Pickled cucumbers in vinegar- easy recipe for pickling cucumbers. Perfect for preserving cucumbers before winter. Consume them during the cold season with your favorite foods.
Time to pickle beautiful vegetables from Farmers Markets and personal gardens! This is the moment, people, as it will not last for ever.
In Minnesota the summers are short but from late August to late October, the markets are offering an abundance of vegetables and fruits. This is the time when I try to take advantage of the beautiful gifts from the gardens and preserve some of them for the winter.
Now, you might ask me, why are you doing this? Can’t you just go to the store and buy pickles already in jars and ready to eat? Yes, I can, but you see, there is something therapeutic about being in the kitchen and making food for my family.
Some would say that the amount of work is not worth it. I will say that for me, it is very important, as I can preserve vegetables using old recipes that I inherited from my family, recipes used when canning and preserving foods for the winter was a way of surviving.
My collection of cans went smaller and smaller over the years, but I still like to make a little bit of each one of my favorite recipes, just to enjoy them for holidays or when I get homesick.
Today, I am going to share with you a recipe from my Romanian old cooking book. This recipe is easy to make and doesn’t require a lot of science, which I like.
You have to start with the jars. Clean them with warm water and soap or put them in the dishwasher and give them a good bath. Then, sterilize them. Here is a link about how to do that properly.
I used quart jars with a wide mouth, for better fitting the cucumbers inside. Choose healthy cucumbers with no defects or spots. If they are curled and not easy to fit in the jar, slice them vertically, like in the picture above.
Also, one of the secrets for most pickled vegetables is to use horseradish root. Horseradish is an amazing preservative and also maintains the vegetables crispy for long periods of time.
Dried dill, especially the one you can find late in the fall, with the seeds still on it, is a perfect ingredient for preserving and flavoring pickles. Garlic cloves, thyme, black peppercorns, mustard seeds and bay leaves are a great addition to the jar. Use them and your cucumbers will taste amazing.
TIP: As a basic rule, for each gallon of vinegar, add 4 tablespoons of salt(make sure the salt is for pickles with no iodine added to it) and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar.
Necessary tools for this recipe:
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- 4 pounds 4-6 inch cucumbers
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 gallon plain vinegar 5% acidity
- 4 tablespoons canning/pickling salt(no iodine)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 5-6 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- dried dill(whole dill stems with umbels and green seeds)(one head per jar)
- 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
- 1-2 tablespoons black peppercorns
- 1 horseradish root cleaned and sliced in strips
- Wash and drain cucumbers. Sterilize jars.(Here is a link about how to do that properly.)
- Fill up the jars with the cucumbers and add garlic cloves, black peppercorns, dried dill and slices of horseradish in between.
- In a big pot, bring vinegar to a boil together with salt and sugar. Boil for only 2-3 minutes, then add the bay leaves, thyme and mustard seeds. Set aside to cool for about 10 minutes.
- Pour the liquid over the cucumbers to fill the jars. Add 1-2 pieces of horseradish on top.
- Seal the jars and store them in a cool place above freezing temperature.
- These cucumbers will not ferment and will be perfect for the winter time.
Carla says
How long can they be stored?
The Bossy Kitchen says
I still have 1-2 jars in my pantry since September. They should last at least 6 months, if not more, depends on where you store them.
Carla says
I am about to try this for the first time ever. I will let you know how it turns out.
The Bossy Kitchen says
Good luck!
Jolene Nagle says
I want to make bread and butter pickle slices. Cane I just make a brine and poor over them and then pour them in a hot part? How much pickling spices?
The Bossy Kitchen says
Hi Jolene, I do not have a recipe in particular for bread and butter pickled slices, but I am sure you can find one online. However, you can try this recipe and see how you like it. The cucumbers can be easily sliced when you open the jar.
Bob says
How long should you let them sit before you start eating them (for full flavor)??
The Bossy Kitchen says
I would let them sit at least a month, maybe even a month and a half before you start eating them. In Romania, people preserve vegetables for winter only in September-Octomber when the weather is cool. They start opening the jars with cucumbers, for example, late November or December. The cucumbers in this recipe should last the whole entire winter season, until May.
Tess says
Just place them in cool storage? No water bath?
The Bossy Kitchen says
No water bath, just place them in cool storage.The horseradish root, mustard seeds, dill, sugar and salt give flavor and also preserve the vegetables for months.
Tess says
By the way , I am using Armenian Cukes.
The Bossy Kitchen says
I never used Armenian cucumbers, but I do not see any reason why this recipe would not work.
rosana says
How much thyme, dill, peppercorns and mustard seeds do you use?
The Bossy Kitchen says
Hi Rosana,
I updated the recipe with some amounts for each of the spices. Hope it helps.
Lucy says
Thank you for your recipe. Made some great pickles – first time. One quick question, made a batch before leaving on a trip. Accidentally left jars out on counter for 5 days. I put them in refrigerator when I got back. Are they still ‘safe’ to eat?
The Bossy Kitchen says
They should be fine, these cucumbers in vinegar do not need to stay in the refrigerator. If you pickle multiple jars, keep them in a cool place, like a garage, basement, or a pantry.