Homemade Fermented Pickles

cucumber slices and parsley in a half gallon mason jar on a white countertop with a white backsplash in the background

Is your garden overflowing with cucumbers? If you have time to slice them up and add them to salt water, you have time for fresh homemade fermented pickles. This is seriously the simplest recipe ever!

Course Fermented Foods

Cuisine American

Keyword brine pickles, facto-fermented pickles, fermented pickles, probiotic pickles

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 5

Additional Time 5

Total Time 5 15

Servings servings

Calories 12kcal

Author Lisa

Ingredients

4 medium cucumbers
1/2 gallon filtered water
4 tablespoons sea salt Pink Himalayan Salt, sea salt or Celtic salt*

Instructions

Add four tablespoons of salt to a half gallon size mason jar.
Next, bring a couple cups of filtered water to a simmer.
Add the hot water to the salt and stir to combine.
Fill the jar the rest of the way with filtered water and set aside to cool.
Add thick sliced cucumbers to another half gallon mason jar.
Add in optional herbs such as fresh dill, garlic, parsley, or peppercorns. If you want to make dill pickles, add about two heads of fresh dill per half gallon.
After the salt water brine has cooled, add it to the jar of cucumbers, leaving at least 2 inches of headspace at the top.
Add a weight to keep the sliced cucumbers under the brine.
After the cucumbers are weighted down in the salty brine, put the jar lid on loosely. Fermenting does create some natural gases that need to be released, so don’t screw the lid on too tightly, but do keep it covered so flies and varmints don’t decide to feast on your pickles.
After five (or so) days, they will taste perfectly pickle-ish.

Video

Notes

*Don’t use iodized table salt.
It is normal for the brine to get cloudy. This is a natural byproduct of vegetable fermentation and does not mean mold.
Take one out and try it. If it is sour enough for you, put the lid on tightly, and throw the jar in the fridge. If you would like them to get a little more sour, leave them out at room temperature to ferment a little longer.
After you make your first batch, you can use some of the brine to make your next batch. It already contains a plethora of good bacteria, so you’ll be giving your next batch pf probiotic pickles a head start.

Nutrition