pickles

Let’s talk about pickles for a second. Is there anything more satisfying than the briny crunch of a good dill pickle? Put a pickle on anything and it’s instantly elevated. Sandwiches are good but add a pickle and they become phenomenal. Need a little zip on your burger? Slap on a pickle. You can even make soup out of pickles. It’s better than you would think, trust me. Pickles also come in so many different types. Spicy, sweet, dill, bread and butter, gherkins, kosher…. The list is endless.

I’m sure you know that you can make your own pickles. It’s not that difficult of a process, but for some reason pickling anything causes some people to back away slowly. It seems like a complicated process that can be messed up very easily. It isn’t, but I get it. For the longest time, I shied away from making my own pickles and just bought mine at the store. Unfortunately when I started to read labels, I had the hardest time finding any that didn’t have added sugar, preservatives, or weird ingredients. There were a few out there, but they were few and far between.

So I decided to try and make my own. I looked at a few recipes and came up with my own brine and got to pickling. It was really easy and I was left with some tasty pickles. I’ll share how I made my own brine, but I’m also going to share a little secret. You don’t have to make your own brine to make homemade pickles, you can use a little shortcut. If you have a brand of pickles you usually buy and the ingredients are good, you can just re-use that for your own pickles. All you have to do is cut up your cucumber and add it to the jar. Voila! You have pickles. Easy-peasy!

DIY Pickles

1-2 cucumbers, sliced into spears
3-4 cloves garlic
1 cup vinegar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp dried dill or small bunch of fresh dill
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric

Find a large jar that has a tight seal. Place the cucumber spears and cloves of garlic into the jar and pour in the vinegar.
Add in all the seasonings. Close the jar and then shake to disperse the seasonings throughout. Place the jar into the fridge for about a week to fully pickle the cucumbers.

Isn’t that simple? And it’s even easier if you’re just reusing a store bought jar. You can play with the seasonings and adjust them to your taste. If you want to have a spicy pickle try adding in cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes. If you want to try something a little sweeter add in a little honey, maple syrup, or coconut sugar. You can also change up which vegetables you use. Try carrots, beets, cauliflower, parsnips, or zucchini. This is a great way to preserve the vegetables you get at the market and it makes for a quick healthy snack.