Quick Swedish Pickled Cucumbers

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Pickled cucumbers are an essential component of Nordic cuisine. Scandinavians are experts at making the most of a short growing season and often pickle vegetables to extend their usefulness into the long, dark winter ahead.

But even if you aren't in to canning, you can make your own delicious Quick Swedish Pickled Cucumbers at home in a snap!

Extremely easy, these briny little bites add flavor and crunch wherever you choose to use them. For some of us, that might mean eating them straight out of the jar, which is okay too.

Quick Swedish Pickled Cucumbers in a jar next to peppercorns and fresh dill sprigs.

Why This Recipe Works

These Quick Swedish Pickled Cucumbers come together quickly and easily. No messy canning process required!
The recipe calls for just a handful of simple ingredients.
These pickle slices bring briny Scandinavian flavor to just about anything you choose to pair them with.

The Ingredients

Labeled ingredients for Quick Swedish Pickled Cucumbers

I prefer an English cucumber (sometimes called a seedless cucumber) for this recipe. It has fewer, less prominent seeds and a thinner peel than a regular cucumber. But feel free to use what you have available as both varieties will work just fine in this recipe.

How To Make This Recipe

These Quick Swedish Pickled Cucumbers really couldn't be much easier:

Slice your cucumber nice and thin (⅛ of an inch thick or less). Chop the dill and add both to a quart-sized Mason jar.

Sliced cucumbers and chopped dill in a jar.

Heat the vinegar, water, salt, sugar and peppercorns in a saucepan until the mixture just begins to boil.

A saucepan filled with water and whole peppercorns on a white kitchen towel.

Pour the vinegar mixture into the jar with the cucumbers and dill. Let cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to use them!

FAQs

How do I store quick pickled cucumbers?

Unlike pickles that have gone through a traditional canning process to become shelf stable prior to opening, quick pickles need to be stored in their brine, tightly sealed in the refrigerator.

How long will they keep in the refrigerator?

These Quick Swedish Pickled Cucumbers are best enjoyed within the first 5-7 days. They will still have good flavor but will begin to lose their crunch over time.

How can I vary the recipe?

Play around with the spices! Keeping the recipe in line with Scandinavian flavors, consider adding mustard seeds, allspice or juniper berries to the brine. In the winter you can always skip the dill altogether. My favorite winter variation of Quick Swedish Pickled Cucumbers is to omit the dill and the peppercorns and add about 10-12 whole allspice berries to the brine instead.

How do I use these Quick Swedish Pickled Cucumbers?

The most fun and delicious of all the questions! Keep reading below for my Scandinavian-inspired ideas for putting these sliced pickles to work in your kitchen.

How to Enjoy Swedish Pickled Cucumbers

Use them to brighten up your Nordic open face sandwiches (smørrebrød or smörgås)! This can be as simple as a smear of paté, cream cheese or hummus on rye crispbread topped with a few crisp, delicious pickle slices. Get creative!
Make a batch of Easy Danish Remoulade Sauce. This zesty, traditional condiment features a unique combination of chopped pickles, capers and curry powder. Once you give this delicious sauce a try, it's bound to become a new favorite. It's perfect with fries, and SO delicious on hot dogs with pickled herring and on open sandwiches (smørrebrød) of all kinds!

A bowl of Danish Remoulade sauce next to a sprig of parsley and curry powder.

Serve them alongside Swedish meatballs (either a classic recipe or this vegetarian version). Don't forget the lingonberries!

Close up of Vegetarian Swedish Meatballs with pickles and lingonberries.

Pile them high on Danish Hot Dogs, or any other brat, sausage or hamburger situation you've got going.

Including some easy Scandinavian condiment recipes (like these pickles) in your repertoire is an easy way to bring Nordic flair to your table all year long. Looking for more condiments or sauces to try? I've got several here on the blog:

Recipe