My burger was served with a pile of crispy pickle rounds. I arranged them on my sandwich.

These tangy cucumbers added both a crunch and a burst of flavor. With a lettuce leaf, a tomato slice, onion slices and a fresh bun, my sandwich was a tasty meal.

Maybe you like sweet relish on a hot dog or even a dill pickle on a stick at a fair.

Pickles often appear on charcuterie boards filled with cheeses, meats, olives, vegetable slices and fruits.

Pickles help balance the fat in meals with their acidity, serving as a culinary palate cleanser.

I grew up eating home-canned dill pickles, bread-and-butter pickles and relishes at nearly every meal, along with other pickled foods such as beets. I admit I was never a fan of pickled pig’s feet or pickled herring served during holidays. 

Many foods besides cucumbers can be pickled. A wide range of vegetables, fruits, eggs, meat and fish are among the foods that can be pickled.

Long before refrigeration, people pickled foods to extend their shelf life. In fact, pickling is one of the oldest methods of food preservation, with some food historians reporting that pickling dates back thousands of years.

Salt, vinegar, sugar, water and spices are common pickling ingredients. Some foods, such as sauerkraut, are lacto-fermented using salt and the natural sugars in cabbage to become lactic acid.  

The acid in pickles holds back the growth of spoilage organisms, including bacteria that can sicken us.

Pickles can be sour, sweet or spicy. Innovations included glass jars and sealable lids that allowed people to seal the jars and store them on their shelves.

On average, people in the U.S. eat about 9 pounds of pickles per year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Pickles are low in calories, but they can be a significant source of dietary sodium.

Pickles are fairly straightforward to make. For example, cucumber slices and onions can be simply immersed in a brine and kept in the refrigerator for a few weeks.

Farmers markets are open for business, and we still have time to pickle vegetables. Here’s a peck of pickle pointers:

• Choose a tested recipe from a reliable source such as North Dakota State University Extension or the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
• When canning pickles, use commercial vinegar with at least 5% acetic acid.
• Use canning or pickling salt. Using table salt or other types of salt can result in a cloudy brine.
• Select pickling cucumbers rather than slicing cucumbers.
• If you purchase cucumbers, avoid waxed cucumbers because the wax blocks the pickling brine from penetrating the vegetable.
• Select cucumbers that are firm and crisp, bright green, and free of soft spots, bruises and mold.
• Process cucumbers within 24 hours of harvest for best quality.
• Remove the blossom (flower) end before pickling because it contains enzymes that can soften pickles.
• When canning pickles for storage in your cupboard, be sure they are processed for the recommended amount of time.
• If you are looking for a reduced-sodium recipe, be sure to use a research-tested recipe.
• See “Making Pickled Products” available as a free download from NDSU Extension.

It features numerous recipes, including dill pickles, reduced-sodium sweet pickles, hot dog relish, corn relish and refrigerated pickled eggs.

Here’s one of my all-time favorite recipes for pickled green beans flavored with fresh dill and some garlic. You can adjust the heat with red pepper flakes. When pickling green beans, look for beans that are deep green and straight. Although pickled green beans can be safely canned in a boiling water bath canner, plain green beans must be processed in a pressure canner for safety. 

Pickled Dilled Beans

4 pounds fresh tender green or yellow beans (5 to 6 inches long)
8 to 16 heads fresh dill
8 cloves garlic (optional)
1/2 c. canning or pickling salt
4 c. white vinegar (5%)
4 c. water
1 tsp. hot red pepper flakes (optional and adjustable)

Wash and trim ends from beans and cut to 4-inch lengths. In each sterile (hot) pint jar, place 1 to 2 dill heads and, if desired, 1 clove of garlic. Place whole beans upright in jars, leaving ½ inch of head space. Trim beans to ensure proper fit if necessary. Combine salt, vinegar water and pepper flakes (if desired). Bring to a boil. Add hot solution to beans, leaving ½ inch of head space.

Know your altitude prior to selecting your processing time. Adjust lids and process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes if your altitude is less than 1,000 feet, for 10 minutes if your altitude is 1,001 to 6,000 feet or 15 minutes if your altitude is above 6,000 feet.

Makes about eight pints. Nutrition information is not available.

(Julie Garden-Robinson, Ph.D., R.D., L.R.D., is a North Dakota State University Extension food and nutrition specialist and professor in the Department of Health, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences.)

NDSU Agriculture Communication – Sept. 3, 2026

Source: Julie Garden-Robinson, 701-231-7187, julie.garden-robinson@ndsu.edu

Editor: Dominic Erickson, 701-231-5546, dominic.erickson@ndsu.edu