Quick Refrigerator Pickles
Have you made quick pickles before? It’s fast, easy, and fun. Onions, cucumbers, asparagus, parsnips, radishes, and pea pods are great vegetables to start making quick refrigerator pickles.
Yield: ~ 4 pint jars
Prep: 30 Minutes
Processing: Not required for this recipe
Ingredients:
• Assorted vegetables (see Tips below for amounts)
• Sour brine:
- 3 cups white or apple cider vinegar
- 3 cups water
- 3 Tbsp canning/pickling salt
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• Sweet brine:
- 3 cups white or apple cider vinegar
- 3 cups water
- 2 Tbsp canning/pickling salt
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
Instructions:
Prep:
• Wash and chop vegetables into the desired shape and size you would like for pickles.
These vegetables do not require any cooking prior to pickling.
• Wash jars, lids, and bands in warm soapy water and set aside.
• Assemble and measure brine ingredients.
• Select flavorings – get creative with fresh or dry flavorings. Mix and match from the following
suggested list of fresh and dried herbs and spices to add up to 2 Tbsp per jar.
• Dry flavorings: bay leaves, celery seed, chile peppers, cumin seed, dill seed, mustard seed,
picking spice, peppercorns, turmeric.
• Fresh flavorings: jalapeño or habanero peppers, celery seed, dill, garlic, oregano, shallot,
horseradish.
• Pack prepared vegetables snugly into jars.
Cook:
• Bring brine to a boil and let boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
Fill:
• Carefully fill the jars with brine to within ½ inch of the top of the rim. Place the lids on the jars
and refrigerate.
• Allow flavor to develop for 1-2 days before serving. Use within 2 weeks.
Tips and Notes:
• There are no specified amounts of vegetables for this recipe. It is critical to follow the brine
proportions as indicated. Do not alter the amounts of vinegar, water, salt and/or sugar.
• You can refer to other pickling recipes to gauge amounts of fruits or vegetables needed for
canning. For planning purposes, 3 ½ pounds of carrots will fill roughly 4 pint jars; 8 pounds
of 3- to 5-inch pickling cucumbers will fill roughly 7 to 9 pint jars; 7 pounds of bell peppers will
fill roughly 9 pint jars.
Source:
https://ucanr.edu/sites/default/files/2025-07/MFP%20Quick%20Refrigerator%20Pickles.pdf