This sesame pickled cucumbers recipe is super easy and produces a flavorful brine and crunchy pickles that you can refrigerate for weeks. It’s truly a gift that keeps on giving. The brine is super simple to make–just boil some sugar, salt, and vinegar with lemon slices, jalapeño, and sesame seeds.
After pouring the cooled brine over sliced cucumbers and refrigerating, the result is a jar of crunchy pickles that you can throw over salads, use in sandwiches, or just munch on straight out of the jar. The brine itself can be used as a salad dressing or a seafood marinade.
steps for success
You’ll start the process by thinly slicing a lemon (with the seeds removed) and a jalapeño (removing the seeds here is optional–just depends on how hot to want them!).
Then, you’ll place the lemon and jalapeño slices in a medium saucepan filled with water, rice vinegar, sugar, salt, and sesame seeds.
While waiting for the sugar and salt to dissolve, slice a couple large cucumbers to your desired level of thickness.
The most important step is to let the brine cool completely before pouring over the cucumbers. You can even refrigerate it if you’re tight on time. Making sure the brine is cool will ensure your pickles will maintain their crunch and bright green color (instead of turning to a mushy brown).
⟶ the recipe
lemon sesame pickles
ingredients
2 large English cucumbers, sliced
1 lemon, sliced with seeds removed
1 jalapeño, thinly sliced
1 ½ cups rice vinegar
¼ cup sugar
4 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Prep time
10 minutes
Cook time
5 minutes
Total time
15 minutes
1 quart jarred pickles
instructions
Fill one large jar or a few smaller jars with the sliced cucumber (they shouldn’t fill more than half of the jar). Place lemon slices, jalapeño, vinegar, sugar, salt, and sesame seeds in a saucepan filled with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, stirring, until sugar and salt has dissolved. Let the mixture cool.
Once cooled, pour the brine over the cucumbers. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before using.
⟶ recipe notes
- Pickles can be refrigerated for up to 3 months
- You can also use this brine to pickle other veggies like radishes, red onion, and even asparagus. Check out my post for black bean & chard patties with poblanos to learn more about pickling
