20 Ways To Make Homemade Pickles

Get Pickling With These Easy Recipes

Written by
Cathy Jacobs
A freelance journalist and avid home cook, Cathy Jacobs has more than 10 years of food writing experience, with a focus on curating approachable menus and recipe collections.
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Cathy Jacobs
Updated 07/08/20
Green Tomato Pickles

The Spruce

Nothing beats homemade pickles when you want to add flavor and crunch to sandwiches, salads, hamburgers, hot dogs, and ground beef tacos. Quick and easy homemade pickles can also be enjoyed on their own, included on a relish tray to nibble with cocktails, or as a side dish for grilled fish dinners, and meaty mains. Then there are pickled eggs, which are staging a comeback as a trendy, retro-inspired snack. Get inspired to start pickling today, with our collection of easy homemade pickle recipes.

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  • 01 of 20

    Quick Refrigerator Dill Pickles

    Quick Refrigerator Dill Pickles

    Jamie Grill / Getty Images

    Quick refrigerator cucumber pickles have a classic, dilly delicatessen flavor and crunch. They are ready to eat in just a few days, but are even better after a couple of weeks, and will stay nice and crunchy stored in your fridge up to 4 months.

  • 02 of 20

    Pickled Green Beans

    Pickled Green Beans

    Jeffrey Coolidge / Getty Images

    Snappy and appetizing, green bean refrigerator pickles are easy to make, and are ready to enjoy in only 2 days. Serve them as a refreshing accompaniment to braised and grilled meats, sliced up in salads, or as a fun alternative to the stalk of celery in your brunchtime Bloody Mary cocktail.

  • 03 of 20

    Quick Refrigerator-Pickled Radishes

    Quick Pickled Radishes

    The Spruce

    Colorful, quick refrigerator-pickled radishes are ready to enjoy within 24 hours, and make a pretty addition to tacos, burgers, and salads. Use a colorful radish variety, such as watermelon radishes or Easter egg radishes, for an especially attractive result.

  • 04 of 20

    Old-Fashioned Watermelon Rind Pickles

    Watermelon rind pickles recipe

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

    Here's a great way to make use of watermelon rinds, and turn them into sweet, delicious treats. Soak the rinds overnight in salted water, before simmering on the stove top with a simple syrup made from sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, cloves, lemon slices, and optional maraschino cherries, and the cool the in the jars. Yum!

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  • 05 of 20

    Pickled Jalapenos

    Pickled Jalapenos

    The Spruce / Molly Watson

    In just 2 days, you can make tasty, zesty refrigerator-pickled jalapenos! They are a simpler version of escabeche, the popular Mexican condiment that is served as a snack on its own, or alongside favorite Mexican-inspired dishes, such as taquitos, quesadillas, or chilies rellenos.

  • 06 of 20

    Smashed Pickles

    Smashed quick pickles on a serving plate

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

    The technique used to make these quick smashed pickles is to break up Kirby cucumbers by pounding on them so cracks and fissures open to allow the brine to do its job quickly and thoroughly—often in as few as two hours.

  • 07 of 20

    Pickled Red Cabbage

    Pickled red cabbage in jars.
    Diana Rattray

    Pickled cabbage? Why not. This pickled cabbage recipe is great when paired with deep-fried or grilled fish tacos, and makes a lovely complement to a heavy, braised pork sandwich. Although cabbage might not be the first thing you think to pickle, you'll soon find yourself sprinkling it on tacos, pitas, flatbread, sandwiches, and more. It's an ideal way to brighten up any bowl or snack with a little tang, sweetness, and crunch.

  • 08 of 20

    Pickled Soft-Boiled Eggs

    Pickled Soft-Boiled Eggs

    Grilled Cheese Social

    Pickled eggs are having a trendy moment in restaurants, where stylish chefs are using them to top salads and sandwiches. Reinvent this retro treat at home, with our easy, 24-hour recipe that soft-boils eggs to leave their yolks runny and creamy, and adds a beet to the pickling liquid, to produce a pretty pink color.

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  • 09 of 20

    Green Tomato Pickles

    Green Tomato Pickles

    The Spruce

    Use up a bounty of green tomatoes in your summer garden with this easy, one-hour pickling recipe. Green tomato pickles are a cross between pickles and relish, making them ideal for topping burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, and wraps.

  • 10 of 20

    Italian-Style Pickled Eggplant

    Italian-Style Pickled Eggplant

    The Spruce

    Italian-style pickled eggplant is traditionally served as an appetizer before a meal, often on a relish tray with other vegetables marinated in oil. Oregano and parsley add classic flavor to the pickling liquid in this easy recipe that can be enjoyed a day or two after making.

  • 11 of 20

    Pickled Ramps

    Pickled Ramps

    Ray Kachatorian / Photolibrary / Getty Images

    Ramps are wild leeks that are only in season for a few weeks in the springtime, but you can enjoy them all year with this recipe that preserves them in a flavorful white wine vinegar pickling brine, with honey and plenty of spices.

  • 12 of 20

    Zucchini Pickles

    Zucchini Pickles

    The Spruce / Molly Watson

    Sweet and easy refrigerator zucchini pickles come together quickly, and taste great on their own, or layered onto hamburgers, in place of dill pickles. A sliced yellow onion goes into the pickling mix, with cider vinegar, mustard seeds, and turmeric, to add an extra dimension of flavor.

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  • 13 of 20

    Russian Pickled Mushrooms

    Russian Pickled Mushrooms

    egiss / Getty Images

    Pickled mushrooms are traditionally enjoyed in Russia as an appetizer alongside other pickled vegetables, cured meats, and an ice-cold glass of vodka. Use button mushrooms for this easy, cold vegetable pickle that can be eaten within 24 hours, but tastes best if you wait 3 days.

  • 14 of 20

    Pickled Shallots

    Pickled Shallots

    Chris Burrows / Getty Images

    Pickled shallots need about a week to develop their flavors, and are then ready to add their brightness and crunch to roast beef sandwiches, grilled cheese, or tacos. Only 4 simple ingredients are needed for the easy pickling brine.

  • 15 of 20

    Bread and Butter Pickles

    Bread and Butter Pickles

    The Spruce / Diana Rattray

    Bread and butter cucumber pickles are a delicious combination of crunchy, sweet, and briny tastes. This classic recipe adds a sliced cooking onion to the pickling mix of spices and cider vinegar, plus optional red pepper for a kick.

  • 16 of 20

    Pickled Bell Peppers

    Pickled Bell Peppers

    DEA / P.MARTINI / De Agostini Picture Library / Getty Images

    Pickle a peck of peppers with this easy, colorful recipe that sweetens the favorite summer vegetable as it preserves, to create a yummy topping for sliced meat sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, and grilled sausages.

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  • 17 of 20

    Japanese Pickled Ginger

    Pickled ginger

    The Spruce

    Pickled ginger is traditionally served with Japanese meals of sushi and sashimi, to cleanse the palate between different courses. Now you can make it at home, with this simple, 4-ingredient recipe that uses fresh young ginger root, which you can find at Asian markets or online.

  • 18 of 20

    Quick Pickled Beets

    Quick Pickled Beets

    Westend61 / Getty Images

    Anti-oxidant-rich pickled beets make a nutritious, sweet and tangy addition to tossed green salads with feta cheese, or a topping for grilled or steamed fish. You can boil the beets before brining them, or roast them in the slow cooker to deepen their naturally sweet taste.

  • 19 of 20

    Spicy Korean Cucumber Pickles

    Spicy Korean Cucumber Pickles

    Gary Moss Photography / Getty Images

    Spicy, crunchy, delicious Korean cucumber pickles soak up tremendous flavor from a brining liquid made with sesame oil, rice vinegar, chile flakes, and sugar, with optional garlic and toasted sesame seeds. They are ready in about an hour, and best eaten soon after making, as a snack on their own, as a flavorful topping for corned beef sandwiches, or folded into a potato salad.

  • 20 of 20

    German Pickled Eggs

    German pickled eggs soleier recipe

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

    German pickled eggs are a classic European pub food that is easily prepared, ready to eat in 3 days, and keeps in the fridge up to 2 weeks after opening. Eggs are hard-boiled, and then jarred in a pickling liquid that includes bay leaves, caraway seeds, and whole garlic cloves.