My Spicy Freezer Pickles Recipe

So here’s the deal – I lovelovelove pickles. Dill pickles, bread & butter pickles, sour pickles…you name it, let’s pickle it. I mean, we have taco pickles in our fridge right now, so we’re all aboard the pickle train in the Gwynn house. Sometimes, though, you’re just craving some heat – and I whip out my favorite spicy recipes to give a go. For years growing up, my Pop had a massive summer vegetable garden. We’d enjoy the fruits (or vegetables? ha!) of his harvest, many of which lasted long beyond the season thanks to jarring + pickling. So many of my favorite foods are the mason jarred goodies he’d bring up from his basement months after harvesting something: red beets, homemade salsa, freezer pickles, etc. Since starting the Gwynn Garden this summer (which has honestly blown any sortof expectations I had had COMPLETELY out of the water – J is killing it), we’ve gotten to enjoy lots of fresh green goodies – of which we’ve luckily had an abundance. So now as the summer starts to wind down, we’ve been thinking of every way possible to savor the season and make use of the harvest. 

Enter, Pop’s freezer pickles. And then, my mom’s freezer pickles. AND NOW – our own freezer pickles, with a twist and a kick!

Since we’re fans of some heat (and since we’ve got lotsa jalapeños in the garden to spare…), we spice it up a notch and make freezer pickles worthy of being one of our repeat spicy recipes. We also add a few other veggies from the garden – so below, I’m sharing the original freezer pickles recipe passed down from my mama, along with our tweaks and additions after experimenting with a few batches.

When it comes to spicy recipes…pickles probably isn’t what first comes to mind. But LORDY LORDY are these yummy – and a fun option for making good use of your favorite farmers’ market finds! 

This spicy freezer pickles recipe is below for your printing pleasure, but I’ll quickly run through my steps below, too – SO EASY, I PROMISE!

Step 1): Cut up all of your veggies! This is kindof a “throw in everything but the kitchen sink” kinda recipe where you have the freedom to add your favorites whenever. I grew up with it having cucumbers, onion, and chopped bell peppers; here, we added in green beans + jalapenos for a kick. While I included exact measurements in the printable version below, we honestly don’t measure when making it – we just use lots of vegetables and call it a day!

Step 2): Make your brine! Here, measurements matter a BIT more. 😉 My mom always halved sugar in her original recipe, so I did the same – I wrote it below exactly how I do it, so know that TECHNICALLY SPEAKING you could add sugar if you want it to be sweeter. Technically speaking. 😉 Combine 1 cup vinegar, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon celery seed and 2 teaspoons salt on a hot stovetop; let the mixture dissolve and be clear, but DO NOT let it come to a rolling boil!

Step 3): Pour the hot brine over the mixed vegetables. DAS IT! Note that it will look like the brine isn’t enough when you first pour it over – don’t stress. It will be juuuust right by morning. 😉 I have this plastic mixing bowl set from Amazon which comes with LIDS, praise the Living God, so that you can mix everything up and cover it sans transfer. It’s especially handy for recipes like this because it makes everything FAST, which is music to my ears as a mama. So, you can just cover your freezer pickles and refrigerate, OR, you can evenly divide veggies/brine into smaller containers to actually freeze. Hence, the name. 😉 Lately we’ve been refrigerating everything because we keep them on the counter and pick all day long – they’re that good! As is with many spicy recipes, the longer it sits the spicier it gets. 

A few quick process shots for ya…

Printable Spicy Freezer Pickles recipe:

Have you ever had spicy freezer pickles?

Are you a fan of spicy recipes or do you not like heat? Tell me if you try these and, of course, what you think…I can’t wait to hear how your version turns out!

Here are more fun, CUR-approved recipes!