I live abroad, and one of the things I miss most from the States is a good American dill pickle. The bright green, garlicky, and super crisp kind. The ones you pull out of the fridge and eat standing at the counter because it’s just that good.
Sadly, I can’t buy them very easily in the Netherlands.
So I started making my own. It took a few rounds of trial and error before I landed on my ideal version of this recipe but we got there in the end with my perfect pickle.
For me, a good lacto-fermented garlic dill pickle needs to be two things. It has to stay bright green. And it has to snap when I bite it.
This recipe is built around this. It has a short ferment window which keeps the color bright and a quick ice-water bath before brining helps them stay crunchy. Trimming the blossom end off each cucumber and adding a pinch of Pickle Crisp takes it to the next level.
They are simple to throw together, and just like the pickles back home. If you’ve been missing American-style pickles wherever you live, or you just want a really good homemade pickle, this is the one for you.
Why You’ll Love These Pickles
Here’s why this recipe has a permanent spot in my fridge.
- Only four ingredients: garlic, dill, salt, and peppercorns. All fermented for that unmistakable dill pickle flavor.
- Super crunchy with an audible snap when you take a bite. The opposite of a mushy pickle.
- Bright green and vibrant, thanks to the short ferment time.
- Big garlic flavor. If you’re a garlic girl, you’re gonna love this recipe.
- Gut-friendly, with the same family of bacteria (lactobacillus) you get from yogurt or sauerkraut.
- No special equipment required. A clean jar and something to weigh down your cucumbers is really all you need.
In my house, these pickles rarely survive long enough to make it into a recipe, but if they do, this Dill Pickle Chicken Salad is the perfect way to use up your pickles.
Key Ingredients
- Cucumbers: Persian cucumbers are the easiest for me to get my hands on, but Kirby is a great true pickling cucumber. Just skip English cukes, they’ll get super mushy.
- Garlic: Throw a good couple of cloves in for a solid garlic flavor. I go three per jar, but you can totally do more, no judgment here.
- Dill: You can’t really make dill pickles without dill. Fresh is better, but dried works in a pinch.
- Peppercorns: Whole black and rainbow peppercorns both work.
- Salt: Fine sea salt, pickling salt, kosher salt, or flaky Maldon all work. Just make sure not to use iodized table salt.
- Water: Filtered or bottled if you’re not sure whether your tap water is chlorinated. Chlorine stops the fermentation process.
- Pickle Crisp (optional): Food-grade calcium chloride for maximum crunch. A tiny pinch per jar. A grape leaf or bay leaf works as a backup.
How to Make Lacto-Fermented Garlic Dill Pickles
The whole process takes about 15 minutes of hands-on work plus 3 to 5 days on your counter. Here’s how to do it.
- Prep the cucumbers. Soak them in ice water for 30 minutes (cold cucumbers = crunchier pickles), then trim about ⅛ inch off the blossom end of each one. That’s where the enzymes that turn pickles to mush live, so don’t skip it.
- Mix the brine. Stir salt into room-temp water until fully dissolved.
- Pack the jars. Drop a couple of smashed garlic cloves and a big pinch of peppercorns into the bottom of each jar. Pack the cucumbers in tight and standing upright. Tuck a dill on top. Add finally ⅛ tsp of Pickle Crisp per jar if you’re using it.
- Pour the brine over the cucumbers until they’re fully submerged, leaving about 2cm of headspace. Weight everything down with a fermentation weight or a smaller clean jar. Anything floating above the brine can grow mold.
- Seal loosely and set the jars on the counter. With Weck jars, rest the glass lid on top with the rubber gasket and skip the metal clips so the CO2 can escape. Put a plate with a piece of paper towel underneath. They will bubble and probably overflow, which is what you want.
- Start tasting on day 3. When they’re tangy, still bright green, and snap when you bite them, move the jars to the fridge. Cold storage nearly stops the ferment, so the flavor you taste on day 3 is more or less what you’ll have for the next 2 to 3 months.
Not a chicken salad person? This Dill Pickle Tuna Salad is my other favorite way to put a jar of homemade pickles to work.
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Victoria’s Tips
A few things I’ve learned the hard way after making more batches than I can count.
Flavor Variations
The base recipe is intentionally simple so the garlic and dill shine, but once you’ve made it once, it’s an easy recipe to customize.
- Spicy dill pickles. Add 1 tsp of red pepper flakes or 2 sliced fresh chilis per jar. Fresno, jalapeño, or bird’s eye all work. The heat slightly mellows during fermentation.
- Classic deli blend. Add 1 tsp each of coriander seeds and yellow mustard seeds, plus a bay leaf per jar. These are the flavors of most New York deli pickles.
- Horseradish snap. A thin slice of fresh horseradish root per jar gives a sharp, sinus-clearing kick and adds a little extra crunch on its own.
- Go big on garlic. Double the garlic to 6 cloves per jar. You’ll get pickles that hit you with the garlic first, dill second. Bright and herby.
If you just want to snack, a few of these pickles go straight onto my High-Protein Snack Plate. Jammy eggs, parmesan, pickles, SO SO good.
Storage
Move the jars to the fridge as soon as your pickles hit the flavor you want. Cold storage slows the ferment down, so whatever you taste on day 3 or 4 is basically what you’ll have for the next 2 to 3 months.
Keep the pickles fully submerged in the brine. Don’t worry if it stays cloudy, that’s just the lactobacillus doing its thing. They’ll keep getting a touch more sour over time in the fridge, so if you want to lock in that bright half-sour flavor, pull them from the counter on the earlier side.
FAQ
Vinegar pickles rely on acetic acid (vinegar) to preserve the cucumbers. Lacto-fermented pickles skip the vinegar entirely. The sour comes from lactic acid produced by the lactobacillus bacteria on the cucumbers as they eat the sugars in the brine. Same tangy flavor, just probiotic and alive instead of pasteurized.
Yes, as long as you don’t can them or heat them. The lactobacillus bacteria that ferment your pickles are the same gut-friendly strains you get from yogurt, sauerkraut, and kimchi. Refrigeration slows them down but keeps them alive, which is why fridge-stored lacto-fermented pickles still count as a probiotic food.
Probably not. Most batches don’t look visibly cloudy until day 2 and a half or 3, and a cool kitchen can push it even later. Look for tiny bubbles on the side of the jar or clinging to the cucumbers. That’s proof the ferment is going even when the brine still looks clear. If you’re on day 4 with zero signs of life, move the jars somewhere warmer (top of the fridge usually works).
Yes, but not for another batch of fermented pickles. Once the pickles are eaten, the brine has lost most of its saltiness. Use it as a quick marinade for cucumber slices (refrigerator pickles) or a splash in salad dressings. For a second ferment, always start with fresh brine.
Lacto-Fermented Garlic Dill Pickles
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Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
- Trim the blossom end off 10 to 14 small persian cucumbers. Find the rounded end (opposite the stem scar) and slice off about ⅛ of an inch. This is where the enzymes that cause mushy pickles are so don't skip this.
- Soak the cucumbers in ice water for 30 minutes while you prep everything else. Cold cucumbers make crunchier pickles, and this is one of the most underrated steps in the whole process.
- Stir 21 g fine sea salt or pickling salt into 2½ cups filtered or non-chlorinated water until fully dissolved. If you used warm water to speed it up, let the brine cool to room temperature before using (or use 1 cup warm water to dissolve the salt, then add 1½ cups cold water..)
- Divide 6 cloves garlic and 2 tsp whole black peppercorns. Pack the cucumbers in tight and upright. Add 1 bunch dill, split between the jars in over the top of the cucumbers. Add ¼ tsp pickle crisp between the two jars if using.
- Pour the brine over the cucumbers until fully submerged, leaving about 2cm of headspace at the top.
- Drop in a fermentation weight or a smaller clean jar to keep everything under the brine. Anything floating above the liquid can grow mold.If you don't have anything you can use as a weight, you can also fill the jars all the way to the top with the goal of having no air bubbles when you put the lid on. It works in a pinch but isn't the ideal method.
- Seal loosely. With Weck jars, rest the glass lid on top and skip the metal clips so gas can escape. For mason jars, screw the lid on loosely or use a fermentation airlock.
- Set the jars on the counter out of direct sunlight, ideally between 65 and 72°F (18 to 22°C). Put a plate and a paper towel underneath. The brine will bubble and might overflow in the first couple of days (that's a good thing!)
- Start tasting on day 3. Pull one out and bite into it. If it's tangy, still bright green, and has that audible snap, you've hit half-sour territory. Move the jars to the fridge. If you want more punch, leave them another day or two.
- Once refrigerated, they'll keep for 2 to 3 months and will continue to deepen in flavor over time.
Nutrition
Notes
- Cucumbers: Persian cucumbers are ideal because they’re small, thin-skinned, and low in water content. If you can find true pickling cucumbers like Kirbys, those are the gold standard. Skip regular slicing cucumbers. Their waxy skins and high water content will give you mushy pickles.
- Salt: Use fine sea salt, pickling salt, or kosher salt. Skip iodized table salt. The iodine inhibits the lactobacillus bacteria you need for fermentation and will cloud the brine.
- Water: Chlorinated tap water will also kill your ferment. Use filtered, bottled, or tap water that’s been left uncovered overnight to let the chlorine dissipate.
- Cloudy brine is good. A cloudy, bubbly brine means fermentation is working. The white sediment at the bottom is lactobacillus doing its job.
- What you don’t want to see: Fuzzy mold, pink or orange slime, or anything that smells rotten. If any of that shows up, toss the batch and start over.
- Timing varies by kitchen temp. A warm kitchen might hit half-sour in 2 to 3 days. A cooler kitchen can take 5 to 7. Trust your taste buds more than the clock.
- Jars: Weck jars vent gas naturally when you leave the clips off, which makes them a nice choice for fermenting. Mason jars work fine too. Just leave the lid loose or burp them once a day by unscrewing briefly to release pressure.
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My perfect pickle recipe that took so many tries to get right.