Pickled baby cucumbers are amazing on burgers and sandwiches, and in salads, and there’s nothing better than homemade. They’re fresh, they still have a crunch and these ones have a hint of spice running through which makes them absolutely moreish!
Baby cucumbers are easy to find nowadays. If you have a garden where you grow them, even better. I find them in my local supermarkets often at the end of summer.
Pickling vegetables is easy – really easy. When you do it once, you’ll wonder why you never have before. There are just a few steps and it’s very hard to go wrong.
When they’re ready, you could use them in:
Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken Burritos
Greek Sharer with Courgette Fritters
Or take them along on a picnic!
Ingredients, Substitutions and Variations
- Baby cucumbers – you can use a full size cucumber but you won’t get the same crunch. Just slice widthways to the same thickness.
- Jalapeños– you can leave these out if you don’t want the heat, but trust me – they’re delicious.
- White wine vinegar, water, salt, sugar, mustard seeds – these make your pickling liquor. You can use cider or rice wine vinegar instead of white wine vinegar. You can omit the mustard seeds if you like.
Top Tips for Pickling Baby Cucumbers
- Bring to the boil first The pickling liquor needs to come to the boil so that the salt and sugar dissolve.
- Make sure you sterilise your jar When filling any jar, you need to sterilise it with boiling water. This is easy to do – follow the steps in the recipe.
- Storage When you have made the pickled cucumbers, you can eat them as soon as they have chilled, but they’re best left for at least 12 hours. They will keep well in the fridge for a month.
Spicy Pickled Baby Cucumbers
Delicious pickled baby cucumbers with jalapeños for a little kick.
Ingredients
- 250 grams mini cucumbers sliced lengthways
- 3 jalapeños sliced
- 300 ml white wine vinegar
- 100 ml water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar
- 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
Instructions
- Prepare a clean pickling jar by sterilising it with hot water. Fill with boiling water, leave for a few minutes, then repeat. Tip away the water.
- Put the vinegar, water, salt, sugar and mustard seeds into a saucepan. Bring to the boil, then turn off the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes.
- Put the cucumbers and jalapeños in the pickling jar. Pour over the liquid (including all of the seeds). Close the jar. Transfer to the fridge and leave for at least 12 hours before eating for best results.
