The Easy Addition That Gives Your Homemade Pickles A Sweet Touch

When you want a cheeky little snack that's crunchy, tangy, and sour, maybe even a little sweet or spicy, nothing beats the humble little pickled cucumber. They're delicious right out of the jar, but super versatile as sandwich toppers and charcuterie board additions. For the grocery store variety, Chowhound's ranking of store-bought pickles from worst to best is a helpful guide. But making them at home isn't something that only a professional or someone raised in the pickling arts can accomplish — it's actually quite easy. If you're already a vinegar-head, this simple trick can help take your pickles to the next level, and you can use it to go beyond mere cucumbers into a whole world of pickled vegetables.

To add a sweet touch to your next batch of pickles, add a little honey. With honey, you can go all the way sweet with bread and butter pickles, or just add a little balance to your vinegar-forward or spicy pickles. The sweetness of honey will complement the vinegar and spices, to give your pickles more nuanced flavor. Honey has a depth of flavor that lingers on the tongue. It's more of a slowly-rolling floral and spice downbeat, than the quick, one-note-only, punch of sugar's upbeat. Just follow these simple tricks to infuse your pickles with some subtle honey flavor.

There are a number of ways to use honey to sweeten the flavor of your pickles, and we even have some tips for the newbie pickler. If you're already using sugar in your pickles, you can simply substitute honey in place of sugar for extra flavor. Honey is sweeter than sugar, so you'll want to use ¾ cup of honey for every cup of sugar called for in the recipe. For a quick pickle, the prep is the same — beyond that, you'll just need to make sure the honey is fully dissolved as you cook it with your vinegar and spice mixture.

For the most basic vinegar and honey pickles, you'll use two parts vinegar to one part honey (and salt) and simmer them together with dried spices on the stove until the honey is fully dissolved and incorporated into the vinegar mix. From there, just pour the hot liquid into a jar packed with whole or sliced cucumbers (and maybe some garlic). This method will work with green beans, radishes, onions, beets, and most root vegetables. As for spices, mustard seed, coriander, black pepper, and dried dill are all obvious choices, and you can mix and match them to your desired flavor profile. Turmeric will add a nice, mellow note of spice and turn veggies like radishes and cauliflower a beautiful bright yellow. 

When playing with recipes for extra crunch, you can even add a little loose leaf tea to your pickle brine, or give your pickles a boost of umami with soy sauce. Whatever else you decide to add to your pickle mix, try it with a little honey for a sweet and delicate touch that's super easy to do.