These lemon cucumber pickles are ready with just 20 minutes of hands-on time. Crisp lemon cucumbers are pickled in a simple brine flavored with garlic, fresh dill, mustard seeds, peppercorns, and cloves. Made with the quick-pickle method, these tangy pickles are ready for enjoying right away though they taste best after 24 hours.
Lemon cucumbers have become a favorite to grow in my garden over the years! While they don’t have a lemon flavor, they get their name from the fact they they are round, roughly the size of a lemon, and have yellow skin. Since pickles are one of my absolute favorite snacks throughout the warmer months, this is my absolute favorite recipe for making quick pickles. These lemon cucumber pickles come together with just 20 minutes of hands-on time and can be eaten right away, though I HIGHLY recommend letting them pickle in the fridge for at least 24 hours first for the best flavor. The combination of fresh dill, garlic, and whole spices gives them a complex flavor that is way better than a standard dill pickle!
Notes on Ingredients and Substitutions
Here’s what you need to make these quick pickles: lemon cucumbers, water, white vinegar, sea salt or kosher salt, honey or sugar, garlic cloves, fresh dill, whole mustard seed (brown or yellow both work!), peppercorns, and whole cloves. While lemon cucumbers make great pickles, they aren’t necessarily easy to find unless you grow them or find them at a farmers market. Any pickling cucumber variety or crisp slicing variety can be used in their place! Simply substitute an equal amount by weight. I’ve tried this recipe with both distilled white vinegar and apple cider vinegar. Both work, but I find that I prefer the flavor of the white vinegar.
Pickle Tips and Testing Notes
- I like slightly more tangy pickles so in the updated recipe, I use slightly more vinegar than water. If you prefer them slightly less tangy, you can do 1:1 ratio of vinegar to water, i.e. 1 cup of each.
- Originally I made these with granulated sugar but have come to love them with local wildflower honey over the years. You can use either but be prepared for the honey to give the brine a golden brown color.
- In the original recipe I used pink peppercorns but these have become harder to find over the years. I typically use black these days since they’re always available at the store!
- Wide mouth jars will be much easier to fill with the sliced cucumbers. Standard mouth jars are harder to get the slices into but if this is all you have, you can slice the cucumbers in half lengthwise first, then slice into half moons which will make it easier. Or, cut them into small spears!
- I mostly keep sea salt on hand these days and have found that either kosher salt or finely ground sea salt work equally well. I use a finely ground sea salt.
Lemon Cucumber Pickles with the Quick-Pickle Method in 4 Easy Steps
Enjoying Your Pickles
These pickles are tangy and crisp with notes of dill and spices. I mostly eat them straight out of the jar as a summer snack, but the options are limitless! Here are some suggestions for enjoying your lemon cucumber pickles:
- atop a veggie burger or sandwich
- chopped up and added to salads or pasta salads
- as part of a vegetarian charcuterie spread alongside olives, fruit, crackers, and your favorite cheese
- minced and added to dips or your favorite homemade ranch
Lemon Cucumber Pickles (quick-pickle method)
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 2 pints 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These lemon cucumber pickles are ready with just 20 minutes of hands-on time! Crisp lemon cucumbers are pickled in a simple brine flavored with garlic, fresh dill, mustard seeds, peppercorns, and cloves. Made with the quick-pickle method, these tangy pickles are ready for enjoying right away though they taste best after 24 hours.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds lemon cucumbers
- 4–6 sprigs fresh dill
- 2 clean wide mouth pint jars
- 1 cup water
- 1 1/4 cups distilled white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey, or granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon fine grain sea salt, or kosher salt
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 1/2 tablespoon whole mustard seeds
- 1/2 tablespoon whole peppercorns
- 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
Instructions
Prep the cucumbers: scrub the outside skin well (remove any lingering spines if necessary) and then cut off the very ends of the cucumbers and discard. Slice the cucumbers into 1/4-inch thick rounds. Divide the sprigs of dill between both of the jars, followed by the cucumbers. Make sure to pack them fairly tightly.
Combine the water, vinegar, honey or sugar, salt, garlic, and spices in a small saucepan for the brine. Bring this mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the brine to cool at least 15 minutes.
Once brine has cooled a bit, carefully ladle it into the jars over the cucumbers, or add it to a spouted vessel and pour it over the cucumbers. Use a chopstick to help release any air bubbles to make sure to brine is fully covering all of the cucumber slices. Place the lids on the jars (I prefer to use plastic ones here because of the reaction between metal and vinegar) then put them in the fridge. I recommend allowing these to pickle in the fridge for at least 24 hours before eating/enjoying.
Keep the pickles in the fridge and enjoy them within 1-2 months.
Notes
- The recipe was newly updated in August 2025 to reflect how I currently make these pickles after all these years.
- I developed this recipe as a “quick pickle” so it sets up in your fridge and keeps there for 1-2 months. I have not tested it for being shelf stable for canning.
- If you do not have lemon cucumbers, regular slicing or pickling cucumbers will work just fine. Use 1 1/2 pounds of your favorite variety!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cooling Time: 15 minutes
- Category: canning
thanks for sharing...
Oops. I just canned several jars with your recipe, not noticing that it's not formulated for canning. What will happen to them? They all sealed and I've stored them in the cupboard.
You used a 1:1 ratio of water:5% vinegar and more than the 1.5 tsp of salt per pint that’s normally used in water-bath or pressure bath canning of cucumber pickles.
I can Lemon and Mini-Me Cukes with that ratio and salt amounts and it meets FDA requirements for acidity, following recipes in Better Homes and Gardens You Can Cook book and Pickling Everything by Leda Meredith.
It should keep unopened with the vacuum seal intact at room temp for at least a year.
This is such helpful information! Thank you for sharing!
I would put them in your fridge as I'm not sure if the acidity content is high enough for prolonged shelf storage. They should still be fine 🙂
Thank you! It's only been under two weeks. I'll put them in the fridge and try to consume them. Do you have a modified brine for canning? Just up the vinegar? I have a million lemon cukes this year! Thank you!
I know for canning shelf stable pickles you need to use a vinegar with at least 5% acidity and usually the brine is made from equal parts water/vinegar. I'm realizing now that these actually might be shelf stable without the fresh dill (dill seeds would be better) as long as you use a vinegar with 5% acidity. Here's a good resource to check out: http://foodinjars.com/2009/08/garlic-dill-pickles/
Thank you!!! I will check out that link and look what vinegar I used. I watched a youtube video for canning pickles and she used fresh dill and 2:1 ratio vinegar to water… This canning world is huge and I'm a rookie 🙂 Your recipe is so amazing though. I already ate a whole jar 🙂
Glad you like the recipe 🙂
Thank you for this recipe! I was looking for a refrigerator pickle recipe to make with my 5 year old granddaughter who loves dill pickles. We too have an abundance of lemon cucumbers. Could I use dry dill instead of fresh? Also you meantioned they are just slightly sweet.
Wwould you say these are closer to dill that sweet pickles?
I would use dill seed as dried dill won't work quite as well. And yes, they are a dill pickle not a sweet pickle (I've never been a fan of sweet pickles). If you want you can always just leave the sugar out 🙂
I recently lost my husband and I don’t go thru canned pickles as fast as before. A shelf stored canned sweet pickle would be best for me. What do you recommend?
Hi Phyllis! Anytime I’ve made pickles it’s usually a refrigerator pickle since I go through them so quickly (so that’s why any of the recipes on the blog are refrigerator pickles). But, I did a little research to see if I could re-work the recipe to be shelf stable. In the recipe above, you would use all vinegar. So just to be safe, I would go with 3 cups total of distilled white vinegar (and no added water). To make them sweeter you could increase the sugar to 1/4 or even a 1/2 cup. Instead of using fresh dill I would recommend using 1-2 tsp dill seed. Or, you can omit it altogether. Add the vinegar, salt, sugar, and spices to a large pot and bring to a boil. Once it comes to a boil add the sliced cucumbers and return the mixture to a boil. After it comes to a boil remove it from the heat and carefully ladle it into your sterilized jars leaving a half inch of headspace. Process in a water bath for 10 minutes. Let the jars cool completely then check to make sure the lids sealed. If so they are shelf stable up to a year. If not put them in the fridge and eat them within 1-2 months. I hope this helps!
I love how easy they are to whip up, yet they feel gourmet enough to elevate any sandwich or serve as a snack.
So glad you found them easy to make! 🙂
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I have always wanted to try making homemade pickles, and I am excited to give this a try. I am a huge dill pickle fan, and I would love to try and make them from scratch.
I’m definitely a dill pickle person myself! Let me know how the pickling goes 🙂
Love how easy there are and get excited to make at least one batch every summer! The dill and spices make these feel extra special and so much more flavorful than store-bought pickles.
Who knew this could be that easy and simple? I can’t wait to make it.
Simple pickles are my favorite! Hope you enjoy these 🙂