Dill Pickle Canning Recipe | Crisp Garlic Dill Pickles

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There are a few things I make every summer without fail, and this dill pickle canning recipe is one of them. Crisp garden cucumbers packed with fresh dill, garlic and onion are a pantry staple around here. Once cucumber season hits, the garden starts producing faster than we can eat them.

If you’re filling the pantry for the year, my pickled asparagus is another easy way to preserve the garden while it’s in season.

Dill pickles, canning, millhorn farmstead

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I seem to tweak my dill pickle canning recipe a little every summer, but I always come back to the classics: fresh cucumbers, plenty of dill, garlic and onion tucked into every jar.

You can use either white vinegar or apple cider vinegar, as long as it is labeled 5% acidity. White vinegar gives the pickles a brighter, sharper flavor. Apple cider vinegar adds a slightly mellower taste.

I love a jar of homemade bread and butter pickles when I want something a little sweeter. But for everyday eating, a good old-fashioned garlic dill pickle is hard to beat.

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Before starting this dill pickle canning recipe, wash your jars and prepare your water bath canner.

How to Make This Dill Pickle Canning Recipe

Dill Pickle Canning Recipe

Makes approximately 14–16 quarts, depending on cucumber size and how tightly the jars are packed.
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Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 20 pounds fresh pickling cucumbers
  • 3 pounds onions peeled and sliced
  • Fresh garlic cloves
  • Fresh dill heads or sprigs
  • Mustard seed optional
Pickling Brine
  • 16 cups white vinegar 5% acidity
  • 16 cups water
  • 1 cup canning or pickling salt

Method
 

    Use only vinegar clearly labeled 5% acidity. Do not substitute reduced-acidity vinegar or dilute the brine with additional water.
  1. Prepare the Cucumbers
  2. Wash the cucumbers well under cool running water.
  3. Trim approximately 1/16 inch from the blossom end of each cucumber. The blossom end contains enzymes that can contribute to softer pickles.
  4. Leave small cucumbers whole or cut larger cucumbers into spears.
  5. Peel the onions and slice them into rings or wedges.
  6. Prepare the Jars
  7. Wash your canning jars and keep them hot until you are ready to fill them.
  8. Place fresh dill, garlic and onion into each jar.
  9. Pack the cucumbers firmly into the jars without crushing them. Leave enough room at the top for the required headspace.
  10. Make the Brine
  11. Combine the vinegar, water and canning salt in a large stainless-steel pot.
  12. Bring the mixture to a full boil, stirring until the salt has dissolved.
  13. Keep the brine hot while filling the jars.
  14. Fill the Jars
  15. Pour the boiling brine over the packed cucumbers, leaving ½ inch of headspace.
  16. Run a bubble remover or plastic utensil around the inside of each jar to release trapped air.
  17. Check the headspace again and add additional hot brine if necessary.
  18. Wipe the jar rims with a clean damp cloth. Center the lids and apply the bands fingertip tight.
  19. Process the Pickles
  20. Place the filled jars into a boiling-water canner. The jars should be covered by at least 1 inch of water.
  21. Once the water returns to a full boil, begin timing.
  22. For quart jars, process according to your elevation:
  23. 0–1,000 feet: 15 minutes
  24. 1,001–6,000 feet: 20 minutes
  25. Above 6,000 feet: 25 minutes
  26. When processing is complete, turn off the heat and remove the canner lid. Allow the jars to sit for about 5 minutes before carefully removing them.
  27. Place the jars upright on a towel or cooling rack and leave them undisturbed for 12–24 hours.
  28. Check the seals before labeling and storing.

Canning dill pickles is one of my favorite ways to put the summer garden away for another season. A few hours in the kitchen turns an overflowing cucumber harvest into jars we’ll pull from the pantry all year long.

Once the shelves are filled with pickles, there’s always something else coming in from the garden that needs preserving.

Canning Dill Pickles | Millhorn Farmstead

Before You Put Them in the Pantry

Before You Put Them in the Pantry

This recipe keeps the onions and garlic from my original family recipe but uses a stronger vinegar brine than the version I previously shared.

Home-canning recommendations change as food-safety research improves. For shelf-stable pickled foods, the National Center for Home Food Preservation recommends using tested recipes. They also caution against altering the proportions of vegetables, vinegar and water.

This particular combination of cucumbers, onions and garlic has not been laboratory tested as a complete formula. Because of that, I consider it a traditional family recipe rather than a USDA-tested canning recipe.

If you want to follow a tested formula exactly, use a current USDA or National Center for Home Food Preservation dill pickle recipe.

A little canning-season tip: Once the jars are empty, I store mine in these jar storage boxes between seasons. They keep the jars organized, protected, and much easier to stack than the half-falling-apart cardboard boxes they came in.

These dill pickles are both crunchy and delicious.  We use them in everything from eating plain to deviled eggs, burgers and tuna/egg salads.  A must have in the pantry!

For more preserving posts, checkout these great posts

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22 Comments

  1. I have never canned before, so I’m sorry if this is a stupid question. After the water bath you say to take off the lid. Do you mean the ring or do you take the lid off too? Thank you. I want to try this.

    Reply

  3. Ive helped my grandmother can for years but recently Ive been reading alot of people removing the rings after boiling. Why are you removing the rings? Is it for the rust aspect? Thanks!

    Reply

    1. Leaving the ring on the jars during longterm storage can result in false seals. If the lid seal happens to break in storage, then the ring can actually “reseal” itself, but not enough to prevent bacteria growth. Therefor making your canned good very dangerous to consume because you wouldn’t have known that the seal had ever been broken.

      Reply

    2. I’ve been canning for many yrs. I never take the ring off,the jars until they are cooked,then i remove them n resuse them on new canner jars

      Reply

  6. Followed your recipe for the pickles and they turned out amazing!! I will never use a different recipe ever again. Thank you so much for sharing!

    Reply

  9. Thank you for this recipe! Its very straight forward and to the point. Super easy to follow! Can’t wait to try canning my own pickles at home. Love the garlic too! Thanks!

    Reply