Quick Swedish Pickled Cucumbers

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.

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

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.

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

• 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 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!

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

Quick Swedish Pickled Cucumbers

An easy recipe for Scandinavian-style fresh pickled cucumbers with dill.  

5 from 3 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: condiments

Cuisine: Nordic, Scandinavian, Swedish

Keyword: easy pickled cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, quick pickled cucumbers

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

rest: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 10 servings (one quart size jar of pickles)

Calories: 29kcal

Author: Kristi

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 large cucumber preferably an English cucumber, sliced thin
• ▢ 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• ▢ 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• ▢ 1 cup water
• ▢ ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• ▢ 1 teaspoon coarse salt

Instructions

• Place sliced cucumbers and dill in a quart-size mason jar.
• Heat remaining ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat until simmering.
• Pour vinegar mixture into the jar with the cucumbers and dill.  Let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before using.  If you are not eating them immediately, cover and refrigerate the cucumbers once the mixture has cooled to room temperature.  The cucumbers are best fresh but will keep in the fridge for a week.

Video

Notes

Winter variation:  Omit the dill and the peppercorns and add 10-12 allspice berries to the brine instead.

Nutrition

Calories: 29kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 235mg | Potassium: 47mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 28IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 1mg

If you loved this recipe, give it a star review! Also, snap a picture of your Quick Swedish Pickled Cucumbers and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #truenorthkitchen and tagging me @true_north_kitchen. I can't wait to see how you put them to use in your own kitchen!