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.
Audra F says
Can you pickle these in a food grade plastic container
Pamela says
Yes, you sure can!
Lila says
Wonderful easy recipe!
Chris says
Should you use kosher salt or sea salt?
Kat Cairns says
I made them Saturday and it’s Tuesday. Husband said they still taste like cucumber. Any ideas??
David says
been looking for a great half sour recipe and this one is awesome! just like in a good Jewish deli. thanks!!
David Anyzeski says
It’s in the fridge chilling now! The only ingredient I didn’t have was bay leaves , but I think it’s going to be just fine.
mike says
other recipies all say to let sit for some days before the fridge so it ferments. is this ok to refrigerate right away as recipe says. won’t that prevent fermentation?
Pamela says
Hi Mike, yes, please follow the recipe directions and place in the refrigerator immediately.
Kathleen says
I had to adapt the recipe slightly to what I had on hand, which was mostly ground spices. (A very little ground spice replaces a larger volume of whole!) The NYC-born-and-bred hubs LOVES them. I didn’t mince the garlic cloves but crushed them with the flat of a knife. When we’d eaten the cuke pickles I wondered what half-sour brined garlic tasted like. Intense, but FANTASTIC.
Melissa says
Wow!! These are the tastiest half sour pickles I have ever had!! I only did a few cukes at first just to test the recipe and I am sorry that I did not do more!! Now I have to wait another couple of days for the next batch. Thanks for an amazing recipe
Kathryn says
This recipe makes the best Half Sour Pickles ever! Yet it’s so easy to make. I didn’t have Kirby cucumbers from the garden, (it being March in Northern Michigan) but I got some from the store. They turned out great! Thanks so much for this recipe!
Connie says
How long will they keep in the refrigerator?
Kathryn says
This is a great recipe! I bought some half sour pickles from a deli, and they came in a plastic bag with hardly any brine and were very soft. I found your recipe, made the brine and used it for the pickles. Just a day later, they were crisped right up and better tasting than when I got them! I also made a corned beef and put some of the brine in my cooking water and it added a lot of flavor! Thanks so much for this, I love this recipe!
Chaz DeSimone says
I’m not rating the pickles because I haven’t made them yet.
I just want you to know your writing is superb: entertaining, witty, detailed, and full of fun facts (coriander from cilantro? who knew).
Even though I’m Italian, two of my favorite flavors came from a Jewish deli we used to go to as kids: split pea soup and kosher pickles (not realizing till recently they’re actually half-sours that I love).
I can’t wait to make these. Thanks for a colorful, well-designed website and all your great writing and photography.
Antonia says
Can pink Himalayan salt be used in place of sea salt?
Pamela says
I have never used Himalayan salt for this recipe, but in general I think it’ll work. It might just give the pickles a slightly sweeter and more subtle sour taste. Hope this helps!
Marianne says
Made your recipe Monday and just ate one (Thursday early AM) – DELICIOUS!! I think you have the perfect salt balance. I didnt have the coriander but I did have an old jar of McCormick pickling spices so I used that, dried dill seasoning (didnt have fresh) and Bay leaves. These are SOOOO good.
David says
Have you ever let them sit longer? Do they become full sour?
What if you kept them in a cool dry place and not refrigerate? Would this generate a full sour pickle?
David says
Hi David, I make pickles often. This recipe is similar to what I make except I cover my Mason jar with a coffee filter, screw the lid on very loosely (so the cukes can burp!) and stick them in a dark cupboard. After about 7 days they will be full on fermented sour dills. I also add dill seeds, allspice berries and red pepper flakes! No half sour dills for me – I want a mouth puckering peppery punch!
James says
Let’s say one was to do something insane and use dried dill in place of a few fresh sprigs of dill. I know 1 tablespoon fresh herb=1 teaspon dried herb, but I am unsure of what a sprig is, or if it’s even a word. I’m asking for a friend.
David says
Hi James, as I stated above I add dill seeds (crushed – don’t use dried dill, that’s worthless). For this recipe I would use 1tsp dill seeds. I love to also add a few sprigs of fresh dill, but the seeds give the strongest sour flavor – that’s what I’m after…
Glen says
Excellent! Question: Can you re-use the liquid and keep adding cucumbers when pickles are depleted or start from scratch when making a new batch?
Pamela says
Hey Glen, if you eat the pickles fairly quickly, you can reuse the brine one more time. After that I would start from scratch again. Hope this helps!
David says
Hi Glen, I like to ‘repurpose’ my brine for green onions, celery, carrots, cabbage, etc. I like to start a fresh brine for the cukes. Leave the 100 year old fermentation starter technique for making sourdough bread…
Krista Burke says
Can someone scale the ingredients down to a smaller mason jar size for me please? Like a Ball jar size. I can fit about 3 or 4 cucumbers in each jar. Also can i use pickling spice as I dnt have all those separate ones on hand?
Chaz DeSimone says
I made a jar of pickles using the same half-sour brine (from a different recipe) for the third time. It was too weak, so I added pickling spices and more garlic. It turned out with a sweet tinge that totally ruined the classic half-sour flavor. So my answer is it might not turn out to your tastebuds’ liking.
Terri Francisco says
I’ve made these pickles so many times, they’re absolutely yummy and fresh. Love it!
Joseph says
I’m just starting to make pickles. I was looking for a Half Sour recipe like yours! Thank you for sharing!
I’ll be starting in January, but I have to purchase from the local grocery store. Plus the Jars…
Andrea L. Eisen says
This recipe is absolutely the best, I made it all summer in North Carolina and will continue in Florida this winter when the crop comes I
Bert C says
Wow! What a great recipe! They turned out just wonderful!!
Elliott Cahan says
I used a much smaller jar and probably didn’t recalculate recipe to adjust for the size. Unfortunately pickles came out very salty. Anyway, to salvage things?
David says
Hi Elliot, I accidently made 6 quarts of sour dills way too salty one year. What I did was slice the pickles in half, poured out half of the water (not the seasonings) and topped off the jars with fresh water. After 1 week in the refrigerator they were tasting pretty darn good…
martin L says
I have been making pickles for a while your recipe is very clear re: salt/water mixture. I add on other ingredient, a small Pequin or alerternatively, a Japan dried pepper. If I am in a rush to get to the pickles sooner I make spears I get more into a jar and they cure quicker