Refrigerator sweet pickles combine the goodness of crisp garden-fresh cucumbers with the zing of vinegars, the sweetness of sugars, and a touch of spice from crushed pepper.  The best part? This recipe lets your refrigerator do most of the work!

Well, in all honesty...these are better than the state fair bread and butter pickles that I have adequately taste-tested before.  They are fresh and still have a crispiness to them.  

You pull these pickles straight out of the fridge, with that chilled jar with the metal top that still as condensation on it, and you just know that these pickles are gonna be great and THAT much more refreshing than the pickles from the store.  

Fresh is best, am I right?!?

What kind of flavor should I expect from these Refrigerator Sweet Pickles?

Then there's the little bit of spicy factor.  I put in a smidge of crushed red pepper flakes into these jars of pickles for a refreshing little zing.  It's nothing over-the-top spicy or anything like that.  Just a little extra zip every once in a while never hurt anybody.

How do you make these Refrigerator Sweet Pickles?

1. Combine the cucumbers and salt in a large bowl. Refrigerate the cucumbers for 1 hour.
2. Rinse the cucumbers in a colander with cold water to rinse off the salt. Add the onions and set aside.
3. Combine the vinegars, sugars, the mustard seeds, celery seeds, turmeric, and the crushed red pepper flakes in a medium saucepan. Allow to simmer over medium heat until the sugars have dissolved.
4. Toss the pickling mixture over top the cucumbers and onions and allow to sit at room temperature for one hour. Cover and place the pickles back in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Enjoy!

What is pickling and how does it work?

Pickles are the outcome of the pickling process.  Pickling is a way of preserving foods and was heavily utilized before refrigerators were in existence to keep foods from spoiling.  

What happens when the fresh food is placed in canning jars with a brine?  Well, that brine has salt and/or acids in it that are then soaked up by the food in the jars.  The brine's acids allow the food to stay safe, not allowing the growth of dangerous bacteria that would otherwise spoil the food.

 

What kind of cucumbers can I use for pickling?

I was lucky enough to have a bazillion fresh cucumbers that came freshly plucked from my garden for this recipe.  If you don't have fresh cucumbers from your garden, the grocery store variety will do just fine.  In fact, you may have seen pickling cucumbers labeled at the grocery store.  Feel free to use those or a regular cucumber variety.  The choice is yours.  They will be delicious no matter which type you end up going with!

How long can these Refrigerator Sweet Pickles stay in my fridge?

Great question that I hear over and over again.  You can safely keep your refrigerator sweet pickles in the fridge for up to 1-2 months!

Have any refrigerator pickle tips?

• I cut the cucumbers up with this handy dandy hand crimper from Pampered Chef.
• I let them marinate with salt for an hour in the fridge, rinse them quick, and then let them sit in the pickling mixture with the onion at room temp for another hour.
• I then placed them in jars and let them really marinate for 24 hours before eating them... (...all in one sitting.  I kid you not.)

Can you tell me about the pickling jars?

There's not a whole lot that I have to say about the pickling jars.  I use Ball mason jars when I make these pickles.  I can easily find them at my local Walmart or Target and the lids tend to always fit nice and snug.  

Want more cucumber recipes?

Here are a few other delicious cucumber recipe:

• Spicy Cucumber Salad
• Cucumber Salad Pizza
• Spicy Thai Cucumber Salad
• Cucumber Pasta Salad

You can also can these bad boys by sanitizing air-tight containers and sealing them properly after adding all the ingredients together.  I haven't tried this yet because these pickles don't last that long in my house.  They are eaten up quickly!  But I do hear that properly canned pickles can last up to a year in the pantry.  If ya do decide to eat them up right away like we do, they last a good 2 weeks in the fridge.

I will be topping everything this summer with these better-than state fair pickles.  I mean, with barbecue, with hamburgers, with my sandwiches....EVERYTHING!