Easy Pickles

No boiling water bath, no sterilized jars, no pressure canner. These refrigerator pickles are just sliced cucumbers, sweet Vidalia onion, and red bell pepper tossed in a sweet vinegar brine with celery seed, then stashed in the fridge for 24 hours.

Two cups of sugar to one cup of vinegar sounds like a lot, and it is. These are firmly in the sweet pickle camp. The sugar dissolves into the vinegar and draws liquid out of the cucumbers through osmosis, creating a syrupy brine that the vegetables soak up as they sit. By day two, the cucumbers are sweet, tangy, and snappy.

The Vidalia onion and red bell pepper aren’t just filler. The onion softens in the brine and turns almost translucent with a mellow sweetness, while the red pepper keeps its crunch and adds color to the jar.

Kitchen Tips

• Slice the cucumbers evenly, about ¼ inch thick. Uneven slices pickle at different rates and you end up with some that are limp while others are still raw-tasting.
• Stir the mixture a few times during the first hour to help the sugar dissolve fully. Undissolved sugar sits at the bottom and leaves the top pickles under-sweetened.
• These keep in the fridge for up to two weeks in a sealed container, getting better for the first three or four days.
• Use English cucumbers or pickling cucumbers for best crunch. Regular slicing cucumbers work but tend to soften faster.

Variations

• Cut the sugar to 1 cup for a less sweet, more tangy pickle that leans closer to bread-and-butter style.
• Add sliced garlic cloves and fresh dill for a sweet dill pickle version.
• Toss in a few dashes of hot pepper sauce or sliced jalapenos for a sweet heat pickle.