Is it even a holiday dinner if you don't have a pickle tray? And what better to grace your relish tray than these holiday-themed homemade pickles filled with all the goodness of holiday flavors? Whether you're serving them or gifting them, Christmas pickles are a unique way to add more holiday spirit. You're welcome.
Short Cut Refrigerator Cinnamon Pickles
Refrigerator pickles will last for about two weeks, and they're so yummy on a relish tray. This recipe is for a single pint jar (8 ounces). These pickles are sure to be hot Christmas treat that's sweet and tasty! The best part is that you can make them quickly without the need for canning. Refrigerate and use within 7-10 days.
Supplies
- 1 pint-sized canning jar with lid and ring
- Knife, to cut cucumber spears
- Medium size saucepan
- Wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 cucumbers, medium size
- ¼ cup Red Hots
- 1½ cups distilled white vinegar
- ½ cup water
- 3 to 4 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
Directions
- Rinse the cucumbers.
- Pour the Red Hots into the jar. Cut the cucumbers lengthwise into spears, but don't peel them. Place spears lengthwise into the jar.
- Set the jar in the sink.
- On medium heat, combine the water, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a medium-sized saucepan.
- Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes to a rolling boil.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the mixture into the jar in the sink. Fill to 1 inch from the rim of the jar.
- Carefully place the lid over the jar and screw on the ring. Lift from sink with jar lifter and place on a trivet, potholder, or small towel until it cools. You'll hear the lid make a pinging sound as the jar seals.
- Place the jar in the refrigerator for 8 hours before eating. Store in the refrigerator. The pickles need to be eaten within 10 days since they aren't preserved like bathwater canned pickles.
Pickles With Horseradish
This Christmas treat is easy to make and may become a year-round favorite! You can keep this in the refrigerator for up to two months, if the pickles last that long!
Supplies
- 2 pint canning jars with rings and lids
- Canning jar funnel
- Sieve and bowl to hold drained picked juice
- Medium size saucepan
- Large mixing bowl
- Wooden spoon
- Ladle
Ingredients
- 1 quart jar of dill pickles, chips (your favorite brand)
- 1 cup sugar, granulated
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
- 3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
Directions
- Drain the juice from the pickles into a bowl and hold it in reserve for later.
- Empty the drained pickles into a large bowl.
- Add the chopped onion.
- Stir with a wooden spoon.
- Place the funnel into one jar and ladle pickles and onions to about 1 inch from the rim.
- Repeat with the other jar.
- Over low heat, stir together vinegar, horseradish, and sugar until the sugar is melted and the ingredients are thoroughly mixed together.
- Measure and add ¾ cup of pickle juice to the mixture.
- Continue to stir for about 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat.
- Using the funnel and ladle, add the mixture from the saucepan into the jar, covering the pickles and filling the jar to one inch from the rim.
- If you run low on the mixture, just add some of the remaining pickle juice to finish filling the jars.
- Wipe the jar rim clean with a damp paper towel.
- Run a dry sheet of paper towel over the rim.
- Place the lid on the jar and screw on the ring.
- Allow the liquid to cool, and then place in the refrigerator.
- Wait 8 hours before eating.
- Keep pickles stored in the refrigerator.
Pickles and Maraschino Cherries Recipe
This recipe combines sweet and spicy/tangy tastes for a wonderful holiday condiment. Serve toasted banquette slices with goat cheese and topped with your pickle/maraschino cherry recipe for a great party hors d'oeuvre.
Supplies
- 2 pint canning jars with lids and rings
- Sieve
- Medium size saucepan
- Wooden spoon
- Large bowl
- Funnel
Ingredients
- 1-quart jar of dill pickle chips (your choice)
- 1 (10 ounce) jar of Maraschino cherries
- 2 cups sugar, granulated
- ½ cup distilled white vinegar
- ⅓ cup water
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- ½ teaspoon whole cloves
- Celery seed (½ teaspoon per jar)
Directions
- Drain pickles through the sieve and discard the liquid. Place pickles in a large bowl.
- Drain the cherries and discard the liquid. Place the cherries in a bowl with pickles.
- Gently stir to mix, carefully not to damage the cherries.
- In the saucepan, combine the water, sugar, vinegar, cloves, and cinnamon sticks. Don't add celery seeds.
- Cook over low heat, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon, until the sugar melts. Bring the mixture to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat.
- Place the funnel in one jar and spoon pickles and cherries into the jar. Leave 1" headroom.
- Carefully pour the mixture in the saucepan into jars, one at a time. Until the mixture is about 1" from the jar rim.
- Add ½ teaspoon of celery to each jar.
- Place the lids on the jars and tighten the rings.
- Shake jars to allow the celery seeds to mix well.
- Store in the refrigerator for 5-7 days before serving. You can keep this holiday pickle in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.
Related: Pickle Recipes
Koolickles Christmas Pickle Recipe
This easy recipe can be used with any of your favorite Kool-Aid flavors. You can use cherry for one recipe and then lime for another one and serve red and green pickle chips. If your Christmas table colors are non-traditional, you may decide to make several batches using different Kool-Aid flavors.
Supplies
- Wooden spoon
- Sieve
- Large bowl
Ingredients
- 1 (32-ounce) jar dill pickle chips
- ⅔ cup sugar, granulated
- 1 envelope unsweetened Kool-Aid, cherry or your favorite flavor
Directions
- Drain pickles by pouring juice into a large bowl. Use the sieve to catch any pickles that escape with juice.
- Keep the juice.
- Return the pickle chips to the jar.
- Add sugar and Kool-Aid to the juice in the bowl.
- Stir with a wooden spoon until sugar is completely dissolved.
- Pour the pickle mixture into a jar.
- Screw on pickle jar lid and store the pickles in your refrigerator for at least a week before using.
- Pickle shelf life in your refrigerator is 2 months.
Garlic Watermelon Jolly Rancher Pickle Recipe
You can make this recipe using any of your favorite Jolly Rancher flavors. Watermelon is a favorite choice for Christmas pickles, but any of these candy flavors can be used.
Supplies
- 2 (8-ounce/pint-sized) canning jars with lids and rings
- Medium size saucepan
- Wooden spoon
- Sieve
- Large bowl
- Funnel
- Food processor
- Ladle
- Medium size saucepan
Ingredients
- 1 (1-quart) jar of dill pickles, spears
- 10 pieces Jolly Ranchers, watermelon flavor
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- ¾ cup sugar, granulated
- 1 tablespoon salt
Directions
- Drain the pickles by pouring the juice into a large bowl. (Use a sieve to catch any pickles that escape with juice.)
- Keep the juice and pour it into a medium-sized saucepan.
- Place over low heat.
- Chop the garlic into small pieces. Add to the saucepan.
- Place the Jolly Ranchers in a food processor and grind them into small pieces for easier/faster melting. Add to the saucepan.
- Stir the mixture with the wooden spoon and bring it to a boil.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Place the pickle spears in the two-pint jars.
- Place the funnel in one of the jars and use the ladle to spoon the juice mixture until it is 1 inch from the jar rim.
- Repeat with the other jar. Discard any leftover juice.
- Place the lids onto the jar, tighten the rings, and store in the refrigerator for 1 week before eating.
- The pickle shelf life for being opened and stored in your refrigerator is 2 months.
Traditional Red Hots Christmas Pickle Recipe
If you want to start from scratch for a truly homemade cinnamon pickle recipe, and have several days to make this three-part version, you'll end up with a favorite Christmas pickle recipe that's well worth your time.
Part 1: Ferment the Pickles
You will need several supplies and ingredients for the first part of the recipe. This is the most important part of the recipe since it sets the quality and taste, so follow the recipe parts carefully. You will use fresh cucumbers to make the pickles.
Supplies
- 5-gallon food grade plastic bucket with a lid
- Spoon
- Knife
- Peeler
Ingredients
- 2 gallons of large cucumbers ( approximately 8-12)
- 1 cup pickling lime
- 1 teaspoon alum
- 2 cups distilled white vinegar
Directions
- Peel the cucumbers.
- Slice each cucumber lengthwise.
- Use a spoon to remove/scrape out the center of each length half, careful to remove seeds and pulp.
- Slice each cucumber half in ½-inch pieces(crescent moon shapes).
- Place sliced crescent moon-shaped cucumbers into a 5-gallon bucket.
- Mix the alum, pickling lime, and vinegar together.
- Pour the mixture over the cucumber slices.
- Add water until the cucumbers are completely covered. (You may need to stir slightly to mix.)
- Put a lid on the bucket and allow it to steep for 24 hours.
Drain, Rise, Fill, and Steep
For the next few days, you'll need to rinse the cucumber crescents to wash away the lime. You will need to repeat this process. The process takes just a little over two hours. Some people allow the cucumbers to rest for a day between each rinse and fill. It depends on how much time you have and how quickly you need to complete this recipe.
- You will need to drain the bucket and rinse the cucumbers with water.
- You can dump the pickles into a sieve and run cold water over them.
- The bucket needs to be rinsed to remove any alum and lime residue.
- Place the pickled cucumbers back into the bucket and fill with clean, cold water. Cover and let stand for 3-4 hours.
- Repeat the drain, rinse, fill, and steep process for a total of three times.
- Some people allow steeping times to be longer by waiting 24 hours between drains and rinses.
Boil Pickles
At the end of the last steeping process, you'll need to drain the pickles and place them in a large stockpot. Fill the stockpot with water until the pickles are completely submerged.
- Bring to a rolling boil and reduce the heat to simmer.
- Allow the pickles to cook slowly for two hours.
- You may need to add more water as it evaporates. Keep the pickles covered with water.
- At the end of two hours, drain the pickles and rinse underneath running water using a sieve.
- Return the pickles to the stockpot, cover, and leave on a cold range while you prepare the syrup.
Part 2: Make the Syrup
You will need to cook syrup for the pickles to transform them into candies. This part doesn't take very long to complete, but it is a vital part of the overall process.
Supplies
- Large saucepan or medium stockpot
- Cooking tongs
- Wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 10 cups sugar, granulated
- 2 cups distilled white vinegar
- 2 cups (16 ounces) Red Hots
- 5 to 6 sticks of cinnamon
- Red food dye (optional)
Directions
- In a large pot or large saucepan, mix water and vinegar.
- Stir in sugar with the wooden spoon.
- Bring to a boil and add Red Hots.
- Stir until the Red Hots melt.
- Pour the mixture into the bucket of pickles.
- Place a lid on the bucket. Allow to steep for 24 hours.
At the end of the 24 hours, you'll drain the syrup, bring it to a boil once more, pour over the pickles, reseal the bucket with the lid, and allow the pickles to steep for another 24 hours. You will repeat this one process more time for a total of three times.
Part 3: Making the Pickles Candied
You are nearly finished. You just need to can your candied pickles.
Supplies
- Water bath canner with a jar rack, funnel, jar lifter, bubble remover/headspace tool, and magnetic lid lifter (comes in a canning kit)
- 8 pint-sized canning jars (plain or decorative)
- Canning lids and rings
- Ladle
- Spoon
- Stockpot (reheat pickles and syrup)
- Footed sieve or one that fits over a bowl
- Bowl bigger than the sieve
Directions
- Fill the canner about halfway with water. Allow to boil.
- The jars need to be hot. Either heat the jars in the canner or wash and dry jars in a dishwasher, removing as soon as the cycle is over.
- Return the pickles and syrup to the stockpot, bring to a boil once more, and then reduce heat to simmer.
- Place the sieve over or in the bowl.
- Pour pickles and syrup into the sieve, careful of the steam.
- Lift the sieve from the bowl, allowing the syrup to fill the bowl.
- Using the jar lifter, remove the jars from the canner, pouring water back into the canner.
- Set the jars a few at a time in the sink or on a cabinet on top of a towel.
Part 4: Water Bath Canning
You will use a typical water bath to can your pickles. You may end up with less or more than 8 jars, depending on the size of the pickles.
- Place a funnel in one jar.
- Using the ladle or spoon, fill jars with pickles, stopping 1" from jar rim.
- Once all jars are filled with pickles, carefully ladle the syrup into each jar, using the funnel.
- With a damp cloth or paper towel, wipe the rims of the jars.
- Use a damp paper towel to make sure each jar rim is dry and clean.
- Add the lids and tighten the rings. Don't over-tighten.
- Lower the jar rack into the water.
- Bring the water to a boil.
- Using the jar lifter, place the jars inside the rack.
- The water needs to cover the jar lids by at least one inch.
- Process jars for 15 minutes.
Part 5: Remove, Cool, and Store Jars
When the time is up for the water bath canner, remove jars using the jar lifter and place on top of a towel on the kitchen counter in an area that won't be disturbed. Space the jars so none are touching each other.
- You'll begin to hear a ping sound as the jars seal.
- Don't disturb for 24 hours.
- Test that the jars are sealed by pressing your finger in the center of the lid. If the lid gives and springs up after the jar isn't sealed.
- Either place in the refrigerator and use within two weeks or reprocess in the water bath. Check the lid to make sure the rim of the jar is clean, since this can prevent the jar from sealing.
Exploring Recipes for Christmas Pickles
When you explore recipes for making Christmas pickles, you can find fun ways to dress up plain pickles made from cucumbers. Easy recipes that use store-bought pickles can be real time savers for the busy holidays.
