Homemade Dill Pickle Recipe
Published January 3, 2020. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Learn how to make dill pickles right from your very own kitchen in under 90 minutes that are way better than anything you’ll get from the store.
Now you can top off all your sandwiches, grilled cheeseburgers, and other favorites with this simple pickle recipe. If you’re nervous because you’ve never pickled anything before, don’t worry, as I will take you step-by-step through this easy process.
How to Sterilize Your Jars
Your new jars must be sterilized before canning anything, which is the proper way to do it.
- Wash the jars, lids, and outer bands with hot soapy water and rinse.
- Bring the lids to a simmer for 10 minutes. Set aside.
- Boil the jars in a large pot on a rack for 10 minutes. Set aside
Washing them in the dishwasher alone will not sterilize your jars.
Dill Pickle Ingredients
Dill pickles have few ingredients making them easy to make and delicious. Here are the ingredients:
- Kerby or Persian pickles
- Fresh dill
- Water
- Vinegar
- Salt
- Garlic
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
How Long Do They Need to Cure?
Once the brining liquid in the jar with the pickles has cooled to room temperature, you can begin to eat them. However, they will become more delicious within 3-5 days of adding the brine.
What Kind of Cucumber to Use
There are several different cucumbers you can use for your pickles, and here are my favorites:
- Kerby
- Persian
- Boston Pickling Cucumber
- Bush Pickle
If you can’t find any of these varieties, you can simply slice a regular or hothouse cucumber into spears or chips.
Refrigerator Pickles
If you are wanting to eat them right away, you will want to add the lid and place them immediately in the refrigerator once they have cooled in the brine to room temperature. They will last 4-6 weeks in the refrigerator and must be stored there at all times. Also, learn how to make my bread and butter pickles recipe if you want a little twist.
How to Make Dill Pickles
- Cut your cucumbers.
- Place in a sterilized jar.
- Add in fresh dill.
- Add water, vinegar, minced garlic, salt, and crushed red pepper flakes to a pot and bring to a boil or until the salt has dissolved.
- Pour the brine over the pickles and let cool to room temperature.
- Add the lid and label, and date.
- Keep cool in the refrigerator for 4-6 weeks.
Canning to Seal
Perhaps you won’t be able to eat these pickles for quite some time. In this case, you will want to seal them. Once the brine has been poured over the top of the cucumbers, you will immediately screw on the lid and place it into a pot of boiling water with a rack in it and boil for 10 minutes.
Simply cool it to room temperature and keep it for up to 1 year. You will know it has been sealed correctly if the lid on the jar will not move at all when pressing in the center of it.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: You can make these up to two weeks ahead of time.
How to Store: Keep the lid on the jar and store in the refrigerator under 40° for 4-6 weeks. Pickles do not freeze well, so we advise against it.
How to Seal: Once the brine has been poured over the top of the cucumbers, you will immediately screw on the lid and place it into a pot of boiling water with a rack in it, and boil for 10 minutes.
chef notes + tips
- For Canned pickles, simply cool them to room temperature and keep them for up to 1 year. You will know it has been sealed correctly if the lid on the jar will not move at all when pressing in the center of it.
- If you can’t find any pickling cucumber varieties, you can simply slice a regular or hothouse cucumber into spears or chips.
Serve Them With These Recipes
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Video
Dill Pickle Recipe
Equipment
- mason jars
Ingredients
- 12 pickling cucumbers
- 8 sprigs fresh dill
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 12 finely minced cloves of garlic
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ¼ cup sea salt
Instructions
- Slice your pickles to your desired slice and pack them into 4, 16-ounce sterilized mason jars.
- Place 2 sprigs of fresh dill into each jar alongside the cucumbers. Set aside.
- In a large pot, add the water, vinegar, garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt and bring to a boil or until the salt is dissolved.
- Evenly pour the brine liquid over the cucumbers in the jar until they are completely covered.
- Cool to room temperature, add a lid, label and date, and store in the refrigerator for 4-6 weeks.
We have a nice, elevated bed garden every year and usually have a ton of Boston pickling cucumbers. We decided to make your dill pickle recipe and it turned out fantastic! We are fans of pickled veggies, and we are excited to try more this summer! Thanks for posting your recipes, Chef.
I sterilize the mason jars in my oven. They come out hot & ready.
I’m so excited about these pickles 🥒 I never thought I would be a pickle maker! They are easy to make and fun to share.
What if you don’t have a rack to place down in your pot??
Don’t do it.
Hi Billy
It says store in refrigerator 4-6 weeks but how long does it take for the brine to “pickle” the cucumbers? Are they ready to eat immediately or best after 1 week? 2?
Thank you
I believe it says 24 hours.
I made spears and sliced! So good and super easy!!
yes!
These pickles are so delicious. We added twice the amount of red pepper flakes, the second time we made them. Both ways were really good, my clan just likes a little more kick. Also, we made spears & chips. Everyone loved the chips way more.
Nice!
Can I use this for a marinade when a recipe calls for pickle juice?
of course
Very easy to make! My son-in-law usually never eats a thing that I make however when I gave him a jargon these pickles, he ate every last one in one sitting! I have to go home and make another batch! Chef Parisi is my favorite chef, He’s down to earth and great chef.
In the past I always canned a dill pickle recipe and I ended up throwing the entire batch away because the pickles were like mush. This recipe, the pickles not only tasted delicious but they were crunchy so I give this recipe five stars!
If you do the seal in a water bath does this recipe need to be refrigerated.
no.
I made these fabulous dill pickles several times now and shared them with several of my friends. They all love them. So thanks for posting this recipe. Chef Billy at what altitude did you gauge your timing for a water bath canner. Here in AZ The altitude is 2000/3000 feet. So what I did was add an additional 5 minutes to feel safe. Is this correct or does it really matter.
My friend and I made 2 dozen quart bottles of these dills using the Persian cucumbers. We put in 2 smashed garlic cloves and 2 dried Japanese dried red peppers with fresh dill fronds. The jars are so pretty and the pickles taste fabulous!! We have requests for “gift” jars. Looks like we are going to be busy.
We are going to use the basic brine recipe for pickling of other veges like okra, green beans, carrots, onions, whatever we find fresh.
We are going to experiment with cutting the amount of salt we use as we have low sodium needs. Any advice?
Mucho Thanks!
OMG!!! I’ve tried at least 50 recipes for dill pickles and didn’t really like one. UNTIL NOW!!!! It is perfect in every way!!! These are the marvelous deli pickles from my youth in the 50s and 60s!! They bring back all of the sweet memories with my Dad, stopping into the local deli for bagels and lox on a Sunday morning… and being able to choose my pickle out of the barrel! Thank you, Chef!!!!
This is so awesome, thanks for sharing your story and for giving them a shot!
the best ever!
I’ve always wanted to make my own! This looks like a fun project to do with the kids after school this week. Thanks!