Polish Vinegar Dill Pickles {Ogórki Konserwowe}
Crunchy, vinegary with a strong garlic and dill flavor, Polish dill pickles are often present at parties, holidays, picnics, dinners, on sandwiches or in salads or soups. We eat tons of them in my home. My grandma always made so many jars each season, we never had to buy any. She made them every year, up until the last year of her life. That is probably about 80 years, every year, she made pickles. She lived to be 89, and I’m sure she started when she was young. She passed away last summer (you can read about how awesome my grandma was here). Making pickles is now our job. That brings mixed emotions. On one side, it’s exciting that I can carry on her traditions and recipes, on the other, the obvious… the thought that she is no longer here still hurts and leaves a void. That void will probably be there for ever.
Many families make home-made pickles every year, many of my friends do, even tough you can buy pretty good quality pickles these days. I think when we see the beautiful pickles that are in season for only a short time each yeah, we just can’t help ourselves. Polish Dill Pickles {Ogórki Konserwowe}
This is a very simple recipe, and it really doesn’t take very long to make. If you’ve never made pickles before, start with this recipe and adjust (more garlic, less garlic, more horseradish root, add red hot chili pepper, more sugar, etc.) as you find what works best for you. Key is, find good quality pickling cucumbers. By good quality, I mean crunchy fresh, and organic, if possible. The smaller, the better. Mine turned out a little bitter this time, I find this depends on the pickle itself. They are still tasty though… crunchy, tangy and full of flavor.
Polish Vinegar Dill Pickles {Ogórki Konserwowe}
Ingredients
- 4 lbs / 2 kg of pickling cucumbers
- BRINE:
- 5 c / 1.2 l of water
- 2 c / 500 ml of vinegar (4%)
- ½ c / 100 g of granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp of salt
- SPICES:
- 1 bunch of dill - 3 twigs per jar (or more)
- 2-3 garlic cloves per jar
- 1 medium horseradish root, cut into about ½ x 4 inch / 1 x 10 cm sticks (3 sticks per jar)
- 1 bay leaf per jar
- 10 whole peppercorns per jar
- 2 whole allspice berries per jar
- 1 tsp of mustard seed per jar
- OPTIONAL:
- Spicy peppers (as many as you would like to make spicy pickles)
- ADDITIONALLY:
- 5 1 qt / 1 l jars and lids
- Large pot for disinfecting and pickling jars
Instructions
Sanitize jars and lids in boiling water.
In a medium pot, combine brine ingredients and heat through.
Wash cucumbers and dill. Peel garlic and horseradish root. Cut horseradish into sticks. Place cucumbers and all spices in each jar.
Pour brine into each jar and place covers on tightly. Place jars back into hot water up to just below the lid. Boil on low for 3 minutes from the time the water starts bubbling. Take jars out and cool.
Pickles will be ready in 2-3 days and can be stored unrefrigerated.
A week or two and pickles are ready. Let me know how you make yours in comments below.
Thank you!
Smacznego!
Anna
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Ania,
I discovered your website via Facebook. My grandparents immigrated from Poland in the early 20th century. This is true on both sides of my family.
Holidays were always special, in particular the meals at my grandparents. I couldn’t be bothered with the turkey. It was always the Polish dishes I was after!
While I can cook Polish, I don’t do it much anymore. I’m single and end up with too many leftovers. I do cook for Easter and Christmas for family meals at relatives’ houses.
I discovered a wonderful Polish restaurant, Karczma, on Greenpoint Avenue, Brooklyn. My friend, Dorota, introduced the place to me. I live in New Jersey, so it isn’t too long a drive to get there. It gives me the opportunity to eat flaki, kiszka, etc. without having to make it myself!!
However, looking at all of your recipes, I may have to start cooking, again!!
John, I hope you do! Smacznego! Anna
Hello Anna,
I recently tried the pickles in brine recipe, loved it !
Now I would like to try this one, but I do have a few questions;
I only have one 5 quart jar instead of 5 1 quart ones, would a conversion work with this recipe ?
I love horseradish in any form or shape, but my wife does not, can it be left out or replaced or would that degrade the recipe ?
Thank you and keep up the good work !
Cheers,
Wolter, London UK
Hi Wolter,
thank you for your comment and thank you for visiting my page. You can scale the recipe to fit your larger container by multiplying the brine ingredients. As far as spices go, I would do this:
1 bunch of dill (with seeds, if you have)
6-8 bay leaves
15 pepper corns, whole
10 all spice, whole
10 garlic cloves
2 tbs of mustard seed per jar
You can skip horseradish and add a spicy pepper (like a jalapeño or a red hot pepper), or not at all.
Hope this helps!!
Smacznego!
Anna
Hello Anna,
Thank you very much, that sounds like a good alternative, I will certainly try it !
Cheers,
Wolter
Hi Anna, my grandfather was Austrian Polish and he used to make pickles for the whole family. Unfortunately he passed away about 7 years ago and he kept the recipe a secret from his 4 boys. So lately I’ve been craving his pickles and hope your recipe is like his.
Oh no! What a torture! I hope this comes close. If not, keep adjusting spices, maybe you can nail it. Good luck!
Dill pickles and sauerkraut form your site , so much like my grandma’s it’s unbelievable. She came to u s in 1913 my father was born in 1914 and a lot of the food we ate when I was young are just memories . Thanks for bringing them back
Larry, thank you. I hope you try more recipes!😀 Happy cooking!
I may be Polish but I cannot abide horseradish. Go figure.
Thank you so much for your Polish pickle recipe. I lost my trusted recipe that I had used for years and yours seems exactly right. Keep up the great work.
😍
I don’t have access to horseradish roots anymore (my dad sprayed mine years ago and I can’t seem to get any started again). How much ground horseradish would be equal? Thanks.
I haven’t tried ground horseradish, not sure what that would do to the brine. I always had a pretty good luck finding horseradish root at a local store. Not so much luck for you?
When I make pickles like these I keep them in the fridge after they are ready. When I take some out of the jar I add pickling cukes back in so a jar lasts a long time. I do the same with store bought pickles. I don’t have much luck growing cukes in my garden (I think some kind of bug kills the plant) so I buy them at the farmers market in the summer or at the market in the spring and summer.
My dills were similar, but lacking some spices you use. This is a recipe I’ll make for sure … so easy! Thanks.
Let us know how it works out!
Thank you. This recipe looks really good.
I have some pretty chunky cucumbers and was thinking of cutting them in half lengthwise to get them better organized in my jars. Thoughts?
The best pickles I have ever had and my family agrees with me. This is now my “Go to” recipe and my matka as well, we can together as it is our matka/daughter time. My husband likes it hot so I do add hot peppers which he says is awesome! I leave my cucs whole and add pickling crisp which keeps these pickles wonderfully crunchy. Thank you for sharing this recipe.