Instant Pot Pickled Cucumbers

Dill pickles and bread and butter pickles are very popular, whether in a sandwich or just by themselves. This Instant Pot Pickled Cucumbers recipe has the same great taste of bread and butter pickles with less preservatives and less pickling time.

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Pickles are either hated or loved, but I am sure you can agree that they make a great condiment for burgers and hot dogs. Perfect for the summertime bar-be-que with the family, along with some Instant Pot Baked Beans.

Usually, pickling cucumbers may take at least 24 hours but when making instant pot cucumber pickles, all you need is 1 minute on low pressure and cooling time at room temperature.

If you like pickles then, with this recipe, you are in luck. Pickles are generally low in calories and great in probiotic benefits. There are a wide variety of cucumbers that are used for pickles, as a matter of fact any vegetable can be pickled.

Different Types of Cucumber for Instant Pot Pickled Cucumbers

The most popular cucumbers used for pickling are called Kirby cucumbers. Kirby cucumbers have a thicker skin that can hold up to the picking process much longer than any other cucumber. The kirby cucumber pickles can be stored for up to a year, once kept in an airtight container and refrigerated. 

Other than kirby cucumber, any of the varieties of cucumbers can be used for pickling. 

However, pickling cucumbers tend to be smaller in size, and have a more compact seed in the center of the vegetable.

Benefits of Cucumbers

Cucumbers are fragrant, so fragrant that they are used to make body products for everyday use, such as lotions, perfumes and body scrubs.

With this fact, it is safe to say that cucumbers are great for the skin.

Uses for Cucumber

Cucumbers are generally easy crops to grow, especially during the summer months, here in New York.

Being that New York is in the zone 7 area, the cucumbers that are harvested here in the summer are so abundant that we need to find different uses for them. 

Here are 15 ways to use cucumbers (other than instant pot pickled cucumbers): 

1. Make gazpacho 

2. Add to a salad

3. Blend them with a smoothie

4. Ferment them for future use

5. Cucumber salads

6. Eat them raw

7. Frozen treats

8. Add them to stir fry

9. Make a slaw

10. Alcoholic beverages

11. Lotions

12. Body Scrubs

13. Facial Scrubs 

14. Masks for the body and face

15. Fragrance Oils

How to Pickle Cucumbers?

To make the pickling process easier, we have made the switch to pickling in the instant pot. Making pickled cucumbers in the instant pot, not only saves time, but it surely does taste better. You will be able to add or subtract any ingredient based on preference. 

Dill is a main ingredient in popular pickle recipes, however there is no rule that every pickled cucumber must be a dill pickle.

Personally, I like dill pickles and pickle juice but bread and butter pickles are a hit or miss for me, depending on the brand. This instant pot pickled cucumbers will allow you to create your own version of either a dill pickle or bread and butter pickle.

How to Store Instant Pot Pickled Cucumbers?

Usually, pickling cucumbers are done in jars, and this process may take up to or at least 24 hours depending on the size of the cucumbers.

Pickling cucumbers in the instant pot is so quick and easy to make and eat that there is no storage needed. I would recommend making, cooling and serving these instant pot pickled cucumbers as soon as they are done. 

However, if you need to make these pickles ahead of time, just ensure the pickle chips are cooled and stored in an airtight container, like this one.

This will last for no more than one week once refrigerated, maybe longer if you are using kirby cucumbers as mentioned above.

If you are not sure if the cucumbers are good after a week, just open the jar and smell the liquid. Once the liquid smell good, you can take a bite of a pickle chip, if the chip is crunchy, there is some more shelf life left on your instant pot pickled cucumbers.