Single Quart Refrigerator Sweet Pickles Recipe | ~ Texas Homesteader (2024)

by Texas Homesteader ~
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This recipe for lightly sweet and crisp sweet pickles can be made one quart at a time. Perfect since the garden doesn’t always crank out those fresh cucumbers at the same rate. And this sweet pickle recipe is so simple anyone can do it!

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What Cucumbers To Plant For Pickles?

I was planning on making homemade pickles with my garden cucumbers. So I planted *Pickler Cucumber seeds in my garden and they’d been producing well.

But I only planted one vine since there are only two of us at our home. I didn’t want it to produce more than RancherMan & I could consume.

Picking Cucumbers From The Garden

So each morning I’d go out to the garden and pick a few 3″ – 4″ pickling-sized cucumbers and set them in the fridge until I figured I had enough to make refrigerator pickles.

It doesn’t take long since I’m making them 1 quart jar at a time this year.

Easier Homemade Refrigerator Pickles

I personally prefer to enjoy my homemade pickles as dill pickles but I’ve never successfully made a dill pickle brine that I care for. So I typically use a shortcut when I make dills – *Mrs. Wages Dill Pickle Mix .

But RancherMan prefers sweet pickles instead. And I do love my recipe for sweet pickle brine. So when making sweet pickles I always make the brine myself.

I’ve found an easy way to whip up a quart of sweet pickles for the refrigerator using a recipe that has just the right amount of sweetness for him without being too sweet for me.

Now in the heat & humidity of our NE Texas summers I hate to fire up the canner. So I often opt for refrigerator pickles instead.

Hey, whip ’em up & toss the jar in the fridge to let them get all pickley! What’s not to love??!!

Easy Refrigerator Sweet Pickles Recipe

First I whip up my brine by mixing into a small saucepan: 1 cup filtered water, 1/2 cup vinegar (5% acidity), 3/4 cup sugar, 2 Tablespoons pickling spice, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1-2 cloves garlic.

I stir it until it starts simmering to fully incorporate all ingredients, then turn the heat off and turn my attention to my cucumbers.

Preparing The Cucumbers For Making Pickles

I like to pick my pickler cucumbers when they’re young & tender, about 3-4 inches long. They’ve been stored in the fridge since I picked them. But now I bring ’em out & wash and dry them, cut the ends off

I use my *crinkle cutter to cut them into thick 1/2-inch slices to drop into a wide mount quart canning jar. Hey, mama always said presentation is half the dish and I want them to look pretty!

Depending upon how long the cucumbers are I typically can get 3-5 of them in the jar.

Making Refrigerator Sweet Pickle Slices

I always add at least one grapevine leaf because it’s been said that helps keep your pickles crisp.

Now I don’t know if it’s an old wives tale or not, all I’m sayin’ is that my pickles were always soft before, now they’re always crisp. Coincidence?? You decide!

Now it’s time to pour the hot brine over the pickles covering them completely and put a lid on the jar.

I leave the jar sitting on the counter until it’s cool, then I wipe it down with a wet cloth to remove any sticky brine that may have dribbled onto the outside of the jar.

Before I put it in the fridge I use a permanent sharpie marker to write directly onto the glass jar. That helps us to know what kind of pickles are inside (sweet or dill).

I also include the date I made them. That lets me know when they’ve been in the brine long enough to begin serving with our meals.

I’ll let them sit in the fridge pickling in their jars for about a week or so. Then I bring them out of the fridge and enjoy them as a cooling condiment on a hot day with our supper.

So there ya go. I’m a big believer that delicious crisp homemade pickles need not be difficult nor expensive.

And since the garden doesn’t always crank those cukes out at the same rate, this method works great since you can make ’em one quart jar at a time!

We always have a fresh supply of homemade pickles to enjoy throughout the summer.

If you shy away from sweet pickles because they’re so darn syrupy sweet, you’ll love these – lightly sweet and crispy as can be. Sure I’ll share the recipe!

Did you make these pickles? Please rate the recipein your comment below!

~TxH~

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Tagged in

Preserving The Harvest Posts

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• Canning Fresh Asparagus
• Water-Bath Canning Pears In Light Syrup
• Canning Garden Corn
• Easier Dill Pickles
• One Quart At A Time Refrigerator Pickles
• Keeping Garlic
• Preserving The Harvest: Oregano
• Accumulating Okra When Your Harvest Is Small
• My Simple, Zero-Waste Herb Drying Setup

…And Much MORE!

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