Pickle Canning Recipes + Free Printable Labels
15. June 2026When someone offers “Hey, you want a pickle?”, most folks have a pre-formed idea of what to expect: a slightly dilly, chiefly boring tiny cuke. But pickles can be, and often are, so much more than that. In fact, there is nearly no limit to what you can put in a mason jar and pickle. Enjoy a collection of some of our favorites, some of the ones we most want to try, and some that only much braver souls than us will pickle!
AND we designed these FREE Printable Pickle Canning Labels & Hang Tags so you can decorate all of your pickled goodies. There are multiple fun and colorful canning labels that you can handwrite text onto for your specific pickles. We also include cute labels just for dill, sweet, and bread and butter. The printable hang tags include a variety of designs with fun sayings.
Download the FREE Printable Pickle Canning Labels & Hang Tags
Download the FREE Printable Pickle Canning Labels & Hang Tags
Below are a Plethora of Pickle Recipes to Pucker Your Persnickety Palate! But, Safety First!
Vinegar Safety for Canning Recipes
Pickling Vinegar is defined by strength. Canning recipes call for a minimum acidity of 5%. Most commercially bottled vinegar will be the standard 5% acidity, but always check the product label for acidity level just in case! A few rules of thumb… Do not use homemade vinegar for canning recipes. NEVER dilute the amount of vinegar a recipe calls for (unless it is a tested recipe that says you can decrease the vinegar). If the vinegar tastes too harsh, you can add sugar to help offset that.
Basic brines often use white distilled vinegar. You can safely swap vinegars as long as the vinegar is still 5% acidity which is needed for safe canning. Changing vinegars will change the taste of the recipe, naturally. White vinegar offers a standard pickled but more harsh taste. Apple cider vinegar is more mild and flavorful. It will make the brine more brown though. So white vinegar may be more pleasant to look at for some pickled veggies.
Download the FREE Printable Pickle Canning Labels & Hang Tags
Ashley from Creative Canning has some great Homemade Pickling Spice Recipes too. Try your hand at making your own instead of buying store-bought. You’ll be able to make your own spice blends for dill or sweet pickles. You can personalize your blends for your specific veggies or your personal taste. Have fun pickling!
HELP, What went wrong with my pickles?
Did your pickles turn out mushy, bitter, or shriveled? Check out the National Center for Home Food Preservation’s guide for persnickety pickle problems! They have solutions your pickles!
Traditional Dill Pickle Recipes
Dill is the standard if you’re going to pickle. The reason it is so popular is because it just WORKS. A cool, crisp, perfectly seasoned dill pickle at a mid-summer picnic? Man, that’s good livin’!
Decorate your pickle jars with our Custom Apothecary Pickle Canning Labels from our Apothecary Label Collection.
Crispy Dill Pickle Canning Recipe
Are you looking for a homemade pickle that is tart and packed with fresh dill flavor and crunch? This summer canning recipe is loaded with traditional spices and a rich, warm color derived from turmeric. I also discovered a unique pickling process from America’s Test Kitchen that uses “low-temperature pasteurization” which helps produce a crisper pickle. Be prepared, you will need an instant read or candy thermometer and this process requires monitoring for thirty minutes. However, the results are fantastic and worth it.
Check out this collection of other notably delicious dillies we’ve complied below.
- Classic Dill Pickles
- Dill Pickle Recipe for Canning
- Traditional Dill Pickles
- Fermented Brined Pickles
- Garlic Dill Pickles
- Kosher Dill Pickles
- Reduced Salt Dill Pickles
- Fermenting Cucumbers: Making Israeli Pickles
- Best Homemade Pickle Recipe (Garlic Dill)
- Quick Fresh-Pack Dill Pickles
Download the FREE Printable Pickle Canning Labels & Hang Tags
Bread and Butter & Sweet Pickles
If dill is the standard, then Bread & Butter is the refreshing alternative when you just can’t take another dill pickle! I find them to be way more addictive than dill; where you open a jar and the next thing you know the jar is nearly empty (how’d that happen?) Below are some tasty recipes to explore.
- Classic Bread and Butter Pickles
- Small Batch Bread and Butter Pickles
- Granny’s Bread and Butter Pickles Recipe
- Zesty Bread and Butter Pickles
- Bread and Butter Zucchini Pickles
- Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles
- British Bread and Butter Pickle Recipe
- Old Fashioned Bread and Butter Pickles
- Reduced Sodium Sliced Sweet Pickles
- 14-Day Sweet Pickles
-
Quick Sweet Pickles
Spicy Pickles
Some folks just can’t get enough hot & spicy foods. I’m… not one of those folks. My insides (let alone my fragile little tongue) just can’t take it. More for everyone else! Check out our Watermelon Rind & Habanero Pickles Recipe and peruse our other picks that are on the Pickle Wild Side!
- Hot & Spicy Dill Pickles
- Spicy Quick Pickled Cucumbers
- Hot Garlic Dill Pickles
- Spicy Bread and Butter Pickles
- Paula’s Red Hot Cinnamon Cucumber Pickles
- Homemade Jalapeno Dill Pickles
- Hot Veggie Pickle Mix - End of the Garden Pickles
- Spicy Pickled Green Tomatoes
- Spicy Mixed Dilly Bean
- Spicy Pickled Green Beans
Refrigerator Pickles
One of the great joys of pickles is how there are so many refrigerator pickle recipes. Not only do you not need to be an expert canner, but you don’t have to be any kind of canner AT ALL to make and enjoy them. Since these pickles are refrigerated and not shelf stable, you can get a little creative and safely change up the ingredient mix. Some pickles will taste best if you let them pickle a few weeks before tasting as well.
Another thing to keep in mind… your jar lids MAY seal when making fridge pickles, but this is still not considered a shelf stable product. So once that hot brine cools down in the jar, refrigerate it for safety. We have a variety of recipes of our own below as well as other options to try.
Lemon Lime Refrigerator Pickle Recipe
If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. If life gives you cucumbers, make pickles. If life gives you lemons and limes and cucumbers oh my, then make our Lemon Lime Refrigerator Pickle Recipe. Warning, this one is sure to make you pucker!
Mediterranean Refrigerator Pickles
If you’re looking for a new zesty pickle recipe, give this one a try. These Mediterranean Refrigerator Pickles are a great side to chicken dishes or veggie hummus platters. Since these pickles are refrigerated and not shelf stable, you can get a little creative and safely change up the ingredient mix.
Mexican Lime Refrigerator Pickled Vegetables
If you’re a gardener, the end of season means handfuls of leftover random veggies. And that means it’s time to make this Mexican Lime Refrigerator Pickled Vegetables recipe. That typically means the weather has changed and tomatoes are slow to ripen, if they ripen at all. The last remaining carrots need pulled from the garden beds before they get buggy. Only a handful of non-bulbous green beans remain on the plants. And perhaps even the herbs are just about spent. So what to do with handfuls of produce that are too small to can individually? Make refrigerator pickles of course!
Here are a few other refrigerator pickles to try!
- Easy Refrigerator Dill Pickles
- Best Refrigerator Pickles Recipe
- Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles
- Lazy Girl’s Easy Refrigerator Dill Pickles
- Crunchy Refrigerator Sweet Pickles
- Quick Pickled Asparagus Recipe (Easy Refrigerator Pickles)
- Quick & Easy Refrigerator Pickled Onions
- How to Make Refrigerator Pickles with Any Vegetable
Relish
Pickle relish is great for a variety of reasons, but two of my top ones are:
1) Anything goes (nearly). You like okra, celery & lima beans, you can make that your relish of choice (though I have no earthly idea why you would).
2) With very rare exceptions, relish doesn’t require perfection. This is somewhat related to my first point. If you’ve got too much of this, or not enough that, it’s still fine. It’s relish!
- Sweet Pickle Relish
- Dill Pickle Relish
- Classic Pickle Relish
- Curry Relish with vegetables
- Corn Relish Recipe (based on safe Ball Canning water bath recipe since it’s pickled!)
- Sweet & Hot Corn Relish
- Oscar Relish (a mix of fruit and veggies!)
- Dixie Relish (a mix of cabbage and peppers)
- Rummage Relish (a large variety of veggies)
- Pickled Green Tomato Relish
- Sweet Zucchini Relish
- Pepper Onion Relish
- Apple Relish
- Antipasto Relish
- Piccalilli (green tomatoes & veggies)
Download the FREE Printable Pickle Canning Labels & Hang Tags
Pickled Veggies (Giardiniera)
The Italian side of my heritage has always had a soft spot for Giardiniera (pickled vegetable relish). It’s equally great as an antipasto side as it is on a sandwich. Here’s some choice picks of Giardiniera recipes.
- Giardiniera (Italian Pickled Vegetables)
- BEST Giardiniera Recipe (Spicy or Mild)
- Hot Italian Giardiniera Recipe
-
Chicago-Style Hot Giardiniera Recipe
Mustard Pickles
I have to confess, mustard pickles just ain’t my thing. I know some people love ‘em, and more power to you. They’re not for me. I made some zucchini mustard pickles once and my husband really enjoyed them… and that bugged the heck out of me. Stop it, ya weird-o! I will say that mustard pickles were better when made with cucumbers instead of zucchini. I really think zucchini is a weird thing to can and is better fried or in baked goods. There is just something a little odd to me with making pickles in gloopy sauce. But hey, enjoy some of these (or not)!
- Piccalilli (English Style Mustard Pickles)
- Homemade Mustard Pickles with ClearJel
- Mustard Pickles with Flour (original source is tested Ball Canning Recipe, 2014)
- Chunky Mustard Pickles with ClearJel
- Sweet Mustard Pickles with ClearJel
Is it safe to use flour in canning recipes? Yes, but only when the recipe is tested and comes from a reputable source, such as Ball Canning. Modern tested canning recipes usually call for ClearJel® to be used as the thickener these days. ClearJel is modified cornstarch that resists heat much better than cornstarch or flour. It also doesn’t clump like old-fashioned thickeners. Follow the tested pickle recipe and do not add more thickening agents or swap thickening agents on your own. So do not use ClearJel in a recipe that calls for flour and vice versa. It is safe to add thickeners when an actual TESTED recipe calls for it.
Pickled Beets
And on the other side of my heritage (Polish) I get my love for pickled beets. My husband still says they smell like pickled dirt… but he also drinks ginger root tea… so he might be crazy. Regardless, I think you’ll love them and here are some recipes to try.
- Classic Pickled Beets
- Pickled Beets and Onions Canning Recipe
- Easy Beet Pickled Eggs Refrigerator Recipe (with Fresh Beets)
- Pickled Golden Beets in White Balsamic Vinegar
-
No Sugar Added Pickled Beets (uses Splenda®)
Pickled Carrots
When all your carrots come in at the end of the harvest, it’s sometimes overwhelming and you think “What am I gonna do with all these things?!?” And pickling them is a great answer to the quandary. And a really cool thing about carrots is that they come in all sorts of shades. From black to orange and even yellow, the History of Carrot Colors is neat-o! I find that Rainbow carrots are a great variety to pickle. Black carrots are definitely more rustic and earthy tasting. Using red carrots will create a lovely pink brine. If you want to grow your own long, straight carrots for canning, read my blog post on How to Plant Carrots in Containers.
- Quick and Easy Pickled Carrots
- How to Make Pickled Carrots
- Dill Pickled Carrots Canning Recipe
- Pickled Cauliflower and Carrots
- Home Canned Ginger Carrots Recipe
- Pickled Baby Carrots
- Honey Pickled Carrots
Pickled Fruit
Who says you can only pickle veggies? Pickled fruit is a nice change of pace from cucumbers. While some are very familiar with traditional pickled watermelon rind, there are other fruits that are a bit more unique to pickle.
Watermelon Rind & Habanero Pickles
Our Watermelon Rind & Habanero Pickles offer a new twist on an old favorite. First off, these pickles are a great way to make use of scraps that get tossed in the compost bin! One watermelon rind will yield quite a few pickles. If you don’t want to feel the heat too much, cook the rinds WITH the habaneros, but don’t can the peppers in the jars. The pickles will be less “blow the top of your head off” that way :D
- Cantaloupe Pickles
- Salty Date and Lime Pickle
- Pickled Pears
- Spicy Pickled Pineapple
- Spiced Crabapples
- Pickled Cranberries
- Quick Pickled Apple Matchsticks (Refrigerator)
- Pickled Peaches
- Rhubarb Pickles
- Pickled Strawberries (Refrigerator)
- Pickled Strawberries (for Canning)
- Gingery Pickled Blueberries
- Fig Pickles
-
Lightly Pickled Sweet Cherries
Other Pickled Goodies
And here, at the end of our round-up, we come to the Island of Misfit Pickles. A true testament to the might and power of a properly seasoned brine mixture, if you can even make artichoke, eggplant and radishes into proper members of the pickle family. These veggie pickles are great as side dishes or chopped up in egg or potato salad. Not on the list are pickled swiss chard stems or pickled pumpkin. I tried both of those before, regrettably! The chard tasted like ear wax and the pickled pumpkin was just about the worst thing I had ever tasted. So if you want pickled chard or pumpkin recipes, a Googling you should go!
- Pickled Three Bean Salad Canning Recipe
- Pickled Jalapeños
- Maple Pickled Jalapeños
- Pickled Bell Peppers
- Pickled Brussels Sprouts
- Salty Pickled Edamame
- Vietnamese Pickled "Sticks"
- Lime Pickled Onions
- Pickled Garlic (with multiple seasoning options)
- Pickled Garlic Scapes
- Pickled Grape Tomatoes {with Rosemary & Garlic}
- Marinated Whole Mushrooms
- Chow Chow Hot Pickle Mix
- Jerusalem Artichoke Pickles
- Pickled Fairy Tale Eggplant
- Honey Pickled Radishes
- Pickled Golden Daikon Radish (Refrigerator)
Download the FREE Printable Pickle Canning Labels & Hang Tags
Shop for Pickle Canning Labels
Follow our Fermented & Pickled Foods Pinterest Board for more recipes
Sign up for our newsletter to get free printables, gardening tips, recipes, product updates, & a 10% off coupon on your first order of canning labels in our shop.
What is your favorite kind of pickle to pack? Do you like traditional pickles, like dill and sweet? Or do you get creative and preserve other pickled veggies? Let us know in the comments below.
