Southern Pickle Recipes to Relish

Iain Bagwell

Canning pickles is a time-honored Southern tradition. Find tangy, crisp, and totally delicious toppers for everything from burgers to Bloody Marys with these easy pickle recipes.

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Icebox Cucumber Pickles

Iain Bagwell

Recipe: Icebox Cucumber Pickles

Make these classic pickles from Fun, Food & Flowers the night before a picnic or barbecue for a sweet-tart side.

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Pickled Tiny Tomatoes

Photo: Iain Bagwell

Recipe: Pickled Tiny Tomatoes

Use a mixture of baby tomatoes such as 'Sweet 100,' 'Yellow Pear,' or 'Sun Gold'—all are available at farmers' markets in summer months. This dish uses 3 pints of tomatoes, but feel free to halve the recipe.

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Candied Jalapeños

Photo: Hector Sanchez

Recipe: Candied Jalapeños

This is our new go-to summer condiment. Chill at least 48 hours ahead so the jalapeños have time to take on a fiery-sweet crunch.

Watch Us Make It: Candied Jalapeños

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Bread-and-Butter Pickles

Photo: Oxmoor House

Recipe: Bread-and-Butter Pickles

Try these sweet-and-sour pickles on sandwiches, in deviled eggs, or straight out of the jar.

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Zucchini-and-Squash Pickles

Photo: Hector Sanchez; Styling: Caroline M. Cunningham

Recipe: Zucchini-and-Squash Pickles

Ribbons of zucchini and squash make up these colorful Zucchini-and-Squash Pickles. These pickles are as beautiful as they are delicious.

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Pickled Peppers

Photo: Hector Sanchez

Recipe: Pickled Peppers

We used sweet mini bell peppers and jalapeños, but any variety like serranos, Fresno, Thai, or poblano peppers will also work well.

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Pickled Okra

Photo: Cedric Angeles

Recipe: Pickled Okra

This easy pickling recipe is very forgiving; you'd have to work to mess it up. If you've got very small okra, then use half-pint jars instead.

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Pickled Beets

Photo: Hector Sanchez; Styling: Caroline M. Cunningham

Recipe: Pickled Beets

Remove skins from roasted beets while they're still warm by gently wiping with a paper towel.

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Judy's Pickled Squash

Photo: Cedric Angeles

Recipe: Judy's Pickled Squash

Recipe from Sara Foster, chef and author of Sara Foster's Southern Kitchen. "An overabundance of fast-growing yellow squash inspired my sister, Judy, to make these unusually gratifying sweet squash pickles. They can elevate anything from a simple dish of beans and rice to a fried egg sandwich. You can use any kind of summer squash, from sundrops to pattypans to zucchini.

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Easy Pickled Sweet Onions and Peppers

Photo: Iain Bagwell

Recipe: Easy Pickled Sweet Onions and Peppers

You can make the recipe up to one week ahead—the longer the onions and peppers sit, the better the flavor. The sweet-tart brine is delicious spooned over the succulent pork.

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Quick-Pickled Cukes

Photo: Jacob Snavely

Recipe: Quick-Pickled Cukes

This easy pickles are soaked with flavor. Serve with Flank Steak and Cucumber Salad for a complete meal.

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Pickled Grapes With Rosemary and Chiles

Photo: Beth Dreiling Hontzas

Recipe: Pickled Grapes With Rosemary and Chiles

Add these gorgeous spicy-tart grapes to an antipasto platter or cheese plate or stir them into chicken or mixed green salads. Guests will love the complex flavors. But the best part: prep time is 10 minutes and "pickling" happens in the fridge in just a few hours.

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Dill Pickle Spears

Photo: Oxmoor House

Recipe: Dill Pickle Spears

These classic spears are crisp, sour, and a sandwich's best friend. Like most pickles, they'll reach their best flavor and texture after three weeks in the jars.

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Squash Pickle Medley

Photo: Oxmoor House

Recipe: Squash Pickle Medley

This colorful blend mimics bread-and-butter pickles—sweet, tart, and squeaky-crisp—even though it contains no cucumbers. Use the freshest zucchini and yellow squash you can find, free of blemishes and with no hint of limpness, for the crispiest results.

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Quick Confetti Pickles

Photo: Oxmoor House

Recipe: Quick Confetti Pickles

No time to can? No problem. These refrigerator pickles are easy—and so colorful that you'll want to shingle them on buttered brown bread or put them in a glass bowl just to show them off. Standard radishes will do, but slender, carrotlike icicle radishes from the farmers' market are easier to slice.

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Pickled Jalapeño Slices

Photo: Oxmoor House

Recipe: Pickled Jalapeño Slices

If you like things hot, you'll love these fiery pickles. They're ideal as a final atomic flourish on tacos, nachos, and huevos rancheros. If you prefer milder pickled peppers, cut off the stem ends, and scoop or tap out some of the seeds before slicing the peppers.

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Pickled Garlic with Chiles

Photo: Oxmoor House

Recipe: Pickled Garlic with Chiles

Try these crunchy cloves in dirty martinis and anywhere you'd use fresh garlic. The garlic is mellowed and crisped by pickling and enhanced by hot peppers, and the hit of vinegar brightens any savory dish.

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Pickled Golden Beets

Photo: Oxmoor House

Recipe: Pickled Golden Beets

This recipe works with red beets, too, but golden beets are less likely to stain your fingers or your apron.

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Pickled Dilled Beans

Photo: Oxmoor House

Recipe: Pickled Dilled Beans

Crushed red pepper gives these beans a kick. A mix of green and yellow beans makes for a pretty jar.

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Pickled Pearl Onions

Photo: Oxmoor House

Recipe: Pickled Pearl Onions

Use these crisp, tart onions as sandwich toppers, martini garnishes, or interesting additions to meat-and-cheese platters.

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Pickled Peppers & Onions

Photo: Oxmoor House

Recipe: Pickled Peppers & Onions

This medley of bell peppers and red onion is the perfect accompaniment to a sandwich or an appetizer tray.

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Asparagus Pickles

Photo: Hector Sanchez

Recipe: Asparagus Pickles

If you wait longer than the 24-hour minimum chill time before serving, the flavor will continue to improve.

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Bread-and-Butter Pickled Onions with Radishes

Photo: Hector Sanchez

Recipe: Bread-and-Butter Pickled Onions with Radishes

Dialing back the sugar in the versatile brine lets the natural sweetness of the onions and vegetables shine in these quick and easy refrigerator pickles.

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Uncle Hoyt's Bread-and-Butter Pickles

Photo: Cedric Angeles

Recipe: Uncle Hoyt's Bread-and-Butter Pickles

"My family starts clamoring for my Uncle Hoyt Harwell's pickles—a perfect combination of sweet and savory—as soon as summer's heat gives us cucumbers. I put them on sandwiches and in deviled eggs or just eat them out of the jar." —James T. Farmer

Recipe from James T. Farmer, III, author of A Time to Plant.

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Sweet-and-Sour Veggie Pickles

Photo: Jennifer Davick

Recipe: Sweet-and-Sour Veggie Pickles

Serve these pickles with cocktails or with grilled poultry or fish. This recipe makes four (1-pt.) jars—enough to keep and give away to friends and neighbors.

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Peppery Texas Pickles

Recipe: Peppery Texas Pickles

This easy pickle starts in the microwave, moves to the fridge, and finishes in the freezer, so there's no heating up your kitchen. Look for pickling cucumbers—the small, crisp, unwaxed sort—at farmers' markets and grocery stores. Because their skins are neither tough nor bitter, they don't have to be peeled.

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Pickled Japanese Turnips with Shiso

Photo: Oxmoor House

Recipe: Pickled Japanese Turnips with Shiso

These juicy white salad turnips shrink considerably during processing, so pack them tightly into the jars, fitting the wedges together like puzzle pieces.

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Asian-Style Carrot and Daikon Pickles

Photo: Oxmoor House

Recipe: Asian-Style Carrot and Daikon Pickles

Large carrots (easier to julienne with a mandoline) work best for this recipe. Use two chiles per jar if you prefer spicier pickles.

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Green Tomato-Hot Pepper Pickles

Photo: Oxmoor House

Recipe: Green Tomato-Hot Pepper Pickles

Eat these spicy-tart pickles straight up, or pulse them in a food processor to make a quick salsa. If you prefer milder pickles, gently tap the cut peppers to shake out some of the seeds before adding the peppers to the jars.

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Pickled Cauliflower

Photo: Oxmoor House

Recipe: Pickled Cauliflower

Add this sweet-and-spicy cauliflower to a muffuletta sandwich, or use to round out a meat-and-cheese tray.

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Pickled Red Onions

Photo: Oxmoor House

Recipe: Pickled Red Onions

For serious satisfaction, tuck some of the finished pickles into your favorite grilled cheese sandwich.

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Pickled Rainbow Carrots with Coriander

Photo: Oxmoor House

Recipe: Pickled Rainbow Carrots with Coriander

At farmers' markets and specialty grocers these days, carrots come in a rainbow of shades. In pickling them all, we discovered a fun fact: Putting even one purple carrot in a jar lends some extra red color to the other carrots, making them even more vibrantly orange and orange-red.

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Pickled Cherries

Photo: Oxmoor House

Recipe: Pickled Cherries

Warm spices and a sweet-tart brine make these cherries ideal with duck or pork. Chop a few and add to a cream-cheese-topped biscuit with country ham for a sweet and salty Southern canapé.

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33 Southern Pickle Recipes to Relish

1 of 33

Icebox Cucumber Pickles

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Pickled Tiny Tomatoes

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Candied Jalapeños

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Bread-and-Butter Pickles

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Zucchini-and-Squash Pickles

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Pickled Peppers

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Pickled Okra

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Pickled Beets

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Judy's Pickled Squash

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Easy Pickled Sweet Onions and Peppers

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Quick-Pickled Cukes

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Pickled Grapes With Rosemary and Chiles

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Dill Pickle Spears

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Squash Pickle Medley

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Quick Confetti Pickles

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Pickled Jalapeño Slices

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Pickled Garlic with Chiles

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Pickled Golden Beets

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Pickled Dilled Beans

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Pickled Pearl Onions

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Pickled Peppers & Onions

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Asparagus Pickles

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Bread-and-Butter Pickled Onions with Radishes

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Uncle Hoyt's Bread-and-Butter Pickles

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Sweet-and-Sour Veggie Pickles

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Peppery Texas Pickles