Quick-Pickled Cucumbers

Do you remember growing up with these quick-pickled cucumbers? To make the brine, you just need to mix the vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and pepper, and then add the cucumbers.

It’s easy, and you can add other vegetables to the brine. My garden overflowed with cucumbers one year because I learned to self-pollinate the flowers. If you missed one of my posts on how to do that, here it is: The Easiest Vegetables to Grow.

It was so exciting for me when I went out to check on my garden and found a lot of cucumbers waiting to be picked. My crop that year was more than I could eat.

I use cucumbers in my smoothies, juice them, dehydrate many of them, and now pickle some in a jar. I’m not canning these; I’m just giving you the heads-up for their many uses.

Why Are They Called Pickled?

Anytime you make a vinegar brine, add cucumbers and wait, you are pickling them. The longer they soak up the vinegar, the stronger the flavor the vegetables take on.

How Do I Store Them?

I store mine in quart Mason jars with these lids made by Ball in the refrigerator. Wide-Mouth Lids and Regular-Mouth Lids. They are NOT canning lids. They are often referred to as refrigerator pickles.

When Can I Eat Them?

You can eat these quick-pickled cucumbers immediately, but they’ll taste better in 4-6 hours. Overnight is even better because they’ll be cold.

How Long Will These Cucumbers Last?

They’ll stay good for about a week, but please remember they become limp after about 4 days. Mine never last a week; we devour them. If you like crisp pickles, plan to eat them in the first day or two.

Can I Reuse The Brine?

Absolutely. I just add freshly chopped or sliced veggies to the brine. To be safe, I keep the pickling liquid brine in the fridge for only two weeks. It may be safe for a little longer, but I don’t want to take a chance.

What Else Can I Pickle?

Oh, the list of pickle recipes is almost endless, but we particularly like this cucumber recipe. I added a few ideas to the recipe card. When I was growing up, my mom made these every summer when our garden produced a lot of cucumbers. This was a salad or side dish for me. Sometimes, we add cherry tomatoes, mustard seeds, carrots, red onions, cauliflower, radishes, or green onions to the vinegar mixture.

My dad loved jalapenos added to his serving. When you have a garden, you can grow food, freeze or dehydrate as much as possible, and pickle the rest. Canning food as a family is a bonding time for me.

What Do I Serve With These?

Mark and I only make these in the summer because that’s when our garden is going gangbusters. They are great served as a side dish or in a salad with any meat. One of my favorite ways to use these is on my bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches. Life is so good in the summer when your garden produces all the food you want or need.

Quick Pickled Cucumbers

I pulled out my Bosch shredder and set it up to slice the cucumbers thin. You can use a sharp knife if you don’t have a shredder. My mouth is watering, so that you know. I love making these and adding green onions, carrots, garlic, fresh dill, and fresh cherry tomatoes.

Today, I used white vinegar, a little sugar, salt, and pepper spices. I used my whisk and stirred until the sugar dissolved. My goal was to make this healthy, so I used very little sugar—just enough, but not too much.

Now, I started adding my thinly sliced cucumbers to the brine. Some slipped into the shredder, so they are not perfectly shaped. Some of my cucumbers were little, and a few were a bit larger, but they all tasted yummy to me!

What nutrients are in cucumbers?

Cucumbers are known to have vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, manganese, and helpful levels of dietary fiber. They have a high water content, so they are good sources of hydration. They also have few calories, so can help those trying to watch their diet for weight control.

Final Word

I hope you try making some of my quick-pickled cucumbers! I love a recipe that goes together fast and keeps in the refrigerator for a few days. This is just another recipe we can use when we have a plentiful garden harvest. Keep me posted on your garden; we can grow our food. Thanks for being prepared for the unexpected. Keep on prepping, we must, my friends. May God bless this world, Linda

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