Canning Dill Pickles | Easy Dill Pickle Recipe for Canning

Holding up some jars of home canned dill pickles

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In this article I’ll share my experience canning dill pickles using my Nesco canner (Amazon). Note that even though I’m using my Nesco canner, you can use any water bath or steam canner.

This journey began with an unexpected twist, as I originally intended to make dill pickle relish but had to pivot to dill pickles instead.

Join me as I walk you through the process, from ingredient selection to the final product.

Canning Dill Pickles in the Nesco Canner (Video)

A Change of Plans: From Relish to Pickles

My initial plan was to make and can dill pickle relish. However, after receiving a delivery of mini cucumbers from the grocery store, I realized I was missing a key ingredient for the dill relish: turmeric. This is a good reminder to always check the recipe before buying groceries!

Since I prefer to can my produce as soon as possible to maintain its freshness, I didn’t want to delay by waiting until I had time to run to the store.

Instead, I turned to my collection of canning books to see what else I could do with the ingredients I had on hand. That’s when I stumbled upon a recipe for quick dill pickles in the book, DIY Pickling (Amazon).

Note that even though the recipe says, “Quick Dill Pickles” they aren’t quick in the sense that they aren’t refrigerator pickles. However, this recipe for canning dill pickles is quick and easy to make. The recipe sounded perfect, especially since it didn’t require any brining and could be ready in no time.

Ingredients and Adjustments

4 pounds of mini cucumbers for making dill pickles. — I started with 4 pounds of mini cucumbers that I got from the grocery store.

Here are the ingredients, as written in the book. Note that I needed to adjust the recipe somewhat, because it calls for 5 1/4 pounds of pickling cucumbers, and I only had 4 pounds.

5 1/4 pounds pickling cucumbers
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
8 dill heads
1/4 cup minced garlic cloves
5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon pickling salt
3 3/4 cups white or apple cider vinegar
4 cups water

Additional ingredient: The recipe doesn’t call for Pickle Crisp (Amazon), but I recommend using it. Use 1/8 of a rounded teaspoon per pint.

adding pickle crisp to canning jars. — Adding pickle crisp will help the dill pickles you make stay more crisp.

Substitution: If you don’t have fresh dill weed, you can use dill seed (Amazon). Use anywhere between 1/2 tablespoon and a tablespoon per pint.

Holding up a small spice bottle filled with dill seed. — Dill seed is a great, shelf stable option for making dill pickles. Unless you grow your own dill, this is what I use and recommend.

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How I Adapted the Recipe for Canning Dill Pickles

Measuring out dill seed into canning jars. — I put between a half a tablespoon and tablespoon of dill seed into each pint jar. Use more or less depending on taste.

Since I didn’t have dill heads, I substituted dill seed, which is a perfectly acceptable alternative in pickling recipes. I also decided to use jarred minced garlic for convenience.

Putting jarred minced garlic into canning jar. — Jarred minced garlic is a great thing to have on hand. Since it is already peeled and minced, it saves time. It adds a delicious punch of flavor to home canned dill pickles.

The recipe allows for either white or apple cider vinegar, and I opted for white vinegar since apple cider vinegar can discolor the pickles a bit. Additionally, I decided to use pickle crisp, an optional ingredient that helps maintain the crispness of the pickles. (Read more about Pickle Crisp.) For pints, I used a rounded eighth of a teaspoon per jar.

Preparing the Cucumbers

Sliced cucumbers for making dill pickle slices. — After cutting around soft spots on the cucumbers, I ended up with a bowl full of cucumber slices for pickling.

The first step in the process was to wash the cucumbers and remove the blossom ends. Removing the blossom ends helps keep the cucumbers crisp. I opted to cut off both ends.

My original plan was to cut all of the cucumbers into spears. And for the most part, that’s what I did. However, even though overall I was very pleased with the quality of the cucumbers, some of the cucumbers had a smallish soft spot somewhere in the middle.

In that case, I was unable to cut the cucumbers into spears, so I sliced those cucumbers. Because of that, I ended up with a mix of dill pickle spears and slices.

Using Canning Jars to Cut the Cucumbers to the Right Size

Mini cucumber sticking up out of pint sized jar. — Even though I bought mini cucumbers, they were too large to fit into pint sized canning jars.

When cutting the cucumbers into spears, I used the height of my jars as a guide.

Laying a cucumber next to a canning jar to see how much I needed to cut off. — Putting the cucumber next to the canning jar helped me to know how much of the cucumber to cut off so the dill pickle spears would fit into the jar.

This step is crucial because the cucumbers need to fit snugly into the jars without exceeding the half-inch headspace required for canning.

Heating the Water and Jars

Even though this is a cold pack recipe, it’s still important to use hot brine and hot jars. Because of that, I heated my jars and water in the Nesco canner to to approximately 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

The nice thing about heating jars in the Nesco canner is that once the water and jars are hot, you can turn off the canner until you’re ready to process the pickles. Just keep the lid on, and everything will stay hot.

If you are using a different type of canner, such as a stovetop water bath canner, you can still heat the water and jars ahead of time, though you may need to keep the heat on low to maintain the temperature while you prepare the pickles.

Making the Brine

Next, I prepared the brine by combining 4 cups of water, 3 3/4 cups of white vinegar, and 5 tablespoons plus one teaspoon of pickling salt. I brought the mixture to a simmer on the stove, just long enough to dissolve the salt and heat the brine. Keeping the brine hot is essential to ensure that the pickles are properly preserved.

Note that even though I only had 4 pounds of cucumbers instead of the 5 pounds the recipe called for, I made the whole brine recipe. I’ve found that brine recipes often don’t make enough brine, and since brine is inexpensive to make, I tend to make a bit extra, just in case. I find this preferable to running out of brine in the middle of the process and having to make more.

Filling the Jars

Adding cucumbers to canning jar. — After putting the seasonings into the jars, I tightly packed in the cucumbers.

With the brine ready, it was time to fill the jars. I started by adding the spices.

To each pint jar I added:

A sprinkle of black peppercorns
Around 3/4 tablespoon dill seed
3/4 teaspoon minced garlic.

Packing cucumber spears into a canning jar. — I packed in the cucumber spears as tightly as possible into the canning jars.

Then, I packed the cucumber spears tightly into the jars. I put all of the sliced cucumbers into separate jars.

Adding pickle brine to the jars filled with cucumber spears. — When adding brine to the jar, a funnel comes in handy!

After packing the cucumbers, I poured the hot brine into the jars, aiming for a half-inch headspace.

Debubbling a jar of dill pickle spears before canning.

I then debubbled the jars to release any trapped air, checked the headspace again, and added more brine as needed.

Checking the headspace on the jars. — I use this headspace tool (Amazon) to make sure that I have 1/2″ headspace.

Wiping the Rims and Putting the Lids On

wiping the rims of canning jars filled with cucumber spears. — Use a paper towel that you’ve dipped in water or vinegar to wipe the rims.

Putting a canning lid on a jar of cucumber spears. — Put lids on and add the rings, fingertip tight.

The final step was to wipe the jar rims, place the lids on the jars, and place them into the canner.

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Water Bath Canning Dill Pickles

Putting a jar of dill pickle spears into the Nesco canner. — You can fit up to 5 pints in the Nesco canner.

When water bath or steam canning dill pickles, process 10 minutes for pints or 15 minutes for quarts, adjusting for altitude.

Due to my altitude, I process my pint jars for 15 minutes.

The Finished Product

I’m thrilled with how these dill pickles turned out! I ended up with three jars of spears and three jars of slices, and they all look fantastic. I plan to let them sit for about a month to allow the flavors to meld before opening a jar. I’m so excited to try them, and I hope this guide has been helpful for you as well.

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Have you tried this yourself? Have a question or tip to share? Leave a comment below — your experience or question could help someone else, too!