How to Make Dill Pickles

Easily make homemade dill pickles in just a few minutes with common pantry staples.

Homemade Dill Pickles Recipe

How do you like your pickles? In my house, we always have a jar of half sours, which my kids love to snack on and my husband adds to his pita sandwiches for lunch. It’s not hard to find good, handcrafted pickles of all varieties (especially if you live in New York!), but it’s so much more fun to experiment with homemade pickles (case in point: I really love dill, so I used a lot). It doesn’t even require any special tools—you probably already have most of what you’ll need at home.

That said, I did buy a new toy to give my pickles the iconic wavy texture, but you could just as easily use a knife to cut them into whatever shape you like. I left these babies in the fridge for a day before diving in and was so pleased with how they turned out. The pickling opportunities are endless, so stay tuned for what I pickle next.

Ingredients for Homemade Dill Pickles

• 1½ cups water
• 1½ cups white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/3 cup fresh dill, roughly chopped
• 4 Kirby cucumbers

How to Make Homemade Dill Pickles

1. Smash the garlic with the flat edge of a knife to help release the juices.

2. Add the water, vinegar, salt, peppercorns, dill, and garlic to a saucepan and place over medium heat.

3. Using a crinkle cutter or knife, cut the cucumbers into 1/2" pieces.

4. Add the cucumber slices to a large jar and pour the pickling liquid over them until they’re completely covered.

5. Tightly seal the jar and let pickle in the fridge for at least 24 hours. The pickles will stay good for at least a few weeks, if they last that long.

What You’ll Need

• A large jar (I save mine from Rao’s, but any mason jar will do)

• Crinkle Cutter

• Sauce Pan

In a rut in the kitchen? Send me your cooking questions! Email askmelissa@bakedbymelissa.com for my cooking advice and insights, and don't forget to tag@bakedbymelissa on Instagram with pictures of your creations.