Grandma’s Quick Pickled Cucumbers – Refrigerator Pickles
on Jul 08, 2017, Updated Oct 23, 2024
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
These Quick Pickled Cucumbers with green onion are made in the refrigerator for a simple summer snack!
My grandma was a wiz in the kitchen and always created the most incredible recipes for her family of 13 kids (11 of whom were boys!). I got this recipe for quick pickled cucumbers from her. She is an incredible woman, and thinking about her makes me happy. She’d create a simple brine and throw anything from the garden in—not just cucumbers, but onions, bell peppers, and whole cherry tomatoes.
It tastes like summer in a jar, and whether you’re an avid gardener or more of a grocery store frequenter, anyone can make these easy refrigerator pickles in no time.
Try these recipes if you’re looking for more pickling options: Quick and Easy Refrigerator Pickled Banana Peppers, Quick Pickled Cucumbers and Onions, and Sweet and Spicy Cucumbers and Vinegar
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- One of the best things about Refrigerator Pickles is that you can make them quickly and then let them sit in the fridge.
- Unlike traditional canning, this recipe doesn’t require any special equipment.
- If you have an abundance of fresh cucumbers, this recipe is a fantastic way to preserve them and enjoy them longer.
Recipe Ingredients
- Vinegar – apple cider, white, and rice wine are all good options
- Sugar – optional, but it takes a little of the “bite” out of the vinegar
- Garden Cucumbers
- Onion or Green Onion
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Quick Pickled Cucumbers
- Combine the water, vinegar, sugar, and salt.
- Add the cucumber and onion.
- Cover all the cucumbers with the brine.
- Place in the refrigerator until ready to eat!
What are the Best Jars for Pickling?
There’s nothing better than a classic, which is why I love to use the Ball Wide Mouth Mason Jars for my quick pickled cucumbers. Available in a pack of 12, they’re affordable and top-quality thanks to the extra tight lids and durable glass. The 32-ounce size also holds plenty of cucumbers, and you can also use them for other recipes like my Pickled Red Onions and my hot water bath canned pickle peppers.
Recipe FAQs
Most recipes call for distilled white vinegar—it’s clear, colorless, and has a mellow aroma and tart acidic flavor. But you can really use whatever vinegar you like and have on hand, like apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar. This recipe is flexible!
If you ask my grandma, you can pickle any vegetables you like! A few common ones to pickle are cucumbers (of course!), radishes, carrots, red onions, asparagus, jalapenos, cauliflower, and green beans.
To pickle something, you must soak the vegetables in a vinegar brine. My brine calls for water, vinegar, sugar (optional), and salt. You let the cucumbers rest in the brine in the fridge until you’re ready to eat them. Letting them sit longer helps the flavors develop more, so an overnight soak is ideal, but they’re also okay to eat right away!
You want to choose a cucumber with thicker skin, as the thick skin helps the cucumber stay crunchy. Stay away from the English cucumber, as its skin is too thin.
Expert Tips
- White vinegar is the traditional vinegar for this recipe and a great place to start. Apple cider or rice wine vinegar are also good.
- These are delicious on our favorite pulled pork sandwiches (made easy in the slow cooker!), as a side for everything summer, and to eat for a snack. You can’t go wrong with this simple dish all summer long.
- Want to add a little spice? Toss in a jalapeno cut in half (delicious!).
- I love these glass containers with lids to have things like this in my fridge. I also use a mason jar and one of these reusable lids really often.
More Preserving Recipes to Consider
Canning Recipes
How to Can Food: Learn the Basics
Freezing Foods
How to Blanch Green Beans
Freezing Foods
How to Freeze Fruit and Vegetables
Soups, Stews & Chowders
How to Make Chicken or Turkey Broth
Did you make this recipe? Leave a ⭐️ review and share it on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!
Quick Pickled Cucumbers – Refrigerator Pickles
Equipment
- small bowl : I love these because they have lids and double as serving bowls.
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup vinegar, (apple cider, white, and rice wine are all good)
- 2 tablespoons sugar, optional
- 1 to 2 teaspoons salt
- sliced garden cucumbers, (about 2 cups)
- sliced onion or green onion, (about 1/2 cup)
- additional vegetables as you like, (bell pepper, whole cherry tomatoes, etc.)
Instructions
- In a small bowl add the water, vinegar, sugar, and salt. Stir to combine and until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Add the cucumber and onion. Taste and adjust the ingredients to your liking.
- All the cucumbers should be covered in the brine, if you have lots of cucumber or are making a big batch, make more brine.
- Let the mixture rest in the fridge until you are ready to eat. The flavors develop over time, so an overnight soak is great but mine are normally gone by dinner.
Video
Notes
- I love adding the sugar and my mom does too, but my grandma doesn’t add that much (she only adds a few teaspoons). I say try it and see what you like.
- White vinegar is a great place to start but if you like apple cider or rice wine vinegar, they are also good. You really can’t mess this up. Just adjust to the taste and enjoy!
- The pickles will last at least a week in the fridge but get less crisp with time.
- You can reuse your brine for a time or two; add more cucumbers!
Sometimes I feel like we had different grandmas. You always talk about recipes you got from her or memories you have at her farm, and they’re completely foreign to me! I guess that’s what I get for being a city girl.
That’s so funny because these were at every food family event we went to, you must not have liked them enough to remember them 🙂
I made four huge jars of pickles from our home grown cucumbers following this recipe… they are so awesome and they are not going to last long before getting eaten! What a terrific snack in the hot weather. We have lots of cucumbers still to be harvested… I’ll be making these pickles for weeks! Thanks for the great recipe!!
I’m so glad you liked them! My cucumbers are flowering but no cucumbers yet, I’m so excited to get some!
These pictures looks so great. I love the way you laid everything out – it really makes me want to try making these at home. I love quick pickling onions and cucumbers, I think I might do both in one jar! Thank you again for sharing, can’t wait to try these when I have some free time!
Enjoy! These are forever one of my favorites!
I followed your recipe and I really loved. When my family and friends came over for Thanksgiving last year, I sent some home with my three sisters and they loved it too. One of my sisters made some for herself but my other two sisters are to lazy to make it themselves even though it very easy to make.
Thanks so much for letting me know! So happy to hear you loved them.
I am trying out your recipe tonight. I’m putting in a bay leaf with it.
Great idea! Sounds delicious!
I made pickles! They are almost gone and its not even dinnertime yet….uh oh!! I like the sugar in there, reminds me of my mom’s bread and butter pickles. I couldn’t stay out of those either! Happy Pickle Day!
I like it too! Must be because it reminds me of my mom and grandma too!
These rock with your sloppy joes and oven fries!!!! My tummy is so happy right now!
I just wanna try this recipe.
how long do they last? I am looking for a recipe that will preserve the pickle and onion
what a great recipe! I should have planted onions 🙁 mine wont be as cute as yours
This is one of our family favorites and easy to to with an abundance of garden cukes you don’t want to go to waste. We add a little kick to ours….great to serve up at parties!
https://thebarefootmom.com/2012/03/05/spicy-cukes/
Oh yum! I am totally for this adventure!
I don’t have a garden this year for the first time in a long long time, I miss picking fresh cucumbers the most and doing a quick pickle in the fridge!