A simple to follow tutorial for how to make your own bottled gherkins! Make the most of that summer harvest and enjoy homemade dill pickles all year round!
Update January 2024: I now exclusively use the water bath method for canning/bottling everything as an extra layer of food safety. I have never had any problems bottling them this way but now prefer the water bath method in terms of ease and having a higher success rate with jars sealing. To water bath these pickles, I leave ½ inch headspace at the top of the jar before placing the lid on and processing in a water bath canner for 5 minutes. Laura
In my experience, there is no fence sitting in the gherkin debate. You either love them or hate them. While Josh falls very firmly into the haters category I am a 'can't get enough - eat them whole out of the jar - put them with everything' - true gherkin lover! So of course when I found out I could grow them and pickle my own it had to be done.
A couple of years ago I tried. I bought 1 gherkin plant and planted it in a spot that just happened to miss the part of the garden that was watered. I ended up with a very sad looking plant and about 3 gherkins to show for my efforts. Fail.
This year I planned ahead. I planted 8 seeds, reserved a spot up a trellis smack bang in the middle of our big vege garden and ended up with a gherkin forest and kilos of gherkins from 8 epic plants!
I spent ages on the internet trying to find a recipe to pickle gherkins and in the end gave up. They had long lists of ingredients and some of them even said to brine the gherkins for 7 days. 7 DAYS!! I don't know about you but when I'm pickling stuff I don't have 7 days to wait. I also don't have the bench space to leave a tub of brining pickles sitting around for 7 days. So I made up a recipe. I still brined (is that even a word) the gherkins, but only for a few hours. Much more like it!
I made a couple of different batches of gherkins as I didn't know how they would turn out. In some I added pickling spice and some I left plain. I wasn't sure about the flavour of the pickling spice to begin with, but it definitely grew on me and after eating some of the plain gherkins, I decided that I prefered the ones with the spice - they are a little different than the ones you buy but I think the spice added something special.
It's a bit of a long process so if you know what you're doing feel free to skip to the recipe, otherwise here are the step-by-step instructions.
Wash the gherkins, rub off the spiky bits and pat them dry with a paper towel. Trim the gherkins at both ends, put in a clean bowl, sprinkle them with salt (not iodised) and store in a cool place until the salt has liquidized.
When you're just about ready to go, make up your bottling liquid. Just add water and vinegar to a large pot and bring it to the boil.
Rinse the gherkins with boiling water, drain and then rinse again.
Pack the gherkins into hot jars that have been sterilized. To sterilise the jars I run them through the dishwasher. That way they are still hot when you go to use them. If you are only using a few jars though, wash them thoroughly and keep them filled with hot water until you are ready to use them. At this point I also added the pickling spice and fresh dill.
Fill the jars almost to the top with the water/vinegar liquid and run a knife around inside the jar to get rid of any air bubbles. Top up the jar with liquid until it is just overflowing and using a cloth (as the jars will be very hot) tightly screw on the lids.
If using the water bath method, fill the jar leaving ½ inch headspace at the top of the jar before placing on the lid. Process in a water bath for 5 minutes.
Wipe down the jars and leave to cool on the bench.
Leave the jars for a couple of weeks to pickle away and put them in the fridge to cool down before opening. These are best eaten on a burger, on crackers, in a sandwich or just straight out of the jar. YUM!
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Bottled Gherkins
Ingredients
- 1 kg gherkins
- ¼ cup plain salt not iodised
- 2 cups white vinegar
- 2 cups water
- Pickling spice (about 1 teaspoon per jar)
- Fresh dill (a couple of sprigs per jar)
Instructions
- Wash, pat dry and trim the gherkins at both ends, then place them in a large clean bowl, sprinkle on the salt and store in a cool place until the salt has liquidized (a few hours)
- When you are ready to go, bring to the boil the water and vinegar.
- Rinse the gherkins with boiling water, drain and then rinse again. Put the gherkins into hot jars that have been sterilized and add pickling spice and fresh dill.
- Fill the jars almost to the top with the water/vinegar liquid and run a knife around inside the jar to get rid of any air bubbles. Top up the jar with liquid until it is just overflowing and using a cloth (as the jars will be very hot) tightly screw on the lids.
- Wipe down the jars and leave to cool on the bench.
- Gherkins will be ready in around three weeks. Put the jar in the fridge for a few hours to cool before eating.
Notes
- Prepare gherkins as recipe states.
- Prepare a boiling water bath (see post on water bath preserving for more details)
- Instead of filling the jars to overflowing with the pickling liquid, leave ½ inch headspace before placing on the lid.
- Process in the water bath for 5 minutes, remove and allow to cool on the bench.
- Check seals after 24 hours.
Patrick MC arthur says
Just made it today.will have to wait a while before I can rate this recipe.but it's looking good.
Sally H says
Found this by accident when my cucumber plant produced tiny fruit. Been a great find, everyone loves them, not to sharp to eat and easy to do. Growing the plant for a second year and hoping to make enough jars for gifts
Paula Cattermole says
Looks good but as I have not used cups can you please give me it in floz thanks
Laura says
Hi there, sorry I am totally unfamiliar with floz, I would recommend using a google converter
Jeannette says
Can I use dried dill as I can't source fresh
Laura says
You sure can!
Errol Anderson says
Hi. I have grown and pickled my gherkins using a recipe I obtained about 30 years ago. Very simple, no water bath required, and I have never had a spoiled or fermented pickle. Here is my recipe:
Pickling liquor for 1 kg gherkins.
Bring to the boil and cool:
6 heaped D sugar
2 1/2 heaped D salt (plain)
3/4 cup water.
1 quart of white vinegar (I generally use 750 ml)
Wash and pack gherkins in small jars, either those using Perfit seals or standard metal screw tops.
To each jar, add:
5 to 10 peppercorns
1/2 t mustard seeds
1 clove garlic
1 bay leaf
Dill seeds or fresh dill.
Fill jars to within 6 mm from the top.
Screw tops on lightly.
Cook for 20 minutes at 150 C
Remove from oven and screw bands or tops on tightly. Leave until tops seal.
Occasionally the tops do not seal - usually dill seeds getting trapped. For this reason, I try to use fresh dill leaves or seeds.
The advantage of this method is you can make up a couple of litres of pickling liquor and just pickle one jar at a time if your harvest is slow.
Provided the tops have sealed I have never had a bottle of gherkins spoil. The high acidity (and sugar?) of the liquor prevents spoilage. If you like sweet pickles, note they have been rated as "the best ever tasted" by a pickle enthusiast from Finland.
Mandy says
Hello, can I ask what the D indicates for the sugar & Salt please.
Thank you, Mandy
Rene Ford says
Thank you! Was looking through my cook books and was floored by the 3 day pickling 4 day fresh water bath, etc etc. Have done your recipe and now waiting a few weeks to taste, but looks pretty good!
Will says
Oh no! I've filled the jars but left 1cm at the top without overflowing them. Will it still be ok?
Laura says
They should be absolutely fine!
Alicia says
Hi Laura -
Are you intending for this recipe to use quart or pint jars? Thanks!
Laura says
Pint jars for this one
Tracey Church says
I just made 7 pint jars for about 3kg of gherkins so 3 x the recipe. I did put them in heavily salted water for a few days prior. As our family like sweet sour gherkins, I added under 2 cups of sugar with 3 cups white and 3 cups malt vinegar with 6 of water and canned them... will let you know how they turn out!
Andrea says
I only have iodised salt in the house at the moment and i was about to get started. Will that matter if i use it?
Laura says
Hi Andrea, iodised salt is not recommended to use as it can make your pickles cloudy, however as it's only used to brine them and you are washing it off in this case, you should get away with it!
Lily says
Hi, recipe is amazing, the pickles taste incredible. Was wondering if you could let me know how long they last once canned?
Laura says
Hi! If the jars are sealed correctly, they will last a couple of years easily!
Keri Potter says
Hi there I'm new to this pickling gerkins, what is pickling spice? Is it a home type mix of your favourite spice or is specific
Laura says
It is a box of ready made spice mix that you can purchase from the supermarket in the spice section!
Sarah says
Once bottled how long do they store for in a cupboard? Do you use heated water with the vinegar mix? I've just done 10 jars (700grams each), I didn't heat the water for the first 5 but I did for the last 5 as I wanted them to seal (I'm used to using hot items when preserving e.g apple sauce) but found the pickles cooler quickly, along with the jars as the water/vinegar was cold. I added mustard seeds and a tablespoon of sugar into the water/vinegar mix too as I like sweeter pickles 🙂 Thanks heaps for recipe, first time doing this with gherkins.
Laura says
Once the jars have sealed properly they will keep for at least 2 years. And I use hot water as you then boil the water and vinegar before adding to the hot jars - the jars are not likely to seal if you are adding cold liquid into the jars. I love adding mustard seeds too, so yummy!
Bernadine Rooney says
Hi Laura, are these the updated instructions for the water bath canning? Thanks
Laura says
Hi Bernadine, the post is now updated with water bath instructions!
Linda says
Do you have an update on this recipe for water bathing? I’d prefer to process my jars this way and would love a time guide if you have one .
Laura says
I have finally updated the post!
debbie matheson says
hi how long is the shelf life please
Laura says
If the jars seal properly, they will keep for at least a couple of years!
Alice says
Hi, can I use this recipe for sliced gherkins? Would I slice before putting in the jars but after the salting process?
Laura says
Yes you can, and that's exactly what I would do!
Bailee says
Hi, if water bath canning how long should these stay in the water bath? Recipe looks great!
Laura says
I just water bath for 5 minutes
ROBIN SMITH says
Great recipe Laura, thanks, have many, so need to do the action bit, though in my case I have to go low on Sodium. Love the photo of you all with Black Lab. I had one for 16 years, she taught me what she could do, famous hunter/fisher and childminder, etc. I named her Chapp'at after a dog that was sent to north Norway where I was Reindeer herding, in the early 70s. That Chappat would hitch around North Norway and return to Margeroy once every 3 weeks in summer. Became very famous. She slept beside me in the tent. My dog lived up to the name 100 percent!
Carol Griffiths says
Hi, I'm keen to pickle gherkins as I love them in Subway etc. I grew my own and have since picked two small cucumber sized gherkins and I was wondering if you recommend leaving them whole or would slicing them be ok too as I would like to do smaller jars as I would be the only one eating them.
Laura says
Slicing them will be absolutely fine! I've done it both ways
Kate says
Can you slice them before bottling
Laura says
Sure can! I've done this before and I love it!
Kate Lang says
I made dill pickles for years, beginning with a recipe from the US Ag service over 50 years ago. However, time, jobs and gardens, have only occasionally coincided and I lost the recipe. I think yours looks terrific and similar to the one I used way back. I will start them tomorrow. I use pickling spice and dill, adding to some jars, a clove of garlic in the bottom. The less you keep them in the fridge prior, the better the quality . Yum. A big dill pickle with bagels, smoked salmon and cream cheese--at 3 am in the morning. (I'm not that ethnic, but love the combo)
John T says
Mate that 3am snack suits me! At 77 ❤️I love thzt USA "Dagwood" flash back!
Jamie says
Hi Laura, I'm keen to give these a go, but wanting to know more after water bathing! When would you do this step, and how long? Also, how well did they go? Cant wait to try! 🙂