Easy Lemon Cucumber Pickles
If you have never heard of Lemon Cucumbers, or you know what they are but want to try them, this recipe for Easy Lemon Cucumber Pickles is a great way to eat them. Lemon Cucumbers have a great texture that is perfect for making pickles, and these are so easy to make!
Fresh From The Garden-
For the first time in my life, I decided this year to take up gardening. I grew everything in containers because I just don’t have the space to dig a garden. One of the things I really wanted to grow were Lemon Cucumbers.
They have done surprisingly well, and I will be growing some again next year! Not only are the plants producing quite well, but the deer have stayed out of them (I can’t really say the same for my strawberries and tomatoes) so I consider them quite a win for this first round!
Once I had my first harvest, I set about trying to decide how to use them. I love pickles, so that was a given. I experimented with different flavor profiles in the pickling brine to come up with something a little different, and this was the result.
What are Lemon Cucumbers?
Lemon Cucumbers are an heirloom variety, with a round shape and mottled skin in varying shades of yellow and gold. They are often available at Farmers Markets if they are grown in your area. My Farmers Market has them, but I have never seen them in the local grocery store, which is a shame because they are good to eat, and add color to any dish they are used in.
Their skin is thin, and they can be eaten whole just like an apple. The flavor is milder than the cucumbers we normally eat. For more information, you can check out Health Benefits Times to learn more.
What I Love About These Quick Pickles
These are not your usual pickles! I wanted to treat these a little differently than an ordinary cucumber, so I decided to add a touch of lemon juice to the brine. It was only fitting, being that the cucumbers look like lemons.
I love the fresh basil, you really can taste it! The basil adds an herbaceous note that you don’t get from a traditional dill pickle. I really like the brightness of the champagne vinegar in this brine, it’s a different flavor profile than white vinegar.
Refrigerator Pickles
Refrigerator pickles are great because you don’t need to boil large amounts of water, and they only take a couple of days in refrigeration to be ready to eat. They are surprisingly easy and so tasty. Unlike pickles made when you are canning, these have to stay in refrigeration unless they are being used.
Recipe Tips and Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! The flavors in this brine are quite nice with more commonly available cucumber varieties.
Most definitely. You can make these in a large quantity if you find yourself with a ton of lemon cucumbers.
You can use another type if you need to. I would recommend apple cider or white wine vinegar. I think distilled white vinegar is too strong for the flavor of the cucumbers.
They can, but because canning makes the cucumbers softer, quick pickling is really best here because it helps to preserve the crunch and texture.
Serving Suggestions
I love these right out of the jar, but they are great on sandwiches and burgers as well (meat or veggie). They bring a nice kick to salads and would be great as part of a charcuterie board.
I would highly recommend using these in any application you would normally serve a standard dill pickle. They really do brighten things up, and they are a little different than your usual pickle. For something else that’s a little different in the world of pickling, check out my Pickled Strawberries with Pink Peppercorn and Rose.
I hope you give these a try, and if you loved this recipe, please leave a rating or comment and share on social media with your friends. Happy Cooking!
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Easy Lemon Cucumber Pickles
What can you do with Lemon Cucumbers? How about some delicious quick pickles! This easy recipe gets loads of flavor from fresh Basil and Champagne Vinegar in the brine. They are the perfect complement to the flavor of these cucumbers!
- Total Time: 48 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 3–4 Lemon Cucumbers (how many lemon cucumbers you use will depend on their size. They should fill one pint size jar with the fresh basil leaves, but not be too crowded in the jar.)
- 1/2 cup Water
- 1/4 cup Champagne Vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
- 2 Tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Black Peppercorns
- 10 Fresh Basil Leaves
- 16 ounce glass jar with lid
Instructions
- Place 5 of the fresh basil leaves in the bottom of the jar.
- In a small saucepan, add the 1/2 cup of water, 1/4 cup of champagne vinegar, 1 Tbsp of lemon juice, 1 Tbsp of granulated sugar, and 2 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of black peppercorns. Bring to a boil.
- Once the mixture is boiling, let it boil for a minute or two. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
- While the brine cools, cut the ends off the lemon cucumbers and cut into 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch slices.
- Place the slices in the jar, and add the remaining 5 basil leaves on top. The cucumber slices should fit snugly in the jar, but not be crammed in the jar or over stuffed to allow space for the brine. To allow space for the brine in the jar, the cucumber slices should not come all the way to the top of the jar, but be about a half inch from the top. Thanks to the displacement in the jar created by the cucumber slices, the brine should just cover the basil leaves that you place on top. If the brine doesn't come up to the top of the basil leaves at the top of the jar, you may need to remove a few of the cucumber slices until it does.
- Pour the brine into the jar, screw the lid on tightly and place in the refrigerator for 48 hours. After this time, they ready to eat!
Notes
All of the lemon cucumber slices may not fit into the jar. If there are some remaining, they are great in a salad to use them up.
These will last up to a month refrigerated. For optimum freshness, they should be used within two weeks. After this time, they begin to lose their crunch.
It is important to note that if you have too many lemon cucumber slices to fit in one jar and you try to make two jars of pickles with the excess, you will not have enough brine for two jars without doubling the recipe for the brine, and doubling the amount of fresh basil leaves for the second jar.
When pickling lemon cucumbers, it is best to use the refrigerator method rather than water bath canning. The lemon cucumbers have a better flavor and crunch using the quick pickling method.
Because this recipe is for refrigerator pickles rather than canning, you don't necessarily have to sterilize your jars unless you choose to.
It is important to note that this is a refrigerator pickle recipe, not a canning recipe.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Additional Time: 48 hours
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 27
- Sugar: 3
- Sodium: 584
- Fat: 0
- Saturated Fat: 0
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 8
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 1
- Cholesterol: 0
These are my favorite cucumbers to grow and mine are ready for harvesting so I’m super excited to try your recipe that looks delicious 🤤
My friend gave me three lemon cucumbers today and I just cut one and thought I better find a recipe. I’m definitely going to make your pickled lemon cucumber recipe, but I don’t have any lemons so I will have to eat the one that I cut tonight and get lemons tomorrow at the store so I can make this. It sounds delicious.
I hope you love these pickles Judi!
Came across this recipe last year when I was looking for something to do with a bumper crop of lemon cucumbers. I have to say it is one of my favorite pickle recipes and especially perfect for lemon cucumbers. The lemon juice and champagne vinegar make them nicely tart and tangy and differentiate them from ordinary refrigerator pickles made with ACV or white vinegar. The basil give them an added unique flavor – fresh and herbaceous, but different than dill. I have a few cucumbers ready to be picked from this year’s garden and can’t wait to make these again. Thank you so much for posting!
I am so glad you love these pickles Jennai! They are the most popular recipe on the blog every Summer!
I grew some lemon cucumbers but yours are so much more yellow!
Thank you for sharing this recipe at the Sunday Sunshine Blog Hop!
Blessings,
Laurie
It never occurred to me to pickle lemon cucs! Yum! Thanks for sharing at the What’s for Dinner party!! I appreciate you sharing!
You are welcome Helen!
I love lemon cucumbers. I’ve grown them in N. California now living in Idaho tried growing them last year and didn’t get many. Just picked up four plants at the nursery and a friend asked can you pickle these, found your recipe and I am definitely going to give it a try. Thank you!
Hello Florence! I am glad you found this recipe and I hope you love it! I usually grow lemon cucumbers every year, and this last season wasn’t so great for me either, you are not alone!
I make big jars of various types of pickles for my Burning Man camp. Pickles go great with heat and dust! I put this in my rotation this year, as my pickling cukes were a bust, but I had lots of lemon cukes, and another blond variety called Martini. I layered the two varieties in the jar. Everyone loved these! Just made 2 quarts for the family with summer’s last gasp….
Great to hear Lina! I’m glad everyone loved them. Thank you so much for stopping by!
I have an abundance of lemon cukes, mostly volunteers so Im going to quick pickle with this recipe. There is a salt that is suppose to help with crispness cuz I will need to water bath can these babies. Does that salt make a difference?
Hello Kristina! I don’t see that salt making a big difference in the finished product. It is definitely worth it to make a batch or two as refrigerator pickles, and do the rest in a water bath if you have too many and are worried about preserving them. I happen to love the extra crunch from the quick pickling, and I hope the salt you mentioned helps when using the water bath method!
Hi Amy! Thank you so much for your lovely site, sharing of your love of beautiful foods, talent for unique combinations, as well as your eloquent writing. I’m so excited to grow these lemon cucumbers from seeds I purchased a year or more ago. You mentioned you grew yours in containers. Could you instruct me there at all? I didn’t see a post about it on your site.
Hello Kerry! I don’t have a post on growing them at this time, but I may in the future. I started them from seed in the early Spring, and followed the direction on the seed packet as far as when to plant them outdoors. I used containers about 12 inches deep. You might want to use a trellis, because they can really spread as they grow. I watered them according to the seed packet instructions as well. I hope this helps!
I have never heard of them, but they sound interesting. I’ll have to remember the next time I go to a farmer’s market.