260 brine recipes

Homemade sweet gherkins the old-fashioned way: a 4-day process of soaking, brining, and building layers of spiced vinegar-sugar syrup. Turmeric, cinnamon, and celery seed. Water bath canned for the pantry.

Old-fashioned sweet chunk pickles brined for two weeks, then packed in a warm cinnamon-clove syrup and water bath canned. Crunchy, spiced, and worth every day of the wait. Makes 3 pints.

Old-fashioned stone crock pickles made over 15 days with a salt brine, alum soak, spiced vinegar cure, and sugar layering. A heritage pickling method that produces crisp, sweet pickles that keep indefinitely.

Cold dilly beans are crisp pickled green beans canned with garlic, fresh dill, and a hint of cayenne in a cider vinegar brine. A snappy, shelf-stable summer pickle ready in two weeks.

Molasses barbecued ribs get a salt-vinegar brine soak, then a grill basting of dark molasses sauce loaded with onion, pepper, celery, tomato, cloves and allspice. Smoky, tangy, sticky, and built for summer.

Sweet pickles brine cucumber chunks overnight, then bring them to a boil in apple cider vinegar with sugar, turmeric, mustard seed, allspice, and celery seed. Eight pints of golden, crunchy pickles by tomorrow.

Stuffed eggplant pickles filled with minced cabbage, red bell pepper, garlic, and dill, tied with softened celery ribs and fermented in vinegar brine. A traditional Middle Eastern style pickle ready in 2 to 3 weeks.

Traditional Canadian sweet pickled beaver brined overnight, simmered with pickling spices, then roasted under a sticky glaze of brown sugar, dry mustard, cinnamon, white wine, and pineapple juice. Wild game cooking at its finest.

Bread-and-butter cucumber pickles with garlic, turmeric, and mustard seed in a sweet vinegar brine. Salt-and-ice draws moisture out for crisp slices that hold up through canning and long pantry storage.

Easy refrigerator pickles with thin-sliced cucumbers and onions in a sweet-tangy brine of vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, celery seed, and turmeric. No canning equipment, no processing, just four days in the fridge.

A tangy-sweet piccalilli relish made with salted green tomatoes, fresh corn, bell peppers, and red onion in a spiced vinegar-sugar brine. Keeps for weeks in the fridge. Great on burgers and hot dogs.

Quick-pickled Japanese-style radish greens with a salt-sugar brine and a splash of soy sauce. Zero-waste side dish ready in 30 minutes that tastes nothing like the leaves you almost threw out.

Easy kimchi for first-timers: salted napa cabbage fermented with green onion, garlic, ginger, and dried chile in a simple brine. No fish sauce, no special paste. Let it bubble on the counter, then chill the funky, sour, crunchy result.

Refrigerator pickles made with sliced cucumbers and onions in a sweet vinegar brine with turmeric, mustard seeds, and celery seeds. No canning required. Keeps for 4 months in the fridge, and you can add fresh vegetables anytime.

Pickled cherries with hyssop: fresh cherries packed in red wine vinegar brine with fresh hyssop sprigs, then water-bath processed for shelf-stable jars. Tart, floral, herbal, and a stunning partner for cheese boards, roast duck, or cocktails.

A vegan Caesar salad dressing made from blended chickpeas, lemon juice, capers, and soy sauce. No eggs, no anchovies, no dairy. Toss it with crisp romaine and croutons for a plant-based classic.