The BEST Half Sour Pickles recipe there is! These easy homemade pickles taste just like New York Crunchy pickles. No canning is needed to make these delicious pickles, just throw them in the refrigerator for a few days! Make them to find out why they’re so popular!
If I could stand on top of a mountain I would yell “I love pickles!”. I really do. They’re pretty, they’re crunchy, they’re full of flavor, they hit the right spot in the afternoon when you need a snack, they’re great on a burger, they’re great at 4AM standing in front of the refrigerator.
How to Make Half Sour Pickles
Pickles, they’re just really good.
With the cucumber plants in full producing mode right now we have been picking (and pickling!) quite a few kirby cucumbers. Did you know cucumbers are one of the easiest vegetables to grow? We currently have 6 mason jars full of pickles in the refrigerator!
If you are in Brooklyn and are in need of a pickle, I’m your girl! I have been trying to get the perfect half sour pickles after years of swooning at all the NYC pickle places. Finally, I got it just right!
Half Sour Pickles Recipe
A few notes about these half sour beauties:
-These don’t have vinegar in them. You see I have a fear of the smell of vinegar, I just get freaked out. So I have been desperately trying to figure out how to make delicious pickles with seasonings to make up for the lack of vinegar. THIS IS IT! In this one instead of using vinegar we use sea salt water!
-I would leave these in your refrigerator at least 4 days before you bite into one. After that, good luck not finishing the jar in a day or 2. If you have control of your fingers going in the pickle jar though, these last for weeks.
-Kirby cucumbers are the best for pickles.
Refrigerator Pickles Recipe
-If you don’t have Kirbies, that’s totally ok, but I recommend if you are using big cucumbers to cut them up into spears first (they will fit better into the jar most likely too).
-Please don’t skip on the seasonings. These pickles soak alongside delicious garlic, fresh dill, peppercorns, coriander seeds, mustard seeds and bay leaves.
-This recipe uses a half gallon mason jar. The ingredients and amount of water to salt ratio in this recipe is for this sized jar.
-If your pickles are soft and not crunchy when done, please check out Ball Pickle Crisp. It works great to keep that fresh crunch!
Fresh kirby cucumbers just picked from the garden!
One of the yummy herbs in this recipe is coriander seeds. If you have a cilantro plant and you neglect it, it will turn into coriander seeds. Awesome, right? I always do this every year so I get fresh coriander to last until next harvest season.
You can use a mortar and pestle to crush your dry ingredients or you can be like me and just use a tool (I don’t know the name of this so let’s just go with “tool”) to bash it all together. A rolling pin works great too. So does a hammer.
Put your cucumbers in the jar, then add your garlic.
Then your crushed dry ingredients.
Pick a few pieces of fresh dill. Doesn’t it smell great?
Then add your salt water and fresh dill.
Keep filling your jar with water until your cucumbers are completely covered. In the jar above, a little bit of the salt water still needs to be added.
Now it’s the hard part.. waiting for a few days to eat them!
But when it’s time… it will be worth it!
If you are making batches as you harvest, and you use similar jars sometimes it gets confusing to keep track of the ones that have been sitting the longest. To do this I use chalk or a Sharpie and write on the lid. #1 = eat first, #2 = eat next, #3 = eat next next.. etc.
Enjoy! 🙂
Looking for more cucumber recipes? Try my Sugar Glazed Cucumber Bread (yes you can bake with cucumbers!), Frosted Cucumber Cookies and Cucumber Tomato Salad!
Update: I shared my favorite Pickled Okra recipe!
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If you try this Half Sour Pickles recipe, please leave a comment or share it on Instagram with tag #brooklynfarmgirl – I’m always looking for photos to feature and share!
Half Sour Pickles
PrintIngredients
- 5 kirby cucumbers or however many you can fit into your jar
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
- few pieces of fresh dill
- 3 bay leaves
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup sea salt
- 6 cups water
- additional whole coriander seeds and peppercorns to add on top
Instructions
- Wash your cucumbers.
- Dissolve your sea salt in the water.
- Grind up all the dry ingredients (coriander, mustard seeds, peppercorns, 2 bay leaves). If you don’t have a mortar/pestle, throw it in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin to crush them.
- Put the cucumbers in your jar.
- Put the minced garlic in the jar, then ground up spices, then pour the salt water mixture on top. If you have any water left, disregard it.
- Add a few pieces of fresh dill on top.
- Add in your additional coriander seeds, peppercorns and bay leaf.
- Make sure your cucumbers are completely covered in water and close the jar.
- Put in the refrigerator. Let them sit for at least 4 days before eating.
- Enjoy!
Video:
Notes
For a crunchy pickle add 1/4 teaspoon Ball Pickle Crisp Granules at the end.
GJF says
I really wish that Americans would learn to use the metric system so the majority of us could actually figure out how to make these without spending a good 30 minutes trying to do the conversions.
Dave Lipstreu says
How much water is used to make the brine? Im using quart jars, but the cucumbers only permit the addition of so much brine, perhaps 2 cups? I tried 1/8 cup of salt to 3 cups of water, and it was insufficiently salty. Using 1/4 cup of salt to the same amount of water is far too salty! what is the salt to water mixture for quart jars? Thank you so much!
David Kapral says
the salt to water ratio is a part to total calculation. It all depends on the strength you might be looking for. We have settled in on a brine strength of 4.32% . I make up a whole gallon and use what is needed for the amount of pickles that I happen to have, and discard the remaining. I find that easier to do than to try to figure out how much to add to a pint jar when the amount of water suddenly becomes a variable and my ratio goes out of whack.
BRINE STRENGTH ON A PART TO TOTAL WEIGHT BASIS
Tablespoons salt Converted to Grams Salt Grams water (1 gallon) Total Sol’n wt. (grams) Calculated Brine Strength, part to total
7 Tbsp. 119 3785 3904 3.05%
8 Tbsp. 136 3785 3921 3.47%
9 Tbsp. 154 3785 3939 3.91%
10 Tbsp. 171 3785 3956 4.32%
11 Tbsp. 188 3785 3973 4.73%
12 Tbsp. 198 3785 3983 4.97%
The Excel calculation for 10 Tbsp. ,171-gram salt, in one gallon of water is shown below
Brine Strength =(171/(3785+171))*100 ═ 4.32%
DESIREE BERGER says
I have made this recipe three times. My boyfriend really loves the pickles. I use quart jugs instead of a gallon jug. I measure the water in a gallon pitcher and divide the spices evenly with a tsp.
Gary bishop says
Love the pickles as do all my friends, can brine be used on sliced Jalapeño, radishes and onions?
Pamela says
I don’t see why not!
Daniel says
Great recipe! I do something quite similar, but leave my jars at room temperature with airlock fitted lids. Once the airlock goes down, into the fridge.
David Kapral says
We have tried totally fermenting in the fridge compared to fermenting ~5 days at room temp then transferring to the fridge. Fermenting at room temp 1st makes for a far better and more interesting pickle.
Eve Gruskin says
I love these pickles. My only concern is they keep getting saltier as the days go by. After the 4 days of pickling can we remove part of the salty brine and add more water?
Paula Silberman says
Unbelievably perfect. I’m Brooklyn born but live in Canada now People here haven’t even known what a half sour pickle is. Now that I’ve made them, everybody does. And LOVES them. Still can’t find them in stores here.
Scotty T says
I’ve made these several times, spot on to Ted’s Montana. I don’t care for canning, make them as I want them. Now im freestyling off of it, waiting to find out how my jalapeño onion version turns out.
Laura says
I can’t wait to try this recipe! I moved out west three years ago and long for a NY pickle! I used to live in the Hudson Valley and enjoyed Gary’s Pickles. This recipe looks like it might work out just great! I have one question, do I use the Ball Pickle Crisp in addition to salt?
F says
I’m not the author but yes, you use both salt and pickle crisp. You only use a small amount of pickle crisp – the flavor and preservation of the pickles comes from the salt.
Carol Cuevas says
Cucumbers are coming in nice this year. I can’t give enough away. And with a solid rain everyday this week, sometimes a cucumber will come in a bit large….Like the size of my forearm…..Those are great to brag on, but will go bitter within a day or 2. So I tried your recipe immediately.
I had to cut them into spears, and packed them in the jar. Didn’t need as much brine, but as I eat them, I add a bit of the leftover brine so the pickles stay covered. Also, I didn’t have fresh dill. I used freeze dried dill which is fine, but will make sure I have the fresh next time.
These pickles taste just like the ones I used to get at the delis when I lived in the city. They are fantastic! And only after 2 days. I couldn’t help myself.
This recipe is a keeper. Thanks!
Rob q says
These are standard dill pickles. To sour pickles, they need to sit 8-12 weeks in fridge. THAT is the only way to call them sour, fermentation has to activate.
Pamela says
Hey Rob, these are sour pickles. Try making them for yourself and see if you can resist. 🙂
Jen says
When you say 1/4 cup of sea salt, do you mean coarse or fine? I only have fine. Thank you!
Pamela says
Hey Jen, I think I answered your question on Instagram too (that was you, right?) but fine sea salt is perfect to use!
Robert says
I have made these a few times with mixed results, a few great batches and one very bad batch. Someone suggested that I use bottled water, as the chlorine in city water will affect the pickling process. I wonder if you have considered that.
Pamela says
No, I use tap water every single time. FWIW, NYC has really great tap water though, so feel free to use what you feel most comfortable with.
Yulia says
Turned out really well. Delicious. 🙂
Timmy says
Been looking for a good recipe. Can the brine be used for several batches?
Pamela says
You can definitely reuse the brine, but I wouldn’t use it more than 2 batches – the brine gets weaker and the pickles aren’t as good in my opinion.
Mitzi says
First time making pickles and these came out perfect! Husband loves half sours and he gobbled these up!
Lowell Dreyfus says
after 4 days do i leave pickles in the brine??
Pamela says
Yes, just leave everything in the jar.
Mikki B says
I made this recipe exactly as written. Four days later I was reliving the days of my youth, when my Dad would take me to a famous NY deli, where I would eat them by the bowl! Absolutely delicious – crunchy, garlicky, and the best recipe I’ve tried. The only thing I would do differently is to cut the salt by a third. I’m a fairly heavy salt user, but they just had a small ‘touch salt’ aftertaste for my liking. Otherwise, GREAT! Thank you so much for this recipe. I will be making it often
Heather Upham says
Can I divide the brine equally and use two 32Oz jars?
Pamela says
Absolutely! I do it all the time. 🙂
Roy Kitka says
My hobby is making all sorts of pickles but could never come up with the perfect half sour, including all the old family recipes.About a year ago I searched the internet and found your recipe.I use Aldi cukes6-8 per package.Im 77 but old dogs can learn new recipes.The 5stars are for the pickles but most of all there a lot more than 5 stars for your website.
john doe says
you are adorable!
Rachel says
Hi, I see no mention of burping the jars–does your recipe not require it?
Pamela says
That’s right, no need to do that.
Rob q says
Because These aren’t sour pickles. No fermentation.
john doe says
the only thing sour here is you, rob
Mary Elizabeth says
Can powdered coriander and powdered mustard be used instead of the seeds? I can use a mortar and pestal but wonder how crushed I should make the spices and is the bay leaf included in crush?
KLM says
This recipe delivered EXACTLY what I was looking for! I’m one of those people that will go to a deli just for the half sour pickles. And the market never has them, or if they do, they don’t last. These are so fresh tasting and flavorful! Used Persian cucumbers as Kirbys are out of season
Question….do I have to crush the seeds? Aging hands don’t like it…. And without that, these would be a two minute recipe! And in any case, I’m making them over and over!