1,504 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 78 videos

Pickled gherkins

Preparing your own gherkins in vinegar is quite straightforward, if you know how to avoid a few pitfalls. Here's a recipe which works every time.

776 K 7× 3.5/5 (255 reviews)

4 hours 40 min. difficulté

Easy

3.40 €

1 kg 500 g

5 Ingredients

Last modified on: August 21^th 2013

For this recipe: I want to make it (558×) I made it (633×) Comment Send to a friend Ask a question Follow Printable Diaporama Vidéo User-friendly URL

For 1 kg 500 g, you will need:

1 1 kg 500 g fresh gherkins
2 900 g coarse salt
3 3 sprigs tarragon
4 pepper
5 900 ml white (spirit) vinegar
Total weight: 3,300 grams

Change these quantities to make:

250 g 500 g 1 kg 1 kg 500 g

Change measures:

Metric

Metric weight Metric volumes

Times for this recipe

Preparation: 40 min.

Resting: 4 hours

All in all: 4 hours 40 min.

When should you start or finish this recipe?

If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time

To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 5 min.

Wash the 1 kg 500 g fresh gherkins thoroughly.

Stage 2 - 10 min.

Brush each gherkin under running water to remove all the little "bristles" and give it a smooth surface.

Stage 3

If you don't have a suitable brush, or if you prefer, you can use my grandmother Jeanne's method: rub them with the corner of a tea-towel.

Stage 4 - 5 min.

Cut off any remaining stalks from the gherkins.

Stage 5 - 5 min.

Rinse again, then dry with a tea-towel.

Stage 6 - 3 hours

Put the gherkins in a bowl with 900 g coarse salt for 3 hours to draw off some of the juice.

Note: contarary to popular belief, there is no need to soak them any longer than this, as they will start to dry out.

Stage 7 - 5 min.

After this time, discard the salty water and rinse the gherkins...

Stage 8 - 1 hour

...and soak them for 1 hour in a bowl of cold water. We do this so that the gherkins will not be too salty.

After one hour, drain the gherkins and dry them on a tea-towel.

Stage 9 - 1 min.

Pour 3 sprigs tarragon and a few peppercorns into the bottom of the jar you are going to use.

Stage 10 - 5 min.

Fill the jar with gherkins and cover with cold white vinegar (there's no need to boil or even heat it).

Seal the lid and leave to mature for a month before eating.

Remarks

You can use a different vinegar if you prefer, but if you do not use white vinegar, your gherkins may take on an unusual colour.

Keeping: Several months.

Source: According to the lady on the market who sold me gherkins.

Nutritional information

	Proteins (gr)	Carbohydrates (gr)	Fats (gr)	Energy value (in k-calories)	Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe	20 RDI=6 %	40 RDI=3 %	0	210 RDI=10 %	870 RDI: 10 %
Per 100 g	0	1 RDI=0 %	0	6 RDI=0 %	30 RDI: 0 %

The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman Change to a man

Possible allergens in this recipe: Sulfites

How much will it cost?

For 1 kg 500 g : 10.10 €

Change currency:

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.

This recipe uses (among others)

Other recipes you may also like

Old style brioche

Classical version of brioche use yeast to raise the dough, but in this recipe some leaven is added. This make a more rustic brioche, with a small taste of leaven.
December 19^th 2014309 K4.6 14 hours 6 min.

Quince paste

This traditional French "pâte de fruit" (fruit paste or leather) has a distinctive, firm consistency and is full of flavour, with the characteristic tang of quince. The preparation is rather long, but the result is well worth all the effort.
December 3^rd 201752 K1 2 hours 3 min.

Exotic fruit tart

An exotic fruit tart (bananas, kiwi and pineapple), with crisp pastry and almond cream which are cooked beforehand. It's a rather simple recipe, but the final result will impress your guests.
May 27^th 2020326 K5 2 hours 25 min.

Pear tart with almond cream

This is a very quick and easy tart to make, as everything (or almost) can be done in advance. A piece of sweetcrust pastry, some almond cream and pears? You have "everything you need".
March 17^th 2011369 K4.3 1 hour 15 min.

Soft fruits in sabayon

This recipe is made by briefly cooking an assortment of soft fruits (raspberries, blackcurrants, blackberries, blueberries, currants...) with a little sugar to glaze them. They are served in a small dish, covered with a delicious sabayon which can be lightly "burned" on surface.
February 21^th 2011270 K3.9 50 min.

News list of cooking-ez.com

Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.

The 7 comments already posted on this recipe

As you read it in the recipe: At your choice, white vinegar => classical gherkins, other vinegars (red wine vinegar for example) gherkins with unusual colour, but still goods.
Posted by jh august 4^th 2017 at 18:28 n° 7
Your instructions specifically say to use white vinegar, but then right below it u say you can use a different vinegar if we'd like, but don't use white vinegar because it leaves and unusual color....? Which one is it?? White or not white?
Posted by Julie august 4^th 2017 at 16:50 n° 6
I had been looking for an uncomplicated recipe for pickled gherkins. Great thing here is that it seems the most sensible and gets straight to the point without having to read lots of twaddle!
Posted by Frederick july 3^rd 2015 at 18:48 n° 5
Sorry, I don't know how to.
My skill in garden work is close to zero :-(
Posted by jh january 14^th 2015 at 09:19 n° 4
Thank you for the instructions. I have just bought gherkin seeds for this year's summer, but did not know how to pickle them.
I am looking forward to harvesting and pickling my own gherkins!
Posted by Fumiko from Japan january 14^th 2015 at 08:37 n° 3
I always leave them whole, because they are small and don't need to be cut.
But if you use big one, I think (but not totally sure) that you can cut them in pieces.
Posted by jh october 20^th 2014 at 10:25 n° 2
Can the gherkins be sliced before putting them into the jar or would you recommend leaving them whole?
Posted by Kirstie-G october 19^th 2014 at 12:48 n° 1

Follow this recipe (as 40 people already do)

If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.