Do you ever wonder what to do with the leftover pickle juice once you’ve finished up your favourite jar of pickles? Well, rather than tipping the juice down the sink or out in the garden, or even drinking it as a beverage, save it to make homemade pickles out of the remaining jar of pickle juice!

When it comes to food waste, I try my absolute best to create as little possible.

I’ve started composting at home without using a compost bin, I make a list of what I need each week and plan out my meals to avoid food spoilage in the fridge, I use up sour almond milk in recipes like pancakes, and I use leftover veggie scraps to make my own homemade stock.

But, when I learnt you could use the leftover pickle juice from store-bought pickles to make more pickles, I was so excited!

I am a huge fan of pickles.

That and olives. Yum.

I’ve been making my own fermented pickles at home for a few months now, but sometimes, when I’m not in the mood to make them myself, I’ll pop over to the shops and buy the biggest jar of pickles I can find.

But, I’m always left wondering what to do with the remaining pickle juice in the jar, as it feels wasteful to just tip it out in the garden (and I’m not sure the plants love it that much).

Before we get started in learning how to make homemade pickles out of leftover pickle juice – if you like what you’re seeing, subscribe to my email newsletter at the bottom of the page to keep up to date on the latest recipes, DIYs, gardening and health tips I share!!

Homemade Pickles with Leftover Pickle Juice

I started looking up ways to use up the leftover juice, and that’s when I came across this method for making homemade pickles.

Reusing pickle juice to make homemade pickles is super easy.

In just 24 hours these no-cook, quick refrigerator pickles are crisp and ready to eat. You only need two ingredients: cucumbers and leftover store-bought pickle juice.

Side note: I also recently learnt leftover pickle juice is great for marinating, adding to cocktails, pickling hard-boiled eggs, adding to your favourite dressing, and more. Just another reason to save it.

Pickle juice will last for about 1-2 years in the fridge.

You can keep the juice for quite while to reuse later on to make homemade pickles. Store any homemade pickles in the fridge and use within a month. They do not last as long as the first batch of pickles that come in the store-bought jar.

Ingredients:

• 1 jar leftover pickle juice
• Mini cucumbers or large English cucumbers (however many you can fit in your jar)

To make:

1. Wash your cucumbers and, if need be, slice into your desired shape or size if they don’t fit whole in the jar. I sliced mine lengthways to cram in as many as I could.
2. Place the cucumbers into the leftover pickle juice and cap the lid.
3. Place the jar of pickles in the fridge and refrigerate for at least 24 hours (I usually leave mine for up to 48 hours to allow the flavour of the juice to meld with the cucumbers a little more).
4. These pickles can be stored in the fridge for up to 4-6 weeks. You can make up to 4 batches of homemade pickles using the same jar of leftover pickle juice.

As always, this is not personal medical advice and we recommend that you talk with your doctor before trying or using any new products. I am not a doctor. All opinions expressed are my own personal thoughts and feelings of the products mentioned. Check with your doctor or health practitioner if you are uncertain about trying out any of the products, recipes or tips mentioned in this post.

Have you used the leftover pickle juice for anything before? What did you make with it? Share in the comments below

Lots of love,

🖤 Vanessa