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Virginia Chunk Sweet Pickles are crisp, sweet, tangy, and perfectly delicious. A real childhood favorite of mine, and you’ll love them too!
Featured with this recipe
These Virginia Chunk Sweet Pickles are truly a taste of my childhood. Anytime we would visit my Aunt Echo and Uncle Larry, they always served these pickles along with dinner (my favorite was when they served them with roast and potatoes). They were always sweet, crisp, and perfectly delicious. In my honest opinion, no other sweet pickle even compares. A special “THANK YOU” to our Aunt Echo for sharing this recipe with us! I am so excited to share it now with you.
Perfect Pickles Take Time
If you take a look at this recipe, you can see these little babies take about two weeks to make from start to finish. But that’s what makes them so good! You can’t rush perfection. The good news is, for one whole week you don’t even touch them, and the next week you only need to spend a few minutes a day working on them. The actual time you actively spend making the pickles really isn’t that much. Trust me, they’re totally worth it!
Tips for Making Sweet Pickles
- Use four to five inch size pickling cucumbers. You’ll need about 75 for this batch.
- You are going to need something big to put the ingredients in while brining. A large food storage bucket works great.
- If you’re making these pickles in hot weather, you’ll need to skim the top of the bucket daily.
- Follow the steps listed in the recipe card carefully. We will hold your hand through the whole process and I promise they’ll turn out perfectly!
- If you plan on canning these pickles, make sure to process the bottles in a hot water bath for ten minutes after the whole process is through.
Ingredients
- Pickling cucumbers
- Salt
- Alum powder
- Vinegar
- Sugar
- Pickling spice
- Celery seed
Read More: 35+ Best BBQ Side Dishes
What to Serve with Sweet Pickles
Eat these plain right out of the jar (no judgement) or alongside any of these recipes. We hope you enjoy these little tangy sweet bites!
- Slice these pickles on top of these Chili Cheese Dogs.
- Dice them up and mix into our Best Potato Salad.
- Serve alongside our Perfect Tuna Melt Sandwich.
- Slice onto this Corned Beef Sandwich.
- Use them in our Ham Roll-ups with Pickles Recipe.
How to Make Virginia Chunk Sweet Pickles
Virginia Chunk Sweet Pickles
Ingredients
Instructions
- Make brine with 2 cups salt and one gallon of water. Boil mixture and pour over cucumbers while still boiling hot. Weigh down cucumbers to keep them under the brine (don't let them float to the top). Let stand for one week. In hot weather, skim daily.
- Drain and cut cucumbers into chunks.
- For the next 3 mornings make a boiling hot solution of one gallon water and one tablespoon alum powder and pour over the pickles. Make this fresh hot bath each day for three mornings (draining each day and giving a new solution each day).
- On the fourth morning, drain and discard alum water.
- Heat 6 cups vinegar, 5 cups sugar, ⅓ cup pickling spice, and 1 tablespoon celery seed to boiling and pour over the pickles– allow to sit overnight.
- On the fifth morning, drain this liquid off, reserving it, and add to it 2 cups more sugar, heat again to boiling point and pour over the pickles.
- On the sixth morning, drain liquid, reserving it again, add one more cup of sugar, and heat to boiling.
- At this time, pack pickles into sterilized canning jars and fill within 1/2-inch of top of jar with the boiling liquid, seal at once.
- If you are wanting to can and store for long-term, process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.
If you can then, how long do you let them sit before opening a jar?
You can open them up as soon as soon as the cans cool down.
This exact same recipe was given to me by my grannie (my father’s mother). I loved her pickles. Both my grannie and my father have passed into heaven and I treasure this recipe. I am in the midst of making it now. It’s so good to know others are enjoying it as well.
Hi Susan- I am so sorry for your losses and hope that this recipe will continue to bring back treasured memories of your loved ones. Thank you for sharing your memories with us!
I have the large English cukes. Will those work ok?
We haven’t tried it with English cucumbers before so I can’t say for sure. I am guessing they will be ok but I can’t tell you for certain. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help on this one!
Hi! I followed the directions. During the brining process I kept the brine covered cucumbers in a dark corner of my pantry covered with plastic wrap. When I went to pull them out I discovered that mold had formed on the top of the brine solution. What did I do wrong? Thanks in advance!
Hi Becky- I’m not sure what could have gone wrong! I did a search and found that it may have been the salt? Here is the article I found. Hope this helps! https://www.fermentedfoodlab.com/how-to-prevent-mold-when-fermenting-vegetables/
I can’t believe I found this recipe. I have made these for years from my mother’s recipe and knew of no one else who ever made them. I believe the problem this person had with mold was the airtight seal created by the plastic wrap. Mom always tied a large cotton dish towel over the crock. She held the cukes down with a plate with a closed jar of water on top of the plate and the towel over that. She told me the first time she made them she thought they spoiled and threw them all out, then learned that you just skim them. I have a disappointing problem with cukes I am buying from fruit stand hollowing out after brine. Wish I could grow my own so I could process same day as picking.
Wow these look so incredible!! I love how thick they are. They remind me of the pickles I get on the side when I go to a southern restaurant. I apologize if I missed where you said it, but how long do these normally last after they’re finished pickling?
Won’t plastic melt from the hot brine? Will it hurt the flavor of the pickles? Thank you!!
The plastic shouldn’t melt but if you are worried about it, you can use a ceramic pickling crock– that is actually what I use and it works GREAT. Hope this helps!
I have a similar recipe that came from my wife’s grandmother. It takes even longer, so I make it worth the effort and do 25 pounds of cukes in a batch. We give them as gifts which means every year we need more to keep up with the demand.
Besides using the juice in potato salad, which was mentioned earlier, I have several other tricks for you to try.
I usually have some syrup leftover after sealing all the pickles and it works great for pickling a couple pints of beets.
We got tired of trying to slice the pickle chunks to go on our leftover turkey sandwiches, so I bought a mandolin and tried slices about 3/16 inch thick. I was afraid they wouldn’t be crisp enough, but it works great with my recipe. Pick cukes that will give you slices the right length to fit your favorite sandwich bread. Slicing happens at the same stage as chunking.
Making slices I wind up with some “scraps” that I sort into separate jars and save for making relish.
I like spicy food, so am currently experimenting with adding some habanero sauce before I seal the jar. I did 3 test pints this year and the hotest was the best but still needs more heat, so I will keep testing. I like El Yucateca Green as my everyday hot sauce and being green works with the pickles. This sauce is rated at 8500 Scoville and I used 1 1/2 teaspoons in a pint of pickles for the hottest I have made. I’m guessing I’ll be happy at 2 or 2 1/2 teaspoons to a pint because habanero grows in heat as you eat. Sweet-Hot is pretty awesome if you like hot.
Grandma’s pickles were always very green as she sometimes added a few drops of green food coloring.
I use new buckets every year from Home Depot or similar. That way I know they won’t have some strange contaminant to ruin all my work. I cover the cukes with cheesecloth and hold them under the liquid with a dinner plate. You can get plates to match your bucket size at Goodwill so you aren’t using the good plates.
Wow, these are awesome tips, David! Thank you!!! I love the idea of making hot pickles, too. Definitely going to try it for my next batch. How do you feel yours turned out? I also love the idea of using new buckets each year. That makes so much sense!
??are all these steps done at room temp.or do you soak them in refrigerator. If room temp does it matter we dont have air conditioning
It doesn’t have to be in the fridge. If you live in a hot climate, you just need to skim the top daily.
At what point do you chunk the larger cucumbers? After the first week?
Yes, you have them whole for a week in the brine and then you chunk them. Hope this helps!
I accidentally cut up my cucumbers before brining. Will it hurt them/affect the recipe?
It shouldn’t – they should still turn out fine!
I done the same thing I chunked my cucumbers up before I soaked them in the brine. How did yours turn out? It makes me wonder if will make the pickles salty. Please help
Are you using pickling salt for the brine?
I just used regular table salt but you can use pickling salt if you would like! Hope this helps!
I have them going now. About to make the vinegar/sugar solution. They look how I remember them as a child.
I am so glad I found your recipe! I was taught how to make these in 1990 by a sweet neighbor I met in KY. Her husband provided the cucumbers from his garden. They were wonderful! I never had the opportunity to make them again. Now, almost 30 Years later, I have her handwritten recipe, but it’s difficult to read. I now have my own garden, and am anxious to have cucumbers so I can try this again!
What a great story! I am glad you were able to find this recipe so you can make it. Please let us know how it turns out for you! 😀
What do you use for a container to soak then cucumbers in?
We have a BIG old-fashioned ceramic crock that has a heavy lid. You can also just use big plastic buckets from the hardware store that have lids. Hope this helps!
Should ,you cucumbers be slimey after soaking in salt brime for 7 days?
They shouldn’t be slimey. Did you skim the top every day while they were brining?
Erika,
Do you use white or cider vinegar ? I have my mother’s recipe, my son-in-laws, grandmothers recipe and yours and they are exactly the same. First year to try it and I am on day 11 that is why the question on vinegar.
Thanks for your help…..
I usually just use white vinegar! Hope this helps!
I bought Huge clear glass canisters at Walmart a few years ago and have been making my Mamaw’s pickle recipe in them.Her recipe is the same.Family members beg for my pickles and I never throw away juice.It makes egg salad,potato salads,etc. much better!
Use the pickle juice as a secret addition to your potato salad and your life will be complete🤗👍
Oooooh, I love that idea! Definitely will try it with our mom’s potato salad next time 😉 I literally have a batch of these brining right now. So many memories of these pickles and your parents. They were always my favorite treat when we visit them.
I plan on starting these next weekend. Approximately how many pints does this recipe yield?
It should make 8-10 pints!
Do you rinse with cold water every time that you drain the cucumbers?
No, there is no need to rinse them. Hope this helps!
I want To make these pickles that I live in Houston Texas and it is very hot and I would not feel safe leaving these pickles even in my garage so panel leave them in my house for the five days?
Yes, you can leave them in your house if you are worried about leaving them in the garage! You will just want to find a place where they won’t be disturbed. Hope this helps!
THANKS so much for this recipes have been looking for a few years, I lost the one I had and Thanks this is it………. God Bless You…..
We are so excited that you found it too! These are hands-down my favorite pickles EVER. They take time but it is SO worth it!
This is very similar to my Grandma’s recipe. Her recipe includes a little cinnamon oil or cinnamon stick and calls for using apple cider vinegar. What kind of vinegar do you use?
We just use the white vinegar but apple cider would be wonderful!
This is our all time fav! Have been making them for years! However, I’m cutting 1 cup sugar out from the 5. They are super sweet and I don’t think we’ll miss it! I never seem to have enough of the brine on the 4 th day to cover so added 2 c more vinegar!! Do you think I’ll ruin them????? Boiling 4th day brine now! ????
You should be ok! Let me know how they turn out! Good luck! 😀
I’m really questioning the amount of sugar too. I used 5 cups on the first day and I tasted them this morning. They seem perfect to me already, but the recipe says I am to add 2 cups sugar today and another tomorrow. Does anyone have any advice? BTW, I did not have 75 cucumbers, only 40. Does that have an impact of the amount of sugar?
Hi Erica, I made your sweet pickles for the first time and followed the instructions to the letter. I will never make them any other way from now on. Best ever sweet pickles. To my surprise, they turned out crisp!! Pouring all that boiling brine had me a little worried. I might have to call them ” Texas Chunk Sweet pickles”. Lol
Thanks for the recipe. John, from Podunk Texas.
John – I am so glad to hear that you liked them!!! The recipe is actually from my aunt Echo so I will let her know 😉 She will be so excited. I find myself craving these pickles often.. they take time but SO worth it! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a nice comment 🙂
After the first week are they to be completed outdoor in the hot weather or inside? Also do they need to be covered with anything? Thanks for your help!
I usually keep them in my garage (not TOO hot). The buckets we use have lids, I like to cover them just so dust and random things don’t get into the brine. Hope this helps!
I was born and raised in Virginia and these taste just like my grandmothers but I didn’t do chunks I went and picked my baby pickles and did this recipe and wow just wow because this brings back many memories and thank you because I was never able to get her recipe
That makes me so happy! What a wonderful way to remember the memories with your grandmother. I’m glad that baby pickles works so well for you. I am going to have to try that next time! Thank you so much for sharing!
Hi! A pin of your meatloaf recipe on Pinterest brought me to your site.
I’ve enjoyed browsing and will be back for more later. ????
This pickle recipe looks delicious! Could you tell me please how many pints or quarts this recipe makes? Sorry if it’s already on the recipe; I just can’t see it.
It should make 8-10 pints. Hope this helps!
I tried to pin this for you and got this message. I don’t think it is my computer so I thought you might like to know. I am going to try this pickle recipe.
Parameter ‘browser_extension_tracking_id was not numeric (was nAWNe08Zki9e-1)
U just tried the pin and it looks ok. Maybe it was an issue with Pinterest?
try to send it to me
Try to send you the pin? I am confused. You should be able to pin this recipe now if you hit the pinterest button at the top of the post. Hope his helps!
My cucumbers are wrinkled after only 24 hours in the salt water , will they be ok to continue and make the pickles?