Our go-to Canned Dill Pickle Recipe with tips for making CRUNCHY dill pickles. We included an easy step-by-step photo tutorial on how to can pickles.
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Canned Dill Pickle Recipe
This canned pickles recipe and method was shared by my Aunt Tanya. This dill pickle has the perfect balance of salty and tangy with a touch of sweetness. We are always improving our recipes and listening to reader feedback, so we re-tested and updated this recipe in Sept 2019 to give it a more traditional dill flavor.
What you will Need to Make Dill Pickles:
The ingredients here are simple and inexpensive, especially if you grow your own fresh cucumbers. My mom has horseradish growing in her yard, but if you aren’t able to source fresh horseradish, you can leave it out or substitute with another garlic clove in each jar.
Also, pickling salt works great for canning pickles because it is free of iodine and preservatives.
Tips for Crunchy Dill Pickles:
- The smaller and fresher the pickles are to begin with, the crunchier they will be. Larger cucumbers will soften more.
- Do not over process the pickles. If you keep them in the water bath too long, they will become soft. Remove them from the canner immediately after processing 15 minutes.
- Trim off the ends of the cucumbers with a knife. The ends carry an enzyme that promotes softening.
- Use small cucumbers and pack tightly. If your cucumbers are too large, you can’t fit as many in the jar and will need more brine.
Home Canning Tools:
With the right gear, canning is easier, safer and way less intimidating. Here is what you will need:
- 6 Quart Sized (wide-mouth) Mason jars with rings and new lids
- Large Stock Pot (20Qt+) with Rack (or purchase a canner)
- Jar lifter to safely transfer the jars
This Dill Pickle Recipe is EASY:
Here is the method for canning these sweet and salty pickles.
- Fill the jars with the herbs and flavoring and tightly pack with cucumbers
- Make the brine and fill jars to 1/2″ below the top.
- Screw the lids on enough to keep a tight seal in place but don’t over-tighten them since air bubbles need to be able to escape.
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Place packed cans into the canning pot and cover with 1-2 inches of boiling water then boil and process 15 minutes. Remove from the pot and leave at room temperature undisturbed for 12-24 hours. You may hear a pop when the jars fully seal. After 24 hours, check that the seal has formed by pushing down on the center of the lid – it should not move at all. If the seal does not form, refrigerate pickles and enjoy within 3 months.
How to Test if Canning Seal Has Formed?
- When you push in the center of the lid, it should not pop up and down.
- If you do hear a popping or clicking, the seal did not form and the jar must be refrigerated.
- Properly Sealed pickles can be stored at room temperature up to a year.
Current Canning Guidelines:
Recipe updated in 2019 to reflect current canning guidelines. Get up to date on the most recent canning guidelines here. It’s a great resource to answer frequently asked canning questions.
Signs of Spoiled Canned Food:
With any type of canning, we follow this advice: “When in doubt, throw it out”
Discard and do not eat or taste any canned food if you notice any of the following:
- the jar is leaking, bulging, or swollen
- the jar looks damaged, cracked, or abnormal
- the jar spurts foam or liquid upon opening
- the canned food is discolored, moldy, mushy, slimy, or smells bad
Canning Recipes to Explore:
- Peach Preserves – my Mother’s recipe for peach jam
- Marinated Bell Peppers – so amazing with mashed potatoes
- Refrigerator Pickles – we make these all summer long
Canned Dill Pickle Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients for Canned Cucumbers:
- 6 bay leaves, (1 per jar)
- 1/2 Tbsp peppercorn, (5 per jar)
- 6 Dill Stems with Flowers, cut into 3" pieces (1 full stem per jar)
- 12 garlic cloves, halved (2 cloves per jar)
- 2 inch horseradish root, chopped and divided, optional but nice
- 6 lbs small cucumbers, well rinsed with ends trimmed
Ingredients for Pickling Brine:
- 8 cups water
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 6 Tbsp pickling salt (or 1/3 cup)
- 6 cups distilled white Vinegar, (5% acidity)
Tools Needed for Canning:
- 6 Quart-sized wide-mouth mason jars with rings and new lids
- 1 large Stock Pot (20Qt+) with Rack (or a canner)
- 1 jar lifter to safely transfer the jars
Instructions
How to Sterilize Canning Jars and Lids:
- Wash jars and lids with soap and water.
- Place jars and lids in a pot of water, bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Drain the water carefully then your jars and lids are ready to use.
How to Make Homemade Pickles:
- Divide bay leaves, peppercorns, dill stems, garlic and horseradish (optional) into the bottoms of 6 Quart-sized jars. Pack cucumbers tightly into jars.
- In a medium pot, combine 8 cups water, 1/3 cup sugar, 6 Tbsp salt and 6 cups vinegar. Bring pickling juice to a boil then pour over cucumbers leaving 1/2” of space at the top. Screw the lids on enough to keep a tight seal in place but don't over-tighten them since air bubbles need to be able to escape.
- Place jars in a canner or large pot lined with a wire rack at the bottom. Once all of the jars are in the pot, add boiling hot water, to cover jars with 1-2 inches of water. Process/boil for 15 minutes.
- Carefully remove jars from the water using a jar lifter and leave at room temperature undisturbed for 12-24 hours. You may hear a pop when the jars fully seal. After 24 hours, check that the seal has formed by pushing down on the center of the lid - it should not move at all. If the seal does not form, refrigerate pickles and enjoy within 3 months.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Note: Recipe updated Sept 2019 to update the canning method, reflecting current canning guidelines. We are always working on improving our recipes and many of you said you prefer your dill pickles more tangy than sweet. After retesting, we increased the vinegar and reduced the total amount of water for a more traditional flavored dill pickle. Our salt to vinegar ratios were based on this recipe.
Q: Who else is obsessed with pickles? I am pretty serious about my pickles and this pickle recipe does not disappoint! Did you grow up eating pickles with everything?
The current standard for cucumber pickles is a 1:1 water:vinegar brine.
Can you leave out the sugar in this pickle recipe? And still can it?
Thanks!
Hi there, I honestly haven’t tried this pickle recipe without the sugar. It makes up a big portion fo the brine so you would have to replace it with some salt. Without testing it out, it’s difficult to make that recommendation.
Hi Natasha, I’m excited to try this recipe! Can I substitute dill seeds for fresh dill?
Hi Melissa! Yes, that would work but I have not tested it to advise on how much to use. You may research this on google to see what recommendations are for quantity.
So obviously these aren’t long term storage dill pickles, as you would store in your pantry. It says to water bath can, and keep in refrigerator. I’m looking for a pantry pickle recipe.
I have tried another recipe that does not water process, a refrigerator pickle. My garlic turned blue, is this just oxidization?
Hi Dianna! According to google, garlic can turn blue or green if it is exposed for a long time to any acidic ingredient such as lemon juice or vinegar.
I want to make these pickles but I don’t understand the bath . my question is do you just put 1-2 inches of water or do you cover the jar complete with water 1-2 inches over the jar lid.
Hi Debra, it’s recommended to cover the jar completely with water.
With sugar in the brine, do these come out tasting more like a sweet pickle, rather than dill?
Hi Loralie, it has a touch of sweetness to it but it is balanced with salty taste too.
what is the altitude you are at for the 15 minutes of processing?
Hi Victoria, we’re at about 2500′.
Do you soak the cucumbers in salt water for 12-24 hrs prior?
Hi Machelle. No, I do not.
how can i substitute white sugar for organic sugar or other sweetener; ie honey or maple syrup ?
Hi Keith, I honestly haven’t tested that to advise. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes!
If I half the recipe and use pint jars do I process for same amount of time?
Hi Linds, pint jars will work great for this recipe!
Hi Natasha, can you also share the recipe you had before revising it, I used it and loved it, after trying this one and it slightly to “vinegary” for me. Liked the old one better but did not save it anywhere was sure it will be always on your site 🙈 thank you so much!
Hi Alla, I updated the recipe in 2019 to reflect the current canning guidelines. I have a link above in the post for reference. We have more on that in the recipe body. I hope that helps!
Have you or anyone else ever added beer (IPA/Lager) to this recipe to make Beer Pickles. If so, does adding it affect the shelf life? Refrigeration vs. Shelf life?
Hi Jodie, I personally haven’t tried that, I looked through the comments and I also couldn’t any mentioning beer as an add in.
I don’t want to process these jars for too long in the water bath, but it always takes a while for the water to return to a boil. Should the 15 minutes for quarts size jars start from the time they enter the water or from when the water returns to a rolling boil?
I believe technically the timer should start once they are at a boil. You might keep the water hot as your prepare your jars.
I have my boiling bath at a hard rolling boil, buy adding boiling brine to my cucumbers, it takes a very short time to return it to a boil. I start timer when the bath is back to a rolling boil. Have had great success this way.
When are they ready to eat
Hi Cindy! Five days! The pickles will be ready to eat in about 5 days, much better if you wait a week, and even better if you can wait 2 weeks before sampling.
How long until the pickles are ready with this recipe?
Hi Jeremy, the pickles will be ready to eat in about 5 days, much better if you wait a week, and even better if you can wait 2 weeks before sampling.
Your state to boil the lids and the rings. I was always taught to never boil the lids. Bring them just to a simmer then turn off the water and keep them hot. Boiling can break down the rubber and you run a higher chance of more jars not sealing properly. Once I stopped boiling lids I have a much higher success rate.
I don’t boil the lids either, Tina. Was taught that keeping them in hot water was to “soften” the rubber and allow it to make a good seal.
Easy and great tasting pickle recipe
Thanks
Thanks for your good feedback, Bob!
I just made this recipe have not tasted the pickles yet. However, I do want to point out a confusing point in your recipe ingredients list for the peppercorns… You have listed 1/2/ tablespoon per jar and then have in parenthesis (5). Does this mean “5, 1/2 tblsp of peppercorns” or “5 peppercorns” If you meant 5 peppercorns then just list that and leave out the 1/2 tablespoon it is confusing the way it is written.. thanks
Hi Gary, we have listed the recipe as “1/2 Tbsp peppercorn (5 per jar)”. 1/2 tbsp peppercorn should be about the equivalent of 5 peppercorns. Which means about 5 peppercorns per jar. I hope that helps.
I have been making pickles for years but always looking for the perfect recipe. This recipe is the bomb! My go to recipe from now on. Best tasting pickles ever!!
Yay, so glad you found my recipe. I’m happy that you now found your new favorite!