Quick Swedish Pickled Cucumbers

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Quick Swedish Pickled Cucumbers are a simple, essential part of Nordic cuisine. In Scandinavia, pickling is a time-honored way to preserve fresh vegetables through the long, dark winters—but you don’t need to spend hours canning to enjoy these crisp, tangy bites.

This easy, no-fuss recipe comes together in just minutes and adds bright, briny flavor to everything from open-faced sandwiches to meatballs, gravlax, and roasted vegetables. Or enjoy them straight from the jar - I won’t judge.

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

In Sweden, quick pickled cucumbers—often called pressgurka or ättiksgurka—are a beloved accompaniment to a variety of savory dishes. Their tangy-sweet flavor and crisp texture add balance to richer dishes and are a staple on traditional smörgåsbord spreads, holiday tables, and everyday family meals.

Looking for ways to enjoy your pickled cucumbers? Try them alongside my Swedish Meatballs with Gravy, tucked into a Danish Hot Dog or served next to a slice of Swedish Cheese Pie. They also make a perfect addition to a Midsummer Menu!

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Ingredients
Variations
How To Make Quick Swedish Pickled Cucumbers
FAQs
How to Serve Swedish Pickled Cucumbers
Recipe

Ingredients

Cucumber - 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.
Distilled White Vinegar and Water - A combination of white vinegar and water form the liquid brine in this recipe.
Sugar - Sugar brings a bit of sweetness and balances out the acidity in the vinegar.
Salt
Peppercorns
Chopped Fresh Dill

See the recipe card for exact amounts and detailed instructions.

Variations

Add more/different whole spices - Keeping the recipe in line with Scandinavian flavors, consider adding mustard seeds, allspice or juniper berries to the brine.

Eliminate the dill - My favorite winter variation (when fresh dill isn't widely available) is to omit the dill and the peppercorns and add about 10-12 whole allspice berries to the brine instead.

How To Make Quick Swedish Pickled Cucumbers

Step 1: Slice your cucumber thinly (⅛ of an inch thick or less).

Sliced cucumbers and chopped dill in a jar.

Step 2: Chop the dill and add both to a quart-sized Mason jar.

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

Step 3: Heat the vinegar, water, salt, sugar and peppercorns in a saucepan until the mixture just begins to boil.

Step 4: 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 enjoy.

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 to Serve 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.
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 these pickled herring bites and on open sandwiches (smørrebrød) of all kinds!
Serve them alongside Swedish meatballs (either a classic recipe or these Vegetarian Swedish Meatballs). Don't forget the lingonberry sauce!

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:

If you tried this Quick Swedish Pickled Cucumbers recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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