How to Make Homemade Pickles, without Canning - Easily! With Step-by-step Photos, Recipe, Directions, Ingredients and Costs

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Making Homemade Pickles - without canning jars or a canner!

Making and canning your own pickles, gherkins, kosher dills, bread and butter, sweet pickles, etc. is one of the easiest things you can do with produce!  Here's how to do it, in easy steps and completely illustrated.   It is much faster than the old method your grandmother used with tons of pickling salt and de-scumming the brine! Ugh!  This method is so easy, ANYONE can do this!  You don't even need canning jars or a canner. Instead, you put the pickles in any glass or plastic container and put them right into your fridge and they are ready 24 hours later! It's a great thing to do with your kids!

Ingredients

  • Cucumbers - fresh, crisp - not wilted, soft or overripe!
  • Pickling mix -  It usually goes for about $2.00 to $4.00 per packet. A packet will make about a dozen pint jars. 
  • Clear vinegar (5%, apple cider vinegar works well.  Store brand is about $1.25 for a 64 oz bottle.

Equipment

  • 1 Water Bath Canner (a huge pot to sanitize the jars after filling (about $30 to $35 at mall kitchen stores, sometimes at big box stores and grocery stores.).  Note: we sell many sizes and types of canners for all types of stoves and needs - see canning supplies
  • Pint canning jars (Ball or Kerr jars can be found at grocery stores, like Safeway, Publix, Kroger, grocery stores, even online - about $13 per dozen 8-ounce jars, more for quilted design or larger jars, including the lids and rings).  Be sure to get wide mouth jars to fit the pickles in!  Pint size works best! 
  • Lids - thin, flat, round metal lids with a gum binder that seals them against the top of the jar.  They may only be used once.
  • Rings - metal bands that secure the lids to the jars.  They may be reused many times.
  • Jar grabber (to pick up the hot jars) 
  • Lid lifter (I like the lid rack that holds 12 lids or you can pull them out one at a time with the lid-lifter that has a magnet from the almost-boiling water where you sanitize them. ($4 at Target, other big box stores, and often grocery stores; and available online - see this page)
  • Jar funnel ($5 at Target, other big box stores, and often grocery stores; and available online - see this page)
  • 1 large pots; Nonstick ceramic coated pots for easy cleanup.
  • Large spoons and ladles,

Process - How to Make Pickles

Step 1 - Selecting the cucumbers

It's fun to go pick your own and you can obviously get better quality ones!  

At right is a picture cucumbers from my garden - they are SO easy to grow. But be sure to grow the varieties that are labeled "pickling cucumbers" - they will be much more crisp!  

 

 

The picture at right shows a good cucumber for pickling (bottom) and a bad one (top).  The good one is dark green, firm, and not bloated.  It has lots of warts!

The bad one is overripe, it has yellow or white areas in the skin, and the warts are almost all gone.  If you cut it open, you will see developed seeds.  You don't want seeds!

Overripe cucumbers make mushy pickles.

 

Step 2 - How many cucumbers?

It takes about 3 or 4 cucumbers to fill a pint jar.  Each cucumber is about 4 - 5 inches long and you will cut off the ends so they will fit with 1/4-inch to spare..

Step 3 -Wash and cut the vegetables!

I'm sure you can figure out how to wash the fruit in plain cold water.

You will need to cut the ends off (about 1/4-inch) and then slice them lengthwise if you like spears.  You can also leave them whole or cut them cross-wise for bread-and-butter pickles.

Step 4 - Get the jars and lids sanitizing

The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sanitize" cycle.  I get that going while I'm preparing everything else, so it's done by the time I'm ready to fill the jars. Be sure to let it go through the rinse cycle to get rid of any soap!  It's also a good time to start heating up the water in the canner and the small pan of water to warm the lids to soften the adhesive.

 

 Lids:  put the very hot (but not quite boiling; around 180 F, steaming water is fine)
water for at least several minutes. Note: everything gets sanitized in the water bath (step 7) anyway, so this just helps to ensure there is not spoilage later!)

 

Step 6 - Mix the vinegar with the pickling mix and bring to a near boil

OK, you can make your own pickling mix from spices, salt, dill, etc.; but it is MUCH more time-consuming, complicated, and prone to problems.  This method produces pickles which are just as crisp - as long as you pick very firm cucumbers.  It also helps to add 2 grape leaves to every jar (I kid you not, they have something in them that makes the pickles crunchier).

The stores (grocery stores, like Publix, Kroger and Safeway and local "big box" stores, sometimes even local hardware stores) sell several varieties of mixes - Kosher dill, bread-and-=butter and sweet pickles are the most commonly seen.  And be sure to get them by July - they tend not to re-order them when they sell out.

 

Bring the mix and vinegar to a near-boil - just simmering!

Be sure to use a NON-metal pot - or a coated metal (teflon, silverstone, enamel, etc.) without breaks in the coating. the metal reacts with the vinegar and ruins the taste.

Step 7 - Fill the jars with cucumbers and put the lid and rings on

Pack the cucumbers, whole or slices in and pour the simmering pickle mix liquid over them. Fill them to within 1/4-inch of the top, seat the lid and hand-tighten the ring around them.  

Step 7 - Boil the jars in the canner

Put them in the canner and keep them covered with at least 1 inch of water. Keep the water boiling. Boil them for 15 minutes. 

Step 9 - Done

Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight)  You can then remove the rings if you like, but if you leave them on, at least loosen them quite a bit, so they don't rust in place due to trapped moisture. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok.

 

 

Other Equipment:

From left to right:

  1. Jar lifting tongs 
            to pick up hot jars
  2. Lid lifter
            - to remove lids from the pot 
            of boiling water (sterilizing )
  3. Lids
           - disposable - you may only 
           use them once
  4. Ring 
          - holds the lids on the jar until after
          the jars cool - then you remove them, save them and reuse them
  5. Canning Jar funnel
          - to fill the jars

 

 Canning tool kit

Summary - Cost of Making Homemade Pickles - makes 12 pint jars, 16 oz each*
Item Quantity Cost in 2026 Source Subtotal
Cucumbers 30-36 (about 3 per pint jar) free from the garden, or $3.00 cents at a PYO Pick your own $3.00
Canning jars (pint size, wide mouth), includes lids and rings 12 jars $8.00/dozen Grocery stores (Publix, Kroger, Safeway, etc.) $8.00
Vinegar 4 cups $0.99  Safeway,
Publix, Kroger, grocery stores		 $0.99
Pickle mix 1 packet $3.00 per package Grocery stores (Publix, Kroger, Safeway, etc.) $3.00
Total $15.00 total
 or about  $1.25 per jar INCLUDING the jars - which you can reuse!

* - This assumes you already have the pots, pans, ladles,, and reusable equipment. Note that you can reuse the jars!  Many products are sold in jars that will take the lids and rings for canning.  For example, Classico Spaghetti sauce is in quart sized jars that work with Ball and Kerr lids and rings. Note that the Classico's manufacturer does not recommend reuse of their jars: see what they have to say on this page:

Answers to Common Questions

What did I do wrong if my pickles aren't crisp or crunchy?
you probably used overripe cucumbers or didn't measure the vinegar and water accurately

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Illustrated Canning, Freezing, Jam Instructions and Recipes

[ All About Home Canning, Freezing and Making Jams, Pickles, Sauces, etc. ] [FAQs - Answers to common questions and problems] [Recommended books about home canning, jam making, drying and preserving!] [Free canning publications to download and print]

Home Canning Kits

This is the same type of standard canner that my grandmother used to make everything from applesauce to jams and jellies to tomato and spaghetti sauce. This complete kit includes everything you need and lasts for years: the canner, jar rack, jar grabber tongs, lid lifting wand, a plastic funnel, labels, bubble freer. It's much cheaper than buying the items separately. You'll never need anything else except jars & lids (and the jars are reusable)! There is also a simple kit with just the canner and rack, and a pressure canner, if you want to do vegetables (other than tomatoes). To see more canners, of different styles, makes and prices, click here!
Don't forget the Ball Blue Book!