Last Updated on October 14, 2024

An easy Refrigerator Sweet Pickles recipe that takes minimal ingredients and time to prepare and are ready to eat in a few days! You don’t need any canning equipment, and this pickle recipe is a great way to use up leftover cucumbers from your summer garden!

I am not a fan of soggy pickles 😝, haha. I am so excited that these homemade sweet pickles stay crunchy and are so delicious! Normally I’m a dill pickle fan, but these Quick & Crunchy Refrigerator Sweet Pickles might change my mind! This recipe was slightly adapted from A Farmgirl’s Dabbles sweet pickles recipe and it’s definitely going to be my go-to every summer to use up all those cucumbers from my garden.

Ingredients Needed to Make Refrigerator Sweet Pickles

Cucumbers. You will need 6 cups of freshly sliced cucumbers, preferably from a small-medium sized cucumber. I grew pickle cucumbers this year and not only do I like the taste of them better as cucumbers, they make way better pickles too.

Onion. I used 1 cup of sweet yellow onion, chopped. You could slice the onion instead. The sweet pickled onions are delicious as well as the pickles!

Sugar. You’ll need 2 cups of organic cane sugar, but if you like a stronger sweet pickle (aka more sugary) you can use 3-4 cups. I found using 4 cups to be too sweet for me.

Vinegar. You’ll need 2 cups of white vinegar. I have not tried apple cider vinegar, but that should work as well.

Celery seed. You can find celery seed at most grocery stores. You will need 1 tablespoon for this recipe.

Salt. You’ll need one tablespoon of salt. You can use pickling salt, but I just used pink Himalayan salt.

Optional Add Ins

Pepper. You can slice or chop some green bell pepper and add that in like in A Farmgirl’s Dabbles’ recipe.

Mustard seed. You can add a tablespoon of mustard seed if you want.

Dill. Adding a fresh sprig of dill could enhance the flavor as well, but i chose to omit this ingredient.

How to Make Refrigerator Sweet Pickles

Making your own pickles is so easy using this method. I’ve seen them called “quickles” on social media because there’s no fancy canning or months of waiting to be able to enjoy these sweet pickles.

Remove the excess water from the cucumbers and onion. To do this, simply add the sliced cucumbers and sliced or chopped onion in a large bowl tossed with the tablespoon of salt. Let them sit on the counter for 1 hour and drain them well.

You can place the cucumber slices and onion back into the large bowl OR stuff them into 16 ounce mason jars (canning jars) that have lids- what I did.

Make a simple brine in a saucepan on your stovetop. Combine the sugar, vinegar, and celery seed in a saucepan and heat over medium-high heat, whisking frequently, until the sugar dissolves. This will take about 10 minutes.

Pour the brine over the pickles. You can either keep the sliced cucumbers and onion in the large bowl and store them covered in the fridge that way, OR my personal preference, is to use the canning jars and pour the brine over the cucumbers and onion that you stuffed into jars. This way, I feel like they will keep for longer and you can also gift them to family and friends.

If you run out of brine, you can add a little water the jars to fill them to the top.

Let the pickles marinate for a few days to really soak up the brine. I actually made my refrigerator sweet pickles before we left for vacation and tried them a week later when we got home and they were great! The best part is they remained crunchy, yay!

The pickles will keep in the fridge for 2-3 weeks.

These sweet pickles remain crunchy which is the best part! They are sweet and flavorful, not overbearing, fresh, and the perfect side to your grilled cheese sandwiches!

Ways to Enjoy These Sweet Pickles

Of course you can snack on these crunchy sweet pickles right from the jar! Or you can try them in one of these recipes!

Vegan Cheeseburger Salad Bowls

Air Fryer Fried Pickles

Alongside my Vegan Tuna Melt!

Let me know what you think about these Quick & Crunchy Refrigerator Sweet Pickles down below in the comments section, as well as giving it a five rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ so that others can discover this easy, sweet pickle recipe! Tag me on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest if you make them!