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!
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.
Joel says
Can these be kept longer to become full sour pickles or is that a different recipe?
Greg says
Perfect pickles! And I love my pickle slicer too!
Pamela says
Thanks Greg, I’m so happy you liked these pickles!
Greg Demetrious says
Pamela, Thank you for sharing this recipe. I’m from NYC but have not been home since 9/11. I just can’t bring myself to do it. My favorite restaurant was always Carnegie Deli and they would always place a bowl of pickles on the table. The bright green half sours were the best and these transport me back in time and taste and now that Carnegie Deli is gone I very saddened but happy to find your recipe. So thanks again for sharing and making this NYC native happy!!! Take care and good cooking.
Joel says
Is it necessary to use a glass bell jar or I can I use the plastic container that you get from takeout delis?
Chris Mezzolesta says
This may have already been mentioned in comments, but what you’ve done here is basically made pickles the good old fashioned way, which is by fermenting them in a salt brine solution. I always wondered why the refrigerator pickles my grandfather made, tasty tho they were, never had ‘that’ flavor or crunch. It was because he was pickling them in hot vinegar, essentially cooking the cukes & removing any real crispness. Then I remembered the jar pickles we’d get on Lawn Guyland from places like Schorr’s in Farmingdale, or any deli, with that salty kerrunch and fizzy soda-like interior…these were fermented (or barrel) pickles. Now that I’m all growed up & have a kimchi fermenter from the Asian market, I also use this for the newly -growing Kirbys taking over my garden like Triffids. Your recipe for half-sours looks great, I plan to try it soon as a few more cukes mature, tho I will make up the salt brine & spices & keep em submerged in it in the plastic tub fermenter on the counter at room temp, along with a grape leaf for tannin crispness…will see how it goes…thanks for the recipe!
phronsie ericson says
Many trips to NYC since I was 5 years old. Always eating HALF SOURS. The addiction continues! If all of y’all think you are out of Half Sour range try living in SE Alabama. I recently got so desperate I call Zabars in The City and ordered 4 jars of Half Sours. They were to de delivered overnight. Finally showed up 5 days later. Still delicious. Consumed in no time, but, they charged me $72 to ship. Won’t be doing that again anytime soon. I am soooo excited to try this recipe. Will follow to the letter. Thanks so much!!!
Michael Cerreto says
It was like the four days before Christmas, waiting to taste these pickles, but it ended up being like Santa brought just what I asked for!!! So good, re-created that authentic taste that I was looking for but could not find in any commercial product, even the Kosher brands in the refrigerated section of the deli.
Thanks, will be making these from now on. Better star the next batch right now.
Barry Crotty says
whoops, fat-fingered my email address. sending correct one now.
Barry Crotty says
Am an East Coast guy who was introduced to Ba-Tampte half-sour pickles in Bradenton Florida a few years ago. What a great, fresh cucumber/pickle taste! Moved to Oregon and can’t find half-sours, csn’t find Muffalata, can’t find Yuengling beer, etc!! So, today, April 7th 2018, I Googled half-sour and found you. I am going to go out this week and buy everything I need to try your recipe! Thanks!
Pamela says
Hey Barry, hope you enjoy the pickles and they bring a little East Coast flavor back to your life!
Dave says
So if you were aiming for a store bought pickle which do you think this best imitates: Klaussen, Bataumpte, Aldi’s or my favorite Nathan’s ? Don’t really like those barrel pickles too soft.
Thanks
Pamela says
Hey Dave, some readers above have said they rival their favorite Ba-Tampte Pickles! These are SO MUCH BETTER than a Claussen! Hope you give them a shot!
Ben says
Once pickled, how do you store these? In the pickling solution or in a different container?
Pamela says
Hey Ben, just store them in the same jar you made them in – no need to transfer anything. Enjoy the pickles!
Brie says
Hi there! these look yummy! I was wondering if you can add other veggies to the mix to pickle? Im looking for guidance on green beans in particular. would you have to cook them at all first? Thanks!
Becky says
Brie, you can pickle any vegetable you want. Right now, I have carrots and cabbage stewing together on the counter for sauerkraut. Don’t cook anything, just rinse them with spring water or filtered tap water. The chlorine in most tap water will kill off too many of the beneficial bacteria you want, so avoid straight-up tap.
Taste your veggies throughout the process so you can keep an eye out for the flavor you’re going for. I’ve never pickled a green bean so I don’t know how long it’ll take, but it shouldn’t be more than a week I guess.
Debbue says
I have been using your recips for a couple if years now. PERFECT!
Pamela says
That makes me so happy to hear! Thanks for commenting!
Dotctor Coldfoot says
Went to the food pantry, picked up a se of kirbys… Applying this recipe now.
Pamela says
Enjoy the pickles!
judy says
hi, just bought all the ingredients ..this recipe looks delicious..just realized i have quart mason jars..can i just divide everything in half
Pamela says
Hey Judy, absolutely, many people have done this above in the comments. Just split everything between the 2 jars. Enjoy the pickles!
James says
My brine is going brownish. Is this from the ground seeds? It turned almost immediately
Pamela says
Hey James, do you mean it turned brown immediately when adding the spices? If so, it’s because of the spices. My brine never really turns brown (check out the photos) but it could just be a spice that’s doing it for you.
Aevan says
This is awesome! How long can you keep it?
Pamela says
I prefer to eat them within a few weeks but I’ve kept them for over a month and they’ve stayed crunchy. Enjoy.
Ken F. says
I stopped looking for the best recipe after I tried this one! Fabulous! Thank you!!
When pickles are done, what kind of solution do you put them in to stop the pickling process?
Thank you!!
Pamela says
Hey Ken, happy to hear you like these pickles! I keep the pickles in the jar as recipe calls for, I don’t switch them or do anything differently. Enjoy!
Debbie says
Can I use alum to keep them crispy longer?
Pamela says
That should help Debbie, but I prefer using Ball Pickle Crisp powder. Enjoy!
patricia murawski says
How long do they stay good in the fridge?
Pamela says
I prefer to eat them within a few weeks but I’ve kept them for over a month and they’ve stayed crunchy and fresh. Enjoy!
Lynette says
Thank you for this recipe..I was looking for a vinegar free recipe to try…will let you know how it turns out…can’t wait..yumm
Pamela says
Hope you like them Lynette!
Tony Villani says
I have made these and they are fantastic! Im trying something new boiling the pickling spice before jaring to get a little more flavor from the spices.
April says
And how long will they last in the refrigerator if they cannot be canned for shelving?
Pamela says
I prefer to eat them within a few weeks but I’ve kept them for over a month and they’ve stayed crunchy and fresh. Enjoy!
April says
Can these pickles be canned & shelved at all?
Pamela says
Hey April, I don’t can them but if you scroll up through the comments you’ll see others have had success canning them.
Stu says
OMG I have been longing for these since leaving NYC 16 years ago, and this recipe is sheer perfection! Our cucumber plant can’t pop out cukes fast enough! I may need to plant 2 of them next year to keep up with us!
Pamela says
Hey Stu, super happy to hear you liked this recipe so much! Enjoy your pickles!
George King says
Am I correct in understanding that you do not let these pickles ferment on the counter for a few days before refrigerating them?
Pamela says
Hey George – that’s right, they go straight into the fridge. Enjoy!
Steve says
I tried these and think they were great. and my kids loved them. We haven’t have enough room in the frige to store a whole lot. Can you can them so as to store them long term. I am sure they wont be as crunchy but better than none at all. Have you ever canned any.
Pamela says
Hey Steve, I haven’t canned these so can’t help you there. A few people have commented that they’ve had success canning these pickles though! If you give it a shot, I’d love to hear how it goes!
Elena Bourke says
Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe! I have made it several times and the results are delicious. We occasionally have ‘family reuben night’ with our neighbors and these were a big hit. I make one large jar at a time and so we finish them quickly BUT can you tell me how you store them for a week or so. They get a little too salty when stored in the sea salt water.
Thanks!
Pamela says
Hey Elena, I find they only get too salty if they’re cut up so their flesh touches the water. If left whole, I never have a issue of becoming too salty. I don’t do anything special for storage, I just keep in the jar in the refrigerator. Thanks for commenting to let me know you enjoy these pickles for family reuben night – sounds like a fun (delicious!) time!
Greg says
Hi there! Used to live in Fl and could get Ba-Tampte at Publix, and also Schorr’s half sours made in Ft Lauderdale, I think. We live in Ohio now, and miss the heck out of good half sours.
I am going to try your wonderful recipe, I am sure you have perfected it! Was able to purchase a jar this past weekend of the Schorr pickles from a shop in Frankenmuth, Mi. So, now I am all excited to try yours! Thank you, Pamela!!
Pamela says
Hey Greg, hope you enjoy these pickles! Many readers have said they have a similar taste to Ba-Tampte. Let me know how you like them!
Tony Villani says
They are better than Ba-Tampte because you use very fresh Kirby’s
Pamela says
Glad to hear you liked them Tony! Enjoy!
Lauma says
Old Latvian know-how is that blackcurrant leaves keep the pickles crunchy. Not sure how easy these are to source but maybe will come handy for someone. Also was told that keeping them in cold water for 2-3 hours before pickling helps and pouring over boiling water soften them. 🙂