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.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
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.
-
Place packed cans into the canning pot and cover with 1-2 inches of water. Bring to a 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.
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?
If I only had 2lbs of pickles, how would you adjust the water/salt/sugar/vinegar ratio? Would this work?
2 2/3 cups water
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons pickling salt
2 2/3 cups distilled white vinegar (5% acidity)
Hi Jason! You can use the tool in the recipe card to change the serving size and it will convert the ingredients for you. Change it to 10 servings for 2 lbs of cucumbers.
Great. Didn’t catch that feature (obviously). Thanks for pointing it out.
I made the dill pickle recipe without the bay leaves, pepper corns just the water vinegar salt and sugar. Everyone raved about my pickles. Even those who were not big on pickles. This is my one and only recipe that I will use
That’s great to hear, Ethel! Thank you for the feedback.
I followed this recipe and canned about 6 500 ml jars about 2 months ago. Just opened one today. The pickles are absolutely delicious, but not crisp. I only cut off the flower end as that is what I’ve seen recommended in many other recipes. Perhaps that was part of the problem. Also, I think my cucumbers were a bit larger than what you recommend, so that could be a contributing factor. I will definitely try again next year to see if I can get crisper pickles. Meanwhile, there’s nothing wrong with how these taste! Yum!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Randy! It’s hard to say what caused them not to be cripsy without being there, but I’m so glad you loved the flavor!
You may want to check your suggestion to boil canning lids to see if the manufacturer still suggests boiling them as many do not anymore.
Hi V, the only info I’m able to find is from the National Center for Home Food Preservation about boiling but if you have a credible source to share, please do so. Thanks!
Can you use red pepper flakes in place of the pepper corns? I prefer these in my refrigerator pickles.
Hi Marylou, I haven’t tried this with red pepper flakes, but that may work here if that’s your preference. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
Your brine recipe is my favourite! It’s not too salty or sour. I have not tried the horse radish yet. Will try next time.
Hi Sandy! That’s great to hear.
Hello Natasha, can you please send or post the original recipe of this please. These are very sour I loved your previous recipe. Thank you in advance.
Hi Victoria, you can search for sites like this: https://web.archive.org/ and plug in the URL to view the old version of the recipe.
Natasha I am with Victoria, please can we have the old version, canned always using your recipe and we loved it, after revisions it’s just way to sour. I tried the url you suggested, can’t find it. Please, 🙈
Hi Alla, you can search for sites like this: https://web.archive.org/ and plug in the URL to view the old version of the recipe.
Can’t wait to try them. Easy to follow recipe, not confusing at all.
I hope you love them, Nat!
Normally I love NK recipes, but these were awful. We opened the pickles 3 weeks after canning and the pickles were mushy and so so vinegary. Would not recommend.
HI Abby, I’m sorry to hear that it didn’t work out – that is such a bummer. Sometimes over-processing can result in mushy pickles and some varieties tend to be more mushy naturally.
Hi,
Do you salt the cucumbers to rid excess water before pickling?
Hi Sarah, that is not a necessary step for this recipe. I hope you love it.
Hi,
It seems a really good recipe!!
i cant wait
How much time in the jars before eat?
Hi Lorenzo, 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.