Pickles.
Not just any pickles but the perfect homemade refrigerator pickles that are pickled to perfection overnight.
Sigh. This just lit up my life.
This was one of those recipes for me that was either going to be a hit or an epic fail. Pickling just seems so domesticated, something you have to have some real skills to do.
The reality, you don’t.
Or not at least with these pickles. I was kind of taken back at the simplicity of making homemade pickles. I mean you just don’t see people doing it very often. I thought it was this crazy long process of letting them pickle, canning them, in a hot bath or pressure cooker and then letting them sit on the shelf until the dead of winter when you are craving the simplicity of a pickle.
You have those cravings, right?
In the midst of all of the canning and preserving confusion, that I must say I would love to know more about, I have learned that yes indeed you can have an amazing dill pickle in just one day. Gasp. drool. scream.
I know you’re excited too, right? The motivation came to me after a severe pickle craving. No I’m not pregnant I just had a pickle craving, mkay.
After scanning the shelves from some really good, preservative free, real-deal pickles I learned that I would be spending roughly $9 on a jar of good, wholesome, pickles. In shock, I quickly scurried out of the isle without the pickles knowing that could break the food budget we’ve been desperately trying to get in control.
I never stopped dreaming of a crisp, cool dill pickle that I could just pop in my mouth or make some delicious chicken salad with <-the real motivation.
It wasn’t long after this that I begin piling in mounds of cucumbers from our local CSA we get weekly. Now I’m not talking a few cucumbers, we are talking lots. Like I could pickle a jar for everyone in our neighborhood and still have more in our refrigerator. Pickles, pickles everywhere. So I set out to make my own version of the $9 pickles.
Stubborn and inpatient, I didn’t want to wait for days to eat a pickle and hence where the overnight refrigerator pickle was born.
Fresh dill, which smells a-mazing I might add paired with the cool crisp cucumbers from the garden. There are no words. It is seriously refreshing and a perfect addition to your next burger or chicken salad <- because who doesn’t love some creamy, dill pickle, chicken salad?
The better news, all you need is one pot, a few ingredients and lots of pickles to make this thing happen. They were a family hit for sure. My kids plowed through one who jar at snack time, which I must say was a little irritating. And the hubs, who I might add had never had chicken salad before these overnight refrigerator pickles, was taken aback. While I was excited he branched out and “was brave” trying a new food, there are still two problems with this picture. One, he’s never had chicken salad. What?!? Where did he come from and why is he so sheltered… I do not know. Two, I caught him making his own chicken salad with the chicken I was going to use for dinner <- can you say frustrated?
I eventually forgave him for ‘closet eating’ this chicken salad and was a little prideful that he enjoyed something he didn’t think he would. The things you don’t know unless you try…
My challenge to you, be brave and take your own stab homemade overnight refrigerator pickles. I mean it is sure to impress, especially because I’m not alone in the fact that it seems very domesticated, right?
P.S. Watch out for pickle thieves…
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 2 cups water
- 2 Tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 tsp dill seed
- 1 tsp mustard seed
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 2 tsp salt
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- fresh dill
- 6 cucumbers sliced
- In a small saucepan, add the apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, water, coconut sugar, dill seed, mustard seed, black peppercorns, salt and garlic.
- Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 1-2 minutes.
- Remove from heat.
- Meanwhile, slice cucumbers into thin slices of your liking. Add to mason jars or other glass jars along with the fresh dill sprigs.
- Pour in brine until cucumbers are covered.
- Cover and store in the refrigerator overnight and eat.
- **May need to use more than one jar
