cut as well.
In place of grapevine leaf you could also use Ball Canning’s Pickle Crisp in place of the leaf; something that wasn’t available many years ago so a grapevine leaf was used. Using a leaf is an old timers trick that generally isn’t used today as much better methods are available.
Some swear that it does make a difference in having crisps pickles and others never noticed the difference. It’s all in one’s preference I guess.
Years ago when my mother canned pickles we had no grapevine leaves and they still turned out great. If I remember correctly; I think she used alum in her canned pickles.
Removing a thin slice (1/16″) from the blossom end of each cucumber prior to pickling. Enzymes which cause softening are concentrated in the blossom end.
Thanks 4 sharing the recipe.
I’m all about doing things the old way Colleen. I’d wondered if the grape leaves were an old wives tale but I have the grapevine so I figured I’d give it a go. Grape leaves are in every jar of pickles I make now, there’s no turning back for me. LOL ~TxH~
Using Alum is no longer considered safe. However, Ball puts out a Calcium Chloride product called Pickle Crisp to replace the Alum used. Basically you use this when Hot water bath processing pickles but not generally for refrigerator pickles. Grape leaves have natural Tannin in them and that works for crisping pickles when processing. I’d use grape leaves if I had a vine. This year I’ll go with Pickle Crisp for my pickles. Last years got a bit mushy after awhile.
I didn’t plant cucumbers so I tried making some dill pickles with my zucchini. I picked small ones that could fit in my pint canning jars. I cut them in half and followed a recipe for raw packed canned pickles. I am waiting for them to absorb all the flavours before trying one. If they turn out okay I’ll post the results. I’m new to canning, so my experiments don’t always come out as tasty as expected. – Margy
I’ve heard of others pickling their zucchini, Margy. Fingers crossed that you love the results! ~TxH~