Cooking with Collin: Homemade Pickles
Today is my second attempt at my new weekly post called Cooking with Collin that features a favorite frugal recipe of mine (or a favorite of a Hip2Save reader). This next recipe I am going to feature is something that I LOVE so very much and something that I was obsessed with when I was prego! Any guesses?!
Well, pickles, of course!! 😀
Today, I am going to show you how to easily make your own homemade pickles… and these pickles taste a heck of a lot better than store bought! I can guarantee making them will get you feelin’ like quite the kitchen diva! You also may have to keep opening your fridge just to see your beautiful pickles displayed in the jar. I smile proudly every time I glance at my pickle jar! Oh the confidence I feel from making homemade pickles! 🙂
Besides that fact that making homemade pickle boosts your status in the kitchen, they also taste fabulous! And you can use them in so many dishes. From deviled eggs to tuna salad to a peanut butter pickle sandwich. Yes, there is such a thing. And this “thing” is delicious. I’m not strange… I’m just a perfectly proper pickle poppin’ princess who enjoys the finer things in life and you will too! 😉
Before telling you how to make your own homemade pickles, here are couple pickle facts:
*Asia consumes more pickles per capita than any other region.
*Americans consume more than 2.5 billion pounds of pickles each year – that’s 20 billion pickles! And since it takes almost 4 billion pickles to reach the moon, all the pickles we eat would reach the moon and back more than 2 times!
*If it weren’t for pickles, Christopher Columbus might never have “discovered” America. In his famous 1492 voyage, Columbus rationed pickles to his sailors to keep them from getting scurvy. He even grew cucumbers during a pit stop in Haiti to restock for the rest of the voyage. Source credits: I Love Pickles and Pickle Facts , Recipe adapted from Food Network.
Homemade Pickle Recipe
Delicious and easy recipe for homemade pickles!
Ingredients
- 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
- 2 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- Pinch kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon pickling spice
Directions
1
Slice onions, thinly.
2
Slice cucumbers, thinly.
3
Combine onion and cucumber slices in a clean jar. You can re-use an old pickle jar (if you have one on hand).
Combine all the remaining ingredients in a non-reactive saucepan (made from stainless steel, glass, or ceramic materials) and bring to a boil. Simmer for 4 full minutes to wake up the flavors of the spices. Slowly pour the hot pickling liquid over the onion and cucumber slice, completely filling the jar.
Allow the pickles to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, refrigerate. I let my pickles sit in the refrigerator for about 24 hours before enjoying them. So if you have the patience, I would wait at least a day or so.
I can’t wait to hear how you much enjoy making and munching on your own homemade pickles! 🙂
I love pickles and so does everyone in my household. We were just finishing up some pickles I made from fresh cucumbers and reused my Klausen remains in the jar. Took about a day and YUMMY! I will definately try this recipe listed above. Thanks for sharing.
I am soooooooo happy you posted this today!! My daugther turned 11 yesterday & is having about 8 of her friends from school sleep-over tomorrow night……all of a sudden….it occured to me today @about 5pm…..we have no “party favors” to send home with the girls who will be sleeping over! YIKES!!! 😕 She attends an awesome charter school….that concentrates on the environment…..so BINGO…once again, Collin has saved the day! After I finish my day substitute teaching math at our local HS I will be hitting the grocery store for party supplies, AND MASON JARS, plus some of the other ingredients on that list – & they get to help make the pickles – bread & butter or dill – their choice…..can’t wait…. 🙂
These sound like bread and butter pickles. We used to layer ritz crackers, med. cheddar or american cheese and top with bread and butter pickles for a snack when I was young. Mmmm
We always made peanut butter and pickle sandwichs with dill pickles but these sound good. I might have to make some–I did years ago but canned them–these sound easier. Thanks!
Wait. PB and pickles is legit? I thought someone was pulling my chain!
Thanks for sharing, they look really good!
I make these every summer, but not just with cucumbers! Try carrot sticks or zucchini sticks, and you can add whole cloves of garlic, too!
Alright everone – I’m intrigued. I’m going to try this peanut butter & pickle thing!
Let us know what you think! 😀
OMG these look awesome. I heart pickles! Have you ever made them by cutting the cuke into spears instead? I’ve never had good luck making refrigerator pickles that weren’t sickly sweet ones. I will def have to try this out. Yum!
Here’s the recipe that I use. https://canningusa.com/IfICanYouCan/BreadandButterPickles.htm
I make mine a bit different. I put the sliced cucumbers in the ice bath for a few hours instead of overnight and also don’t put in as many onions. I use regular table salt too. The ice bath process helps make them crisp. When the cucumbers and spices are boiling, I’ll sterilize the jars and lids. I use the hot pack canning method to process the pickles. This recipe makes quite a bit of leftover pickle juice which everyone loves…lol!
Oh…here is a big tip! If you plan to make them using tumeric, be careful. This spice will turn an item yellow!
I made pickles last year for the first time from a recipe that a friend gave me. They were awesome! I made a case full and my husband couldnt stop eating them. He would put them on a saucer and sprinkle with salt and pepper. I had to tell him to save me some. I did repurpose the juice and made another batch but it wasnt as good as the first because it lost some of the flavor. Still good though! Glad I am not the only pickle obssessed woman in the world.
That’s interestingly good. Its weird how the peanut butter kind of reduces the pickly taste. its almost like a crunchy peanut butter sandwhich.
thanks for posting this! I can’t wait to try to make them pickles go fast in this house.
My mouth is watering! I have an AWESOME recipe for dill pickled green beans that are OUT of THIS world! Makes me want to make both of them… to the grocery store tomorrow!
Yum that sounds so good! Can you share the recipe? 🙂
Sounds easy and look delicious! I’m going to try these.
question…when should these pickles be eaten by?
I started canning pickles two years ago. Each summer I make a variety (including my own sweet relish Collin). If you want to preserve several jars to last. Get out your largest stock pot make sure that the jars are covered in water, bring to a rolling boil for about 15 minutes take the jars out and let them cool. You should hear the pop sounds of the jars sealing while cooling. After 24 hours test the seals by taking off the outer ring and checking to make sure the lid is on tight. A quick and easy way to make sure your jars and lids are sanitized wash them and dry them on your hottest setting in your dishwasher while you are getting all of the ingredients ready.
P.S I always keep my kosher salt handy in case the pot starts to boil over, a bit of salt helps to stop boil over.
P.P.S If you are looking for a great cucumber to grow to can your own pickles this summer, I recommend Burpee seeds “Pickle Bush”. They grow in a bush cluster and are the size for dill spears. However, I use them for spears, slices and relish. The seedlings can yield as many bushes as you have space for. Last year I spread them out to about 5 main bushes and each bush yielded probably 50-60 cucumbers throughout the summer. So need lest to say I had a lot of pickles.
Are these like bread and butter or dill??
Does anyone know how long they keep in the fridge? I am guessing a week? Or does anyone know because they get eaten before they have a chance to sit around :).
These are making my mouth water! I’m not sure if there are any other Rhode Islanders on here, but we have a restaurant, Greggs, that serves the BEST pickles ever. They give them to every table, the way some restaurants serve bread while you wait for your entrees. I’ve never been able to figure out the recipe but Collins look delish!
Unfortunately, we have a cucumber shortage here (really?!) because of a frost somewhere. I guess I’ll have to wait a couple of weeks.
We made our own pickles last year from the cucumbers in our garden and they were tasty. The thing is we actually figured esp. if you are getting pickles on sale with coupon that for us anyway it is actually more expensive to make them for the dill anyway. The sweet pickles are more expensive so we will probably can our own sweet pickles again this year and not dill.
DOES ANYONE HAVE A YUMMY DILL PICKLE RELISH RECIPE THEY’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH ME? I have tried several and am not a fan of any of them. I like to can it for things like deviled eggs and even tuna mix. I don’t like sweet. Please post it if you do. THANKS!
Does anyone have a recipie for garlic pickles? I love those kind they sell at delies that are still bright green and have tried a bunch of recipies and I just can’t get them right.
I haven’t seen anyone verify whether these are like bread and butter or dilly? I heart pickles but not the sweet ones.=]
I am guessing they are not dill since there is no dill listed in the ingredients. They sound like bread and butter.
Thanks for this recipe! I am in the process of making them as I type this 🙂