cooking with ree

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I remember the first time I tried refrigerator pickles. It was in 1993 shortly after Jeff and I were married. Deloris, my mother-in-law, would put these out as a side dish for almost every meal and I fell in love! They are absolutely the best sweet pickle I have ever come across! Of course, she readily shared the recipe with me and the story of how she came to acquire it.

Deloris had gotten the recipe decades prior from “Aunt Geneva”. Geneva wasn’t related to the family by blood. Geneva’s husband, Louie, and my father-in-law, Charlie, served in the Navy together during World War II. That was the start of a decades long friendship between the two men and their wives. They were very sweet people and very good friends to both Charlie and Deloris. Louie and Geneva would drive from Ohio, pulling a camper, to visit Charlie and Deloris in Arkansas every year. They made it to Georgia and stayed a few days when Jeff and I lived there. Jeff said his family traveled to Ohio many times when he was a child, too. He said that he got to tour the Pro Football Hall of Fame on one of those trips.

Geneva also had absolutely the best sweet pickles recipe. They are a perfect balance of tang, salt, and sweet. Absolutely delicious!

The recipe is simple; there is no need for special equipment to make them. They keep in the refrigerator for months. No canning equipment is required; however, a wide mouth canning funnel would make transferring the pickles to jars much easier. A few months back, I purchased a stainless-steel canning funnel set through Amazon. The set includes both large and small funnels, with a bonus strainer that fits in the mouth of the funnels. Link to the funnels I bought is HERE.

The original recipe calls for Palace King cucumbers. Any cucumber will do, but some are better than others. The long English or Asian hybrids have thinner skins and look pretty sliced up. They also have a fresh, mild flavor. Locally, there isn’t a place that sells these specific seeds, but they are available online from True Leaf market. The smallest package has roughly 20 seeds. Link to seeds: True Leaf Market | True Leaf Market Seed Company. We get them every year and have stopped growing any other kind. We love them that much!

To make these you will need 16 cups of sliced cucumbers. The recipe is for a gallon, but you can easily halve the recipe. You will also need 2 cups of sliced, not chopped, onions. Toss the cucumber and onion together in a big bowl and sprinkle with 3 Tablespoons of salt. Stir periodically to evenly distribute the salt. The cucumber and onion need to sit with the salt for at least 3 hours. This will pull the moisture from the cucumbers and onions. DO NOT DRAIN!!!

While those are looking pretty, stir together vinegar, sugar, celery seed, turmeric, and a small amount of alum. Alum keeps the cucumbers crispy so they can be refrigerated instead of water bath canned. To give the sugar time to dissolve, mix this about 30 minutes before you pour over the cucumber onion mixture.

Pour the vinegar mixture over the cucumber and onions without draining the salty liquid. Transfer to a gallon jar to store. Reuse an old jar if you have one or use half gallon or quart canning jars. The pickles will keep for about 18 months to 2 years in the refrigerator. Gently shake the jar a few times before serving to redistribute anything that has settled to the bottom.

Our family eats these as a side dish or an appetizer. Instead of sweet relish, pulse a few of these in a food processor for delicious addition to deviled eggs. Don’t forget to use some of the liquid, too. Our family Thanksgiving would not be complete without “Ma-maw’s Refrigerator Pickles”!

Refrigerator Pickles Recipe