How to make Manhattan-style, Fermented Pickles with Garlic and Dill! An easy step-by-step guide to making the most flavorful, crunchy, tangy pickles full of healthy probiotics, with only 20 minutes of hands-on time! The pickle brine is like a “tonic” -drink a shot of it daily to help build immunity!
What happens when people open their hearts? They get better. ~Haruki Murakami
I’ve been chomping at the bit to share this easy recipe for Fermented Pickles with you! If you are a crunchy pickle lover like me, you are going to be in heaven. Seriously, these are the best!
These Manhattan-style “half-sour” pickles, are crispy, crunchy, flavorful and ohhhhhh so alive! They are not for canning, but rather live happily bubbly lives in your refrigerator. They are fermented in a salt brine and get their delicious tanginess from light fermentation rather than vinegar.
Full of healthy, gut-healing, immunity boosing probiotics these little guys are perfect as a low-calorie snack, or sliced and added to sandwiches or served as a tasty side.
Not only are they delicious, and incredibly EASY to make, they are also incredibly good for us!
And as crazy as this may sound to some, the fizzy brine itself is like a healing tonic to me – I love to drink a shot of it- especially when I feel like my immunity needs a boost! So flavorful and totally energizing.
It starts with 2 lbs of “pickling cucumbers”. This recipe makes one large 1/2 gallon jar (or use two quart-sized jars) – a relatively small batch.
You will find Pickling Cucumbers at your local farmers market and you will recognize them by their small ( 4-6 inches) blocky shape, bumpy skin and color gradient from light to dark. Ask the farmers if they have Kirby cumbers or pickling cucumbers, they can help direct you to the right ones.
Your pickles will only be as good as your cucumbers, so choose wisely!
Make sure they are roughly all the same size -all about 4-5 inches long with 1 1/2-inch to 2-inch diameters – to fit in the jar nicely and to ferment at the same rate. Handpicked each one. They should be fresh and crisp.
Wash them, and soak them in an ice bath for 10-15 minutes to firm and crisp them up.
Gather your fresh Garlic and Dill and pickling spices.
Here I’m using fennel seeds, mustard, peppercorns, coriander seeds, allspice, and celery seeds. Feel free to embellish! I added a couple of chilies for a little heat.
Fermented cucumbers need tannin to help keep their skins from going soft. Traditionally, a few grape leaves are used but bay leaves work well too!
Because these fermented pickles are left whole, you really want the brine to be extra flavorful.
I add a lot of garlic… 10 cloves! Layer the cucumbers, spices, garlic, dill and bay leaves in a large two quart jar ( half gallon).
Mix salt and water and pour this brine over the pickles.
A couple notes on the brine: You want to be precise when measuring the salt and water in the recipe. Too much salt may kill off all of the bacteria -preventing fermentation. So be sure to measure.
SALT TO WATER RATIO: 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt per cup of water.
Use unprocessed salt (sea salt) and unchlorinated, filtered water for best results.
Leave an inch or two of room at the top.
Weigh down the cucumbers so they are completely submerged under the liquid, using fermentation weights, a small zip lock bag filled with a little water, or something as simple as a clean river stone. (My friend Tonia uses stones she collects on the beach and she gave me this idea.)
Cover with a loosely with a lid, place in a bowl or pan to catch any overflow, and place them in a cool dark place for 3-7 days, like the basement. I’ve found a slower, cooler fermentation works best here.
Check after 3 days. Look for signs of life: bubbles, or cloudy water. This took me about 4 days. I let it go one more day, then placed the jar in the fridge to further slow the fermentation.
If you like to create a “fizzy” brine for drinking , tighten the lid, and burp daily. This will create a little pressure and give it some effervescence.
The fermented pickles turned out absolutely perfect! Crunchy and flavorful!
The brine is deliciously tangy, salty and effervescent -so tasty!
Let me know what how you like this one in the comments below.
xoxoxo
RELATED: How to make Kimchi! How to make Fermented Hot Sauce!
PrintFermented Pickles with Garlic and Dill
How to make Manhattan-style, Fermented Pickles! A simple recipe for making the most flavorful, crunchy, tangy, garlic dill pickles with only 15 minutes of hands-on time. Full of healthy, gut-healing probiotics these little guys are perfect as a low-calorie snack, or sliced and added to sandwiches.
- Prep Time: 4 days
- Total Time: 4 days
- Yield: ½ gallon 1x
- Category: fermented, preserved
- Method: fermented
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 2 lbs pickling cucumbers- all similar size (4–5 inches)
- 6 cups filtered water (non-chlorinated)
- 3 tablespoons fine sea salt or Himalayan salt ( 1.5 teaspoons per cup of water)
- 8–10 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 teaspoon each: fennel seeds, coriander seeds, allspice, peppercorns, dill seeds, mustard seeds,
- handful fresh dill
- 1–3 fresh red chilies – or add chili flakes ( optional)
- 3–4 bay leaves ( or a grape leaf)
You’ll need a 1/2 gallon mason jar, crock, or 2 quart-sized jars- clean and sterile.
Instructions
- Rinse the cucumbers and place in an ice-water bath, to crisp them up ( 10-15 minutes).
- Warm 1 cup of the water on the stove, and stir in salt until dissolved. Let cool to room temp.
- In a large, clean two quart jar, layer the cucumbers, garlic slices, fresh dill sprigs, bay leaves and spices.
- Pour the saltwater brine and the remaining 5 cups water over top, leaving an inch of headroom.
- Weigh down the cucumbers if need be, so they are submerged under the brine. ( Use a fermentation weight, a clean stone, a small ziplock with a little water in it). Place a lid on it, loosely tightened. Place in a pan or bowl to collect any overflow.
- Place in a cool dark place for 3-7 days, checking after 3 days.
- After 3 days, check for signs of life: bubbles, clouding. Check every day after.
- Once you see active bubbles you can place the jar in the fridge, where it will continue to ferment, but much more slowly. Slow and cool ferments seem to yield the best results here.
Notes
If you need more brine, make sure you use the same measurements- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt per 1 cup of water.
If using a grape leaf, place it on the side of the jar, then layer remaining ingredients.
Keywords: fermented pickles, fermented cucumbers, kosher dill pickles, lactose-fermented pickles, how to ferment pickles, fermented dill pickles, kosher dill pickle recipe
Hi. Where do I get unchlorinated water? Sorry to be so basic.
Filtered water or bottled. 🙂 Some people use tap water and it is fine. I guess it just depends on where you live.
For hot humid climates, can you ferment in the refrigerator instead? I assume that would take longer than 4 days. Looking forward to trying it out. Thank you!
I’d still leave it out, even for 1-2 days to get it going.
I am totally new to pickling. My husband and I have a small refrigerator, so keeping these refrigerated is unrealistic. Is there a way to process half-sour pickles for longer, un-refrigerated storage?
There is I think but I’m not an expert in the canning arena. Also I believe canning would kill all the bacteria, good bacteria too.
I’m confused. Do the 5 cups of water need to have salt as well? Or just the first cup of water?
Hi, you are just dissolving the salt in one cup, then mixing that with the 5 cups. So yes, eventually all will have salt. 🙂
A white cloudy milky like substance has settled at the bottom of the jar. Is this normal and are they safe to eat? Thanks.
That is normal and they are safe to eat. 🙂 do you see bubbles when you tap the jar?
Can you reuse the brine to pickle another round of cukes after eating the pickles?
In theory it seems like you could. I haven’t tried this personally though.
i must have done something wrong because mine came out way to salty. ill have to try again some other time. maybe the weight was off.
★★★
Oh no! sorry about that.
Hello, this recipe looks incredible and I can hardly wait to try it! I am wondering how long these jars of pikles will last? I want to make several jars during the summer and enjoy them over the winter and next spring. So, will they last that long if kept in my finished basement? Thank you!
Hi Steven, so these will keep for months, but in the fridge. I don’t think they would be as good fermented that long (they would lose their crunch) But I guess you could try with one jar and test and see?
These came out great! Crunchy and tasty! I didn’t have grape leaves and google said oak leaves would work, so I used those for crispiness.
Totally meant to rate it 5 stars.
★★★★★
Perfect! Glad you liked!
I’ve tried many recipes but am so excited to try this one! Can I cut the pickles into spears before 0putting them in the jar?
Yes, that should be fine!
Thankyou so much for this recipe, I’ve made about 6 gallons now, most batches have been magnificent! This is my go to for fermented pickles now 🙂 💚💚
Wow! Awesome Corina!
I used another recipe and didn’t know how to keep the cukes completely submerged underwater. Thank you for letting me know a way to do it. DO I NEED TO THROW OUT THE CUKES if their ends are sticking up out of the water, or just cut off the part that was exposed?
★★★★★
Just see how they look and decide. The tips may mold if exposed to air. But mold really doesn’t scare me. Up to you.
Working on a new batch (#3) and wondering about tannin. I have lots of hickory trees. Anyone know how the tannin in hickory leaves measure up when compared to grape leaves, oak leaves, bay leaves?
Thanks.
Great question Don! I’m not sure but someone else out there might!?
If you look in some library archives (the Umass culinary archive for cookbooks for example) you’ll see russian pickle recipes that use oak and grape leaves.
Just started some…made a 2.5 gallon jar and a half gallon jar…..I used green tea bags instead of the grape leaf or bay..but there was bay leaf bits in the pickling spice mix I buy at Natural Grocers…
I harvested 24 lbs of cucumber now need to go get another large jar😁
I think the comment that was made about 2.6 cups water they didn’t see that number 2 was 6 cups water you had
2. 6 cups water they thought it was 2.6 cups
Oh well
OH!!! Got it now. thank you!!!
I’m confused with the directions. In the ingredient list, it says 2.6 cups of filtered water. Then, in the directions, it says “add the additional 5 cups of water”. Where did the five cups of water come from?
Hi, I dont see the “2.6 cups”? Can you tell me where this is?
It’s step #2 – use 6 cups water.
This looks like a great recipe! Thank you! I am going to try it this week. Quick question for you – do you need to sterilize the jars before you use them? Some recipes say you need to but others say you don’t so I am a little confused. Thank you!
I just wash with hot soapy water, but don’t actually sterilize.
Can you slice your cucumbers for this recipe? Can I use other cucumbers? I can’t get the pickling cucs here.
Thank you!
Ln
Yes! I just did and used the small Turkish cucumbers. Turned out amazing!
Hello. I made these and waited about 5 days. They were delicious and were definitely half-sour, as described in the recipe. They were sour but still had that crunch and slightly green color. Do you know how much longer I can let these ferment in order to get a full sour? Maybe a week or week and a half? Just curious. I would like to go for full sour next time I make them. Thanks!
Hey Deb- you can keep fermenting as long as you like. You may loose the “crunch” but they will definitely get tangier.
Thanks! Is there like a “minimum” time that should produce a full sour? Just curious!
I don’t know the answer to that. I’ve only done the half-sour. Sorry about that. Does anyone else out there know?
Full sours can take up to 6 weeks at room temp. I use a fermenting lid, which can be removed to taste pickles, then replaced and air extracted
To continue the ferment!
Perfect, helpful! thanks 🙌
I made two gallons of these yesterday. It was the second time I have used your recipe. I made the first two gallons on March 5 and they are gone already. I ate them all myself! They are wonderful! I love that these are very spicy. In my batch yesterday, I added a few more spices too. I like a pickle that bites back
!
I have a comment I want to make for all those who are making and eating their first fermented pickles. I want to tell you that fermented dill pickles are not the same as pickles made using vinegar and heat. Just as Meyer lemons are different from regular lemons and century pears are different from Anjou pears or Bartlett pears, fermented dill pickles are very different from regular dill pickles which are canned. That doesn’t make them better or worse. It just makes them different. Personally, I find a canned dill pickle very strong and I prefer the more subtle flavors of the fermented ones. But, perhaps it is an acquired taste. I’d say, if you make these and they still don’t taste just as you’d like, let them sit for a few more days or even weeks and then try them again. With a canned pickle, you can open a jar right after making them and they are ready to eat. It takes time for fermented pickles to ferment. The time it takes can depend on a number of factors such as the temperature in the room where you are storing your pickles. So, give it time and you may find that you really love these. I certainly do! Thanks so much for this great recipe. It’s a keeper!
Thanks Linda- helpful!