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Peter picked a peck of pickled pickles. I had to get that out. We refer to these as Mалосольные Oгурцы (Low Sodium Dill Pickles). This is a recipe for quick dill pickles. It’s ready after sitting overnight (unlike most recipes that take 6 or 7 days!).
The pickles marinate in the “brine” which is less salty and acidic than most pickling brines. The resulting cucumber is lower sodium and retains it’s crispness; leaving you with a much fresher tasting peck of pickles (couldn’t help myself).
It’s kind of like the kosher-style dill pickles you’d buy in the refrigerator section. When properly refrigerated, the pickles can last 1-2 weeks (maybe longer, but we’ve always eaten them before that).
Ingredients for Refrigerator Pickles:
3 liters or 3 quarts jar
3 lb of small-medium cucumbers
7 cloves of garlic
4 stems of dill
2 small roots of horseradish, optional
10-15 whole black peppers
3 Tbsp of table salt
Filtered cold water
How to Make Kosher-Style Dill Pickles:
1. Wash and cut off both ends of the cucumbers. Pack them into a jar with some room left at the top.
2. Cut garlic cloves into 2-3 pieces, roughly cut up dill, slice up your horseradish root* and add everything in the jar, including black pepper. *Mom happens to have horseradish root growing in her yard. It grows back on it’s own every year. It is optional in this recipe but supposedly helps the pickles stay fresh longer.
3. Dissolve 3 Tbsp of salt in 6 cups(1.5 quarts) of filtered water and fill the jar. Make sure that cucumbers are covered completely in water.
4. Let the jar sit at room temperature, covered loosely with a cheesecloth or lid for 24 hours (cucumbers should be fully submerged. If they are not, weight them down with something). Refrigerate pickles afterwards. They are best served cold. It will keep at least 1 week in the fridge.
How to Pickle Pickles (Refrigerator Pickles that is)
Ingredients
- 3 liters or 3 quarts jar
- 3 lb of small-medium cucumbers
- 7 cloves of garlic
- 4 stems of dill
- 2 small roots of horseradish, optional
- 10-15 whole black peppers
- 3 tbsp of table salt
- Filtered cold water
Instructions
- Wash and cut off both ends of the cucumbers. Pack them into a jar with some room left at the top.
- Cut garlic cloves into 2-3 pieces, roughly cut up dill, slice up your horseradish root and add everything in the jar, including black pepper.
- Dissolve 3 tbsp of salt in 6 cups(1.5 quarts) of filtered water and fill the jar. Make sure that cucumbers are covered completely in water.
- Let the jar sit at room temperature, covered loosely with a cheesecloth or lid for 24 hours (cucumbers should be fully submerged. Refrigerate pickles afterwards. They are best served cold.
Note: Some varieties of homegrown cucumber can taste a little bitter. If cucumbers are bitter, cut off the ends and let them soak for 2 hours in water to get rid of bitterness.
Hi Natasha,
Just discovered your website while looking for kvass recipes. Very helpful and informative! I have been making kvasheni ohirky for many years, very similar to your recipe, and I add a slice of rye bread to the top of the jar. (I think it helps with the fermentation). I love to drink the juice from the pickles and from sauerkraut, don’t know how good it is for you, but, I enjoy it. Keep up the great work!
I’ve never tried the slice of rye over the top. Sounds interesting. We will have to experiment with that! Thank you Olya 🙂
I would love to make those,and pickled watermelon,but I can’t find dill stems ANYWHERE!!! 🙁 Tried Publix and Winn Dixie here,and nothing…
Where are you from? I’m not familiar with those stores? Have you tried FredMeyer or Winco?
Jacksonville,FL.
I’m not a big fan of Mалосольные Oгурцы, do you have a recipe fro regular Russian dill pickles
I don’t and I’m not sure if my Mom is pickling pickles this year since our cucumbers aren’t as plentiful. I’ll check with her and will post the tutorial if she is going to be pickling.
Natasha, I just want to say I am so thankful for your blog! My husband is Ukrainian and he loves it when I cook ‘Russian’ food, but he wants me to cook the way/stuff his mom cooks, so it’s been a struggle finding recipes that are like his Mom’s. Then I came across your blog and its been SUCH a blessing!! My sisters-in-law have also been here and they’re like ‘she cooks our kind of food!’ 🙂 Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you! I’m very excited to make these cucumbers!! These are one of the recipes I’ve been dying to learn! Someone had mentioned using an oak leaf to make the pickles crunchy, and I just wanted to say too that grape leaves can be used instead as a ‘crisping agent’. They work very well and might be a little more easier to obtain. Thank you again!
That’s great to know! I wish we had more cucumbers this year though. My mom’s cucumbers are few and far between this year. I’m so glad you find the site too. Welcome and I hope you find some new favorite recipes! 😉
Natasha, I ve just found your site and its amazing! I miss ukranian-russian cooking and you give me a lot of ideas. It would be great if you can post homemade kvashenaya kapusta recipie. I know its simple, but I tried to cook it two times and missed something: it turned not crisp and taste was not so good as it suppose to be. Thanks a lot in advance!
My mom usually makes this an entire bucket-full at a time! I’ll ask her to let me know when she makes it again.
Hi Natasha,
Just found your fabulous blog. So many great recipes! What kind of salt do you use for pickles?
Thanks 🙂
-Helen (Lena)
I just used Morton Iodized Salt. I just learned about pickling salt which I would use next year. Pickling salt makes canned vegetables more appetizing.
We too call these pickles “half sour”. Though, if they sand long enough, they’re no longer “half”. 🙂 Another commenter asked if it would work with tomatoes, and the answer is Yes. I have the same recipe for my pickles and my pickled tomatoes (http://annasrecipebox.com/2011/09/08/tomatoes-pickled/) I use more salt though. Technically, once these pickles stand long enough, they’re called “lacto-fermented” and are supposed to be good for you, like sauerkraut.
They pickles can last a long time in a dry, cool place (like a dark corner in a basement), mine have lasted at least 6 months, and pickled tomatoes have lasted a couple years (but I water-processed them for canning). No need to do that if they’ll be eaten within a month. 🙂
Thanks for the tip! What do you mean by “water-processed”?
By “water-processed”, I mean that after I filled the jars and closed them tightly, I boiled the jars for a few minutes (like for jam). This was the first time I was doing this and I didn’t want anyone to get sick, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt anything. It’s the last step (step 4a) in that linked recipe. I did the same thing to the pickles, but they turned out to be completely mushy, like mashed potatoes. The flavor was right, but not the consistency. The jars that were too big for the water bath canning method were perfect though. So no need to boil the pickles, they last pretty long as it is. But the boiling didn’t affect the taste or texture of the tomatoes. Not sure if it’s needed, but it didn’t hurt anything. 🙂
Wow amazing. I am so proud of myself lol. Very delicious. Thank u Natasha 🙂
You are very welcome Tonya 🙂
Just made the pickles, but I poured in the water without dissolving the salt all the way. Hope that’s ok.. didn’t have the patience. Lol thank u for posting this receipe , my first time trying this. We had too many pickles from our garden… Didnt know what to do with them, felt bad throwing them away
That should still be ok. Let me know how you love them 🙂
Okay Ill let you know, it just went in the fridge, i didnt make any wholes in the tomatoes so ill wait a bit longer to try- will sample on day 3.
Can you do this with red tomatoes?
Hmm I don’t think it would work but I haven’t tried it.
Why filtered water? Can i do this with english cucumbers? (the big long ones sold in plastic wrap- i just happen to have alot of them)
Either filtered water or boiled and cooled water. There’s less chance of it spoiling since you pour in cold water. I haven’t tried with the small English cucumbers but I think it would work as long as they haven’t been coated with any wax.
These look tasty! We call them half-sour pickles. Can I add some advise to improve the recipe a bit? I use kosher salt and add an oak leaf (rinsed first). Oak leaf will make pickles real crispy and crunchy.
Thanks for the tips! I wonder if oak leaf works the same way as horseradish.
Not quite! With an oak leaf they turn out just like in a Vlasic pickles commercial – you can break one in half and hear the crunch. 😉
Hmmm that sounds great! So I guess I need to find an oak tree! 🙂
Hi Nastasha,
I just discovered your blog. It is very pretty and informative. I think it is so fascinating to learn about dishes in other cultures!
– Annika
Welcome to the site 🙂
I never done this by myself, its always mom makes it and gives it to me. 😉 Yeah.. Yeah… spoiled… haha
I will defiantly try your recipe; and maybe I’ll surprise mom??? !!!!
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Same story here, but I decided to do them once my self… With her supervision :), and they are very simple to make.
Hi Natasha! My in-laws served similar pickles for dinner this evening. As a bonus I was given cucumbers to take home. I just finished making the pickles according to your recipe and cannot wait to eat it soon. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
You’re welcome and I hope you love them 🙂
Thank you. Thank you. Just what I have been looking for. What type of salt do you use?
You’re so welcome 🙂 we used just regular table salt
OMG!!!! These look so good. ………..виглядають дуже смачний. I can’t keep these in the fridge, they go like hotcakes. Soon as I make some they are gone.
Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Same thing at our house! 🙂
YUM! We had a guest over at our house for lunch yesterday and he brought some of these pickles for us to try. They were so delish! I instantly wanted to make some for myself but I didn’t know him well enough to ask for a recipe. Oh Natasha, you are a wonderful mind-reader! How do you do it? If you ask me, you went into the wrong field of work. Thank you once again, you’re great!
You are very welcome Marina. It’s funny someone else asked me for this recipe just last night. I guess it was very good timing! 😀
I am making mine exactly the same way only I put a little more salt in and into hot boiled water. I had no idea regular cold water can be used! That makes my life a little easier! 🙂 Thank You, Natasha!!! Do you have the recipe for making pickled green tomatoes? That’s something I would love to learn to make!
You are welcome Sveta. I will ask my mom if she has a recipe for pickled green tomatoes.