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by Victoria 134 Comments
Wondering how to make crispy, rich, and delicious sweet pickles for canning? If you've never tried canning pickles before, you may be surprised how delicious sweet pickle spears can be in this sweet and spicy recipe!
This recipe was an instant winner for us and I bet that once you taste it, you'll be adding this sweet pickle recipe to your personal collection too!
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We love sweet pickles around here. They were a classic snack around my house growing up and we also enjoyed them in mom's hearty homemade chicken salad!
About 10 years ago we stopped buying our sweet pickles from the store and started canning sweet pickles at home with this sweet pickle recipe that creates perfectly crisp sweet pickles!
Fortunately, our Back to Eden garden has given us about 400 pounds (no, seriously) of cucumbers in the last 4 weeks and is still going strong!
This is just one day worth of cucumbers... we get this many every day!
While most are going to the chickens at this point, I'm still canning pickles at an alarming rate!
We have dill spears, of course, hamburger dill slices, and sweet gherkins. All sitting pretty on the shelves and waiting to be devoured later in the year...
But with the number of sweet gherkins we go through in a year, I really wanted to up the number of sweet pickles we had in the pantry without having to wait for more tiny cucumbers to be produced.
In fact, it's been kind of tricky to catch the cucumbers at the right stage, since they seem to grow from minuscule to ginormous in less than 24 hours!
So I set out to create a great sweet pickle spears recipe that could be used on bigger cucumbers to achieve that same sweet gherkin flavor and texture. Much to my surprise, I hit the jackpot on the first try!
Note: This recipe uses approved vinegar levels for canning pickles and only changes seasonings.
Sweet Pickle Recipe
Whether you have large or small cucumbers, this sweet pickle recipe is just the thing to use them up without having to undergo the 4 day process of making sweet gherkins!
In fact, from start to finish this recipe takes about 3 hours of total time, and less than 20 minutes of hands on time!
Another thing I really like about this recipe is that you get nice crisp sweet pickles regardless of how you slice them! I like spears, but my mom likes slices... and this sweet pickle recipe is perfect for either style!
In depth water bath canning instructions can be found in my Quick Start Guide to Water Bath Canning, and nothing changes for this delicious sweet pickles recipe except the ingredients ;-)
How to Make Crisp Sweet Pickles
If you've ever tried canning pickles before, you may have have a soggy finished product. That's because the recipe likely didn't call for any tannin ingredient!
Tannin helps the pickles stay nice and crisp even through the extended heating process.
In the past, people used grape leaves, but I prefer black tea. I love the flavor that it yields and it works perfectly for keeping the pickles crisp!
So, while I might see odd that my recipe calls for black tea, this keeps the pickles crisp through the canning process!
Just be sure to rip the bag open and pour the loose leaves into the jar - you don't want any packaging, staples, or tags in with your sweet pickles!
Canning Sweet Pickle Spears
This recipe for canning pickles is perfect if you love crisp sweet gherkin pickles! Works with cucumbers of any size!
4.74 from 50 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Canning Pickles, Sweet Gherkin Pickles, Sweet Pickle Recipe
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
Servings: 4 Quarts
Ingredients
- 4 Quart Jars, with Rings and Lid Sets
- 4 pounds cucumbers cut in 6 inch spears, or sliced
- 4 cups sugar
- 3 3/4 cup white vinegar
- 3 Tbsp canning salt
- 4 cinnamon stick 3-4" long
- 4 tsp whole cloves
- 2 tsp fresh ginger sliced or diced
- 4 organic black tea bags (**See notes) I like to use English Breakfast
Instructions
Cover spears with boiling water and let stand 2 hours. Drain. (***See notes)
Combine sugar, salt, and vinegar in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
In hot wide mouth quart jars, place 1 cinnamon stick, 1 tsp whole cloves, 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, and the contents of 1 tea bag (don't include any of the packaging!).
Pack spears into hot jars and ladle sugar/vinegar over them, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
Remove bubbles and wipe the rim of the jar to ensure a good seal.
Adjust lid and ring to finger-tightness, process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.
Remove carefully from boiling water bath and place on a towel on the counter (this reduces the change of glass breakage).
Allow to sit overnight before moving. Check seals in the morning and refrigerate anything that didn't fully seal.
Notes
See full step by step water-bath canning directions here!
** Organic Tea: You can use pickle crisp instead, if desired. Follow the recommended amount listed on the pickle crisp you have (it may vary). Add the pickle crisp to each jar before adding the cucumbers or liquid. Process as normal.
*** Boiling Water Step: Please note, this step is to take the place of a 3 day brine process that is normal with sweet cucumber pickles.
The water DOES NOT stay at a boiling temperature, you boil it, then pour it over a bowl full of sliced cucumbers.
There has been some confusion about this step, so I'm adding additional details. Hopefully this helps. You CAN skip this step if desired, however, you may not get the full flavor depth in your finished product.
Tried this recipe?Mention @AModHomestead or tag ##amodernhomestead!
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Irene says
Hi, I made the pickles in slices, yesterday. I added a tbsp of tea leaves to each quart and now the pickles, after standing on my counter all night, are really dark in colour. Maybe I used too much tea? Also there are a lot of little bubbles in the jars. They were hot water canned for 15 minutes. I have never in 40 years of pickle making had pickles with bubbles. Could the tea be making it ferment? Is it safe to consume? The jars have a good seal
Reply
Victoria says
Hi Irene – I know we talked via email, but I wanted others to know too – the bubbles are fine! Enjoy!
Reply
Rick says
Hi Victoria,
First year canner, so maybe the question is obvious for others, but new for me. Sounds like a wonderful recipe and I can’t wait to try it. Question though, how long after canning is best to wait before ready to enjoy? Thanks and best wishes!
Reply
Victoria says
Hi Rick! Congratulations on starting your canning career! You can eat them as soon as the jars cool – I like to place on in the fridge overnight after they have fully cooled from canning and eat them cold. Up to you though!
Reply
Jim says
Hi,
You state to use 3/4 teaspoon of Pickle Crisp per pint and the Ball jar states rounded 1/8 teaspoon per pint. Some where there is large difference. Can I safely use more without adding a taste to the pickles or making them like boards?
Thanks
Reply
Victoria says
Hi Jim, thank you for your comment! The jar of pickle crisp I have is ollllllld because I don’t use it. So, I grabbed a new jar and the measurements are now different. So I’m updating the post to reflect that! Please use the measurements listed on the jar you have. Thank you again!
Reply
Dee says
Seriously, one of the best sweet pickle recipes every.
Reply
Victoria says
Thank you Dee!
Reply
Mary Englund says
I have been making dill pickles for at least 6 years, but wanted to try sweet pickles. I loved the idea that I could make any shape (spears or slices or very small cukes) with your recipe and that it doesn’t take 4 days. So I tried it, using the black tea bags. The pickles came out tasty, VERY SOFT AND SHRIVELED. I thought I had perhaps processed too long in the water bath because it took a bit to get it boiling again after adding the jars of pickles. So I used the same brine and added cukes that had been soaked as required, but just placed the jar in the fridge, no water bath processing. The result was the same…very shriveled, soft pickles. I grow the cucumbers myself, and have been using them all Summer for dill pickles, so I know they are freshly picked and not soft. I am about ready to give up on this recipe. Any ideas? Thanks, Mary
Reply
Victoria says
Hi Mary!
I’m sorry that’s happened to you. Are your dill pickles crunchy? Seems like most people get crunchy pickles from this recipe, someone even did a youtube video review of the recipe where you could hear the crunch of the pickle as she ate it. But then a few others have had this same issue.
Sadly, I haven’t been able to replicate it myself, so I haven’t been much help in troubleshooting the cause! The only thing I thought was the cucumber variety – but if your dills are crunchy, that wouldn’t be the case.
Perhaps if you soak the dills for several days, those particular cukes need the soaking time? I’m sorry I can’t be more help!
Reply
Barbara Milczynski says
I have been canning pickles for 50+ years and am going to try this recipe tomorrow. With regard to shriveled pickles, years ago I read in a canning book that you need to remove and discard a 1/4 inch slice from the blossom end of the cucumber pickle as it may contain an enzyme that causes excessive softening and shriveling of the pickles. Thought I’d share that with you.
Reply
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