how to make low sodium dill pickles | Family Cuisine

Making Salt Free Dill Pickles

My family LOVES dill pickles. It’s kind of an obsession with us. My wife favors sweet pickles the most, but she also enjoys good dill pickles. When I first was told I needed to go low/no sodium for my heart, and I thought that would be the end of pickles. Are there salt free dill pickles?

Reading: how to make low sodium dill pickles

I basically started sobbing. Once the salty tears were wiped away, I began my quest for reduced sodium, low sodium, or no sodium pickles. There were only a few options available in stores and online. The ones online were pretty costly to ship, so I needed a better alternative.

Modifying Mom’s Recipe

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My Mom had made and preserved pickles once when we were younger, but I could never find her recipe. I did however find several recipes online and with the help of my wife and children we went to the farmer’s market. We gathered our ingredients and dug into the job back in the kitchen. Our first batches (in fact three batches) were horrific! We screwed up the taste profiles, or the brine mixture.

It was our first time trying it, so we expected some trial and error. Finally we got a batch that not only turned out good, we thought it was great! The recipe mentioned these would last several weeks in the refrigerator, but they barely lasted the week in our house. So if you might want to make more. The only salt is that which naturally occurs in the cucumbers.

Crisp Pickles?

Many people have asked me about the mention of adding grape leaves to the jars in the recipe. It is an older tradition and usually is for pickles that will be canned and preserved longer than the refrigerator pickle recipe that this is. There are many old recipes that include different techniques, such as adding alum, lime (the chemical lime, not the fruit), Calcium Chloride, and many more ideas. The best tip, is the one I learned from this post about crispy pickles from Penn State; to cut the blossom ends off of the cucumbers. The blossom contains enzymes that will soften and break down the cucumber over time.

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If you do want to go the grape leave route. Most grape leaves found preserved in the greek or mediterranean aisle are packed with sodium. I usually get grape leaves from local wineries. The leaves are a bit smaller than the stuffing kind found in stores.

You can also add some more hot chilies or jalapenos if you want the heat.

Save The Pickle Juice

When the pickles are gone, you can always use the juice to do a quick pickle of any veggies. Just shred or slice and immerse for a while. You can also use it to make my Low Sodium Creamy Dill Pickle Dressing!

The Recipe for Making Salt Free Dill Pickles

Here is the recipe that was our success:

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