4 Recipes for Quick Pickles: Herbal Heirloom Tomato Pickles

Make the best herb-infused pickles you've tasted with this easy recipe.

By Letitia L. Star
August/September 2009
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"What I love about quick herbal pickling is that I never make the same recipe twice."
Howard Lee Puckett
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Makes 1 cup

For this recipe, I particularly love using lemon basil and Russian Red garlic. Make sure the tomatoes are firm; otherwise, they’ll fall apart when pickled. We used a combination of cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes and green tomatoes, cut in half. We used dill sprigs in our pickles, but feel free to experiment.

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• 2 cups tomatoes, vertically quartered
• 2 to 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1⁄2 cup fresh herbs of your choice
• 1⁄3 cup cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 cup cold water
• 1 tablespoon fresh juice of key limes, lemons or limes (optional)

1. Place tomato slices, garlic and other herbs in a 16-ounce clean glass jar until about ¾ full.

2. Combine vinegar and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and gently stir until salt dissolves. Remove from heat.

3. Add cold water (and optional juice) to this mixture and let cool. Pour cooled liquid in jar to cover tomatoes and herbs. Add more cold water if necessary. Refrigerate for about an hour until chilled. 

Freelance journalist and photographer Letitia L. Star has written more than 1,000 published articles, including many reflecting her enthusiasm for herbs and gardening. 

Click here for the original article, 4 Recipes for Quick Pickles.


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Comments

  • K.C. Compton_1 5/12/2011 8:24:40 AM

    Vera -- I used apple cider vinegar. I don't think they were as pretty as they might have been with white vinegar, but they sure tasted great. The radishes turned the vinegar pink fairly quickly, and in the jar it wasn't gorgeous (might have been with white vinegar, but with the tawny color of the apple cider vinegar, not so much...), but the flavor was scrumptious. --KC

  • Vera 5/11/2011 6:38:29 PM

    Do you have to use white vinger or can you use apple cider vinger?

  • Gina_1 10/11/2010 9:07:33 AM

    Hello! Here is a reply from the author of this article, Letitia L. Star.

    "April and Marte,

    Thanks so much for your herb quick pickling questions. I very much appreciate readers' continued positive response and interest to my quick pickling feature and blog.

    April, to answer your question, quick pickles cannot be canned by water bath to preserve them longer.

    Marte, quick pickles most definitely need to be refrigerated.

    Quick pickles can be made in minutes, but must be consumed in about a week or so. No canning equipment or techniques are required. I like to reuse clean and empty glass jars. One tip: Use a grease pencil to mark the date that you made the pickles on the jar's lid. Another tip: write down an herb pickling combination that you particularly enjoy, so you can easily recreate the recipe the following week.

    I hope this information helps. I welcome readers' questions or comments. Please fill out the comment form or contact me at LStarart@gmail.com."

  • April 9/28/2010 9:45:00 AM

    can these be canned by water bath to preserve them even longer?

  • Marte 7/22/2009 5:19:27 AM

    This sounds delicious and I am going to try the recipe today.What I am wondering is do you just store them in the frige? How long these will keep?
    I love the magazine, Thanks for all the great info and ideas. Marte

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