How to Make Refrigerator Dill Pickles with Kids
Have you ever made pickles and just didn’t like the way they turned out? I have and boy it’s disappointing. I hate a soggy pickle that doesn’t have a yummy flavor. We have tons of cucumbers in the garden, so we’ve been making refrigerator dill pickles and they are awesome. I love them and the kids love them. Even my picky husband loves them. Making refrigerator dill pickles is a super fun, simple activity any age child can help with.
How to Make Refrigerator Dill Pickles with Kids
In daycare, we are not allowed to serve home-canned foods, so that limits us on how we can preserve the extra food from our garden. These refrigerator dill pickles are super easy. They are tasty, crunchy, and a crowd-pleaser.
We have tried several recipes and this one is our favorite. My kids LOVE preparing their own food. We were cucumber cutting fools when making these. We have already made two batches this year. Just look at that determination. It’s not hard to throw them together and it doesn’t take long. Plus you won’t get a soggy, tasteless pickle like some homemade pickles can be.
Cucumber recipes for kids
If my picky husband loves these refrigerator dill pickles (he’s pickier than the kids), anyone that likes pickles will give these the thumbs up. We use carrots, onions, and hot peppers in the same recipe for him to have some spicy veggies and he is all about them. They last for several months in the fridge as well. This helps us stretch our cucumber season a lot longer than we would be able to with fresh cucumbers.
If you grow a garden with kids, cucumbers, garlic, dill, and hot peppers can be grown at home and used for the pickles for very little money. For us, we had most of what we needed to make these refrigerator pickles right here in the garden. We had to use store-bought vinegar, salt and pepper and that was it. Everything else we collected outside!
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If you are hankering for a yummy, crispy dill pickle recipe or you have cucumbers coming out your ears, give this recipe a try.
Refrigerator pickles Alton Brown
We started out with this recipe for dill pickles from Andrew Zimmern
But we liked the spice combination from this dill pickle recipe from Alton Brown
We tweaked them both and came up with our own recipe for refrigerator dill pickles that we all love and man howdy are they good.
No-cook refrigerator dill pickles
Crispy, crunchy dill pickles made in the refrigerator with no canning and no fuss.
- 3 c white vinegar
- 1 c sea salt
- 4 qt. water
- 3 pounds cucumbers
- 6 tsp peppercorns
- 6 hot pepper fresh or dried (whole)
- 6 clove garlic
- 6 bunches fresh dill
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Bring water to a boil. Remove from heat and add vinegar and salt. Stir to dissolve and cool.
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Wash cucumbers and cut up. The kids love cutting the cucumbers. They don’t have to be perfect, any shape tastes great. Even if they are misshapen, the kids are still super proud to eat something they remember making. It’s a great learning activity for them and a wonderful opportunity for them to develop some motor skills and cooking skills.
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Wash 6 quart sized canning jars.
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Let the kids add to each jar, (this is a great opportunity for kids to take turns adding items to the jar.) 1/2 tsp peppercorns, one hot pepper, one clove garlic, and 1 bunch of dill.
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Pack cucumbers into jars tightly (fit as many in a jar as you can, the kids love helping with this part too)
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Pour brine over cucumbers.
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Place lid on refrigerator dill pickles and set in the refrigerator for about two weeks.
Refrigerator dill pickles will last for several months if kept refrigerated.
If you are looking for more ways to get kids involved in healthy eating click here.
Are you interested in pickling more vegetables? Check out pickled okra, dilly beans, and even cherry tomatoes.
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Hi! How long do these generally last in the fridge?
What kind of hot pepper do you recommend? I have jalapeños in my garden. Will those work?
And do I cut the pepper apart (taking off the stem) or do I put the whole pepper in the jar whole?
thanks for any help!
I use whatever kind I’m growing and whatever the spicy person likes. We have done jalapeno, habanero, and thai. We leave the stem on and just poke holes in the pepper so the brine can permeate them. Thanks for checking it out!
Made this with hot peppers (without the dill). Delicious and lasted a very long time. I just googled for your recipe again because I’ve run out and forgot to copy it down. Luckily I was able to find it. Thank you!
I’m so glad you liked it. We love it too!
The family loved these! We’ll cut down the salt a little next time, but will definitely make again. Thanks!
Yay! I’m so glad. Thanks for checking them out and trying them.
I have 6 Chili Pepper plants on the patio, and I want to try your idea for pickling the red, orange and yellow peppers. I’ll let you know how it worked.
Nice, we love our hot peppers pickled like this!