Homemade pickles are a gardeners staple. If youre not already growing garlic, dill and cucumbers in the garden, then let this be your exhortation to do so, STAT! Then use this recipe for refrigerator pickles (its the best dill pickle recipe I know of), or can them to be shelf-stable and last all year long.
When it comes to canning homemade pickles, the number one complaint I hear from people is that their pickles end up soggy! And no one likes a soggy pickle!
Thats why so many people revert to refrigerator pickles. The great news is with this recipe, you can make crispy cukes that are perfect for a charcuterie board appetizer, to slice for sandwiches, or straight out of the jar.
Just skip the canning process and place your pickles in the refrigerator for at least a week before eating (though the flavor will be best after two weeks if you can wait that long!). I use this method to preserve when its too hot to can!
As a gardener, few things are more satisfying than harvesting an abundance of cucumbers from your own backyard. But once you’ve enjoyed them fresh in salads, what else can you do with all those extra cucumbers? Don’t let any go to waste! This guide will provide you with over 15 creative ways to use up cucumbers from the garden
Enjoy Cucumbers Fresh
Of course. the easiest thing to do with garden-fresh cucumbers is eat them raw! Here are some ways to enjoy cucumbers straight from the vine
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Slice them up and eat them plain or with a sprinkle of salt, pepper, and your favorite herb like dill or basil.
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Make simple cucumber salads – tosses slices with olive oil, vinegar, and chopped herbs. Add tomatoes, onion, or avocado for extra flavor.
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Blend cucumbers into cold soups like gazpacho or cucumber yogurt soup. Their high water content makes them perfect for chilled summer soups.
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Juice or blend into smoothies – cucumber adds a refreshing, hydrating element.
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Use thick slices as vehicles for dips, spreads, and sandwiches fillings. Cream cheese, hummus, tuna salad, and nut butters all taste great with fresh cucumber.
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Infuse water or cocktails – add sliced cucumbers to pitchers of water or alcoholic drinks like Pimms Cup.
Pickle Cucumbers
Pickling is one of the most classic ways to preserve abundant cucumbers. You can pickle cucumbers in vinegar brines or ferment them to make sour dill pickles, bread-and-butter pickles, relishes, and more. Some pickle options:
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Quick refrigerator pickles – no canning required. Mix cucumbers with vinegar, salt, and spices and store in the fridge.
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Fermented pickles like dill pickles. Requires just water, salt, and spices. The good bacteria ferments the cucumbers.
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Bread and butter pickles – sweet, tangy and spiced. Perfect on sandwiches.
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Relishes – chop cucumbers fine and mix with vinegar, sugar, and spices.
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Fruit pickles – add sliced onion and bell pepper along with fruit like peaches or watermelon. Sweet and spicy.
Get Creative with Condiments
Cucumbers also shine when used to make condiments like salsas, dips, spreads, and dressings:
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Pico de gallo – add diced cucumber to this fresh tomato salsa.
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Tzatziki – a Greek yogurt and cucumber dip. Season with garlic, lemon, and dill.
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Raita – an Indian yogurt and cucumber condiment, spiced with cumin.
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Sandwich spreads – blend cucumber with cream cheese, herbs, and lemon.
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Green goddess dressing – puree cucumber, herbs, garlic, and olive oil. Toss with salads.
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Cucumber mayo – for an unexpected twist on classic mayo, blend in chopped cucumber.
Bake and Grill Cucumbers
Though we don’t often think to cook cucumbers, roasting or grilling brings out delicious new flavors. Ways to cook cucumbers:
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Cucumber fries – toss in oil, spread on a baking sheet, and roast until browned.
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Grilled cucumber – brush slices with olive oil and grill until softened with nice grill marks.
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Stuffed baked cucumber – hollow out large cukes and stuff with meat, grains, or cheese mixes.
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Cucumber casserole– layer sliced cukes, cheese, breadcrumbs, and bake.
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Cucumber lasagna – use thin cucumber slices instead of lasagna noodles.
Sneak into Soups
Don’t forget about adding cucumbers to chilled or hot soups. Their moisture makes them perfect for:
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Gazpacho – classic cold tomato soup with blended cucumber.
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Cucumber vichyssoise – a cold soup with cucumber, potato, and leeks.
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Thai cucumber soup – spicy and cooling, with coconut milk, chilies, and lime.
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Cucumber melon soup – a sweet chilled soup with cucumber and melon. Garnish with mint.
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Hot and sour soup – julienned cucumbers add crunch to the Asian classic.
Mix into Main Dishes
In addition to salads, cucumbers can be mixed into full main course dishes for moisture and crunch:
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Cucumber sushi rolls – wraps with rice, veggies, fish, or other fillings.
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Cucumber noodles – use a spiralizer to cut cucumbers into healthy, low-carb “noodles”. Toss with Asian flavors.
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Cucumber wraps – wrap spiced meats, falafel, or veggie mixes in thin cucumber slices.
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Cucumber sandwiches – dainty tea sandwiches with cucumber, cream cheese, smoked salmon, or cucumber.
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Cucumber pizza crust – use thick slices as the low-carb “crust” for creative individual pizzas.
Blend into Drinks
Cucumber’s high water content makes it perfect for infusing into thirst-quenching drinks:
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Cucumber water – infuse pitchers of water by adding sliced cucumbers and herbs like mint, basil, or lemon.
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Cucumber lemonade – add pureed cucumber to homemade or store-bought lemonade.
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Cucumber mojitos – muddle cucumber slices and mint leaves, mix with rum, soda, and lime.
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Cucumber margaritas – blend cucumber with tequila, lime juice and simple syrup.
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Cucumber martinis – shake vodka with muddled cucumber and dry vermouth or elderflower liqueur.
Transform into Desserts
Believe it or not, cucumbers can even be used to make refreshing sweet treats! Try adding them to:
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Cucumber sorbet – blend pureed cucumbers with simple syrup and lemon juice, then freeze.
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Cucumber cupcakes – add shredded cucumber to cupcake batter and frosting.
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Cucumber granita – freeze pureed cucumber juice into crunchy, sweet ice crystals.
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Cucumber cookies – add shredded cucumber to sugar cookie dough.
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Cucumber panna cotta – infuse cream with cucumber before turning into silky panna cotta.
With all these creative ways to use cucumbers, you’ll enjoy your backyard bounty all season long. Don’t let any precious cucumbers go to waste – turn them into pickles, salsa, soups, main dishes, drinks and even desserts!
Pickle Making Tips & Tricks
- If you find yourself with leftover brine, you can let it cool down and store it in a jar until youre ready to make your next batch of pickles. I like to make up large batches at a time and keep it in the refrigerator so I can whip up a batch of pickles anytime the harvest demands!
- Always make enough brine for each batch of pickles. If you run out of brine, DO NOT just top your jars off with water. This will change the acidity level and, therefore, the safety of your pickles.
- You can use the leftover brine to make sliced cucumber “quick pickles” as well. Just slice your cucumbers and top them with the brine, then let them sit overnight in the refrigerator (the flavor will continue to improve and is best after about two weeks).
Tips for the Best Pickles (That Stay Crunchy)
There are a few tips to remember when making this homemade garlic dill pickles recipe, especially if you want to avoid soggy pickles!
In fact, I have an entire post on seven tips for the crunchiest pickles. If this is your first time making pickles, I highly recommend reading that post for more tips.
When making pickles, its important to…
- Pick cucumbers in the morning. Cucumbers will be their firmest in the early morning. Try to avoid harvesting cucumbers in the afternoon when their water content is the lowest.
- Pick cucumbers when theyre ripe. If your cucumbers grow too large, they can get bitter or have off flavors. Pick cucumbers when they still have their prickly spines and are light to dark green in color. A cucumber is over-ripe when it turns pale yellow, loses its spines and gets bloated.
- Use a good pickling variety of cucumbers. There are countless varieties of cucumbers available to grow in the garden, but not all cucumbers make good pickling cucumbers. Choose a variety thats known for pickling.
- Preserve them as soon as possible after harvesting. If you harvest cucumbers and let them sit at room temperature, they tend to get soft. Once a cucumber has gone soft, it wont ever firm up again. So preserve them straight away, or put them in salt and ice water in the refrigerator if you dont have enough to merit canning a batch.
- Remove the blossom end. The blossom end contains enzymes that can cause soggy pickles. If the stem and blossom are both already removed and youre not sure which end is the blossom end, look for the end thats lighter green (watch the video for an example).
- Use an ice water/salt-water bath prior to canning. The ice water and salt help keep the pickles firm. The salt will actually help draw out excess moisture in the cucumber, which will result in a crispier pickle. You can soak cucumbers for up to three days in the refrigerator and add more as you harvest. Allow them to soak for a minimum of 12 hours.
- Can cucumbers whole. I love a good pickle spear or sliced pickle, however, Ive noticed that my pickles will stay much more crisp when canned in their whole form. So if I want pickle spears or slices, Ill just slice it at the time of eating.
- Add tannins! Tannins will also help keep pickles crunchy during the canning process. See the options for tannins in the ingredients needed section below (Grape Leaves or Black Tea).
- Canning Jars & Lids – My new favorite source for canning jars is Azure Standard. In 2023 they released their new canning line, “Azure Canning Co,” and they sell regular and wide-mouth canning jars. I recommend using wide-mouth canning jars for pickles because theyre easier to get in and out of the jars. However, as you can see in this post, regular mouth canning jars also work. Azure Standard sponsored this post! Right now you can get 10% off your first Azure Standard order of $50 or more by using coupon code “Melissa10” at checkout.
- Water Bath or Steam Canner – I have fallen in love with my steam canner and prefer to use it over my water bath canner for all my water bath canning recipes. But use what you have and what youre comfortable with.
- Vinegar – Make sure youre using vinegar thats at least 5% acidity. Some vinegar on the grocery store shelves is only 4%, which is not approved for safe canning. Botulism cannot survive in an acidic environment, so we need to be sure our canning recipes are safe and approved. I buy my organic (non-GMO) white vinegar from Azure Standard. Though any vinegar can be used (some people love the flavor of apple cider vinegar), white vinegar will keep the brine nice and clear and give you that classic dill pickle flavor.
- Water – If you find a canning recipe that doesnt call for at least equal parts water to vinegar, then its likely an old canning recipe.
- Salt – Anytime Im using salt on the homestead, you know its going to be Redmonds Real Salt (get 15% off your order by using coupon code “Pioneering” at checkout). You may notice a pinkish-red sediment at the bottom of your jars of pickles, and this is completely normal and harmless. You can also use kosher salt or pickling salt.
- Sugar – Sugar is optional. Most people like to add a bit of sugar to cut down on the pucker factor of the pickles. However, its not included for any canning safety reasons, so you can omit it if you prefer.
- Pickling Spices – Much of the flavor is going to come from your pickling spices. Theres no “right” or “wrong” pickling spice, but the one I love the most is homemade and has celery seed, whole allspice and whole peppercorn (recipe below). Pro Tip: Use a tea infuser for your pickling spices so you dont have to strain the brine!
- Garlic – I like to do two smashed garlic cloves per quart jar (or one clove for pint jars). Feel free to adjust this ratio to your liking (you know Im adding a couple extra cloves garlic!).
- Whole Mustard Seed – I use two teaspoons per quart (or one teaspoon per pint). Again, adjust to your liking.
- Grape Leaves (or Black Tea) – The tannins found in grape leaves, black tea, oak leaves or horseradish leaves will help keep the pickles crunchy (some people use bay leaves, though this may add a unique flavor to your pickles). Add one leaf per jar, or add 4 teaspoons of loose leaf black tea to your brine (strain before filling jars).
- Dill – You can use sprigs of fresh dill heads, dried dill seeds or chopped fresh dill weed for this recipe. If using fresh dill heads, I like to use two or three heads per quart jar. If using dried dill seed or chopped fresh dill weed, use 2 Tablespoons per quart jar (1 Tablespoon per pint jar).
- Cucumbers – Be sure to use a good pickling variety of cucumbers (persian or kirby cucumbers are some popular choices). Also, make sure your cucumber is firm. No amount of ice water baths or canning will make a soggy pickle firm. So starting with good firm cucumbers is key.
- Red Pepper Flakes (optional) – If you like your homemade garlic dill pickles recipe to have a bit of a kick, you can always add a 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes to each jar.
No pickling spice, no problem! Simply combine the following ingredients, and youll have your own homemade pickling spice anytime you need it:
- 1 Tablespoon Celery Seed
- ½ Tablespoon Whole Black Peppercorns
- ½ Tablespoon Allspice
This homemade garlic dill pickles recipe can be found on page 206 of my cookbook Everything Worth Preserving.
3 Tips For Growing Cucumbers
FAQ
What to make with lots of cucumber?
- Sichuan smacked cucumber noodles. …
- Cucumber soup. …
- Pickled radish & cucumber salad. …
- Green goddess avocado salad. …
- Crunchy cucumber salad. …
- Lemongrass & lime pork meatballs with pickled veg. …
- Peanut & herb noodle salad. …
- App onlyTurmeric spiced chicken, pickled cucumber & crispy rice bowls with chilli peanut sauce.
What can I do with cucumbers besides make pickles?
Besides pickling, cucumbers can be used in a variety of ways. They can be sliced for sandwiches, diced into salads, or paired with dips like hummus or ranch. Cucumbers can also be blended into refreshing beverages like cucumber limeade or infused water.