Fermented Dill Zucchini Pickles
(Updated July 7, 2020)
We have been following Colleen over on Grow Forage Cook Ferment for awhile. We’ve enjoyed reading her blog about homesteading endeavors, particularly related to fermenting, as well as her herbal DIY projects. Like us, she loves preserving the harvest so that she can have healthy and tasty food (and drink!) all year long. Not to mention that she is a fellow jar lover!
Today, Colleen is taking over the blog with a Fermented Dill Zucchini Pickles Recipe.
Zucchini and other summer squash often come in abundance in summer gardens, so it’s great to have some new ways to preserve it for later eating. Fermenting is one of Colleen’s favorite ways to preserve any fresh produce, as it is easy to do, can be done in small batches, and is full of gut-healthy probiotics!
Fermented Dill Zucchini Pickles Recipe
The addition of a grape leaf or green tea leaves will help keep your zucchini pickles crisp due to the tannins.
Ingredients
- 2-3 medium zucchini or summer squash, sliced into rounds
- 3 heads fresh dill flowers, or 1 tsp dill seeds
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- ½ tsp peppercorns
- 1 grape leaf, or 1 tsp green tea leaves (optional, but recommended)
- 2 cups unchlorinated (filtered) water
- 1 ½ Tbsp kosher or sea salt (non-iodized)
Directions
- Fill a wide mouth quart sized jar with the sliced zucchini, spices, and optional grape leaf or green tea leaves, leaving an inch or so of headspace.
- Mix the water and salt to make a brine, and pour over the zucchini, making sure to cover all of the veggies. You may need to make a little more brine at a ratio of 3/4 Tbsp salt to 1 cup water in order to fill the jar.
- Weigh the zucchini down with a weight such as a Pickle Pebble so that they stay under the brine.
- Cover the jar with an airlock such as the Pickle Pipe, or a clean towel secured with a rubber band.
- Set in a cool and dark place for about 4-5 days to ferment. Taste the zucchini, and when they are to your liking they are done!
- Store in the refrigerator covered with a lid.
NOTES FROM COLLEEN: Making fermented vegetables is even easier with a Pickle Pipe and Pickle Pebbles! The Pickle Pipe is probably my favorite fermenting airlock, because it’s so easy to use and plastic free. The Pickle Pebbles weights are perfect for keeping all the veggies under the brine.
I’d fill them with homemade root beer.
I would fill them with homemade kombucha.
I’d love to try both the bottle and the fermented elderberry soda.
water kefir
I think I’d use mine for pink lemonade. Thanks for the giveaway!
I would love to be able to make a case of kombucha and these bottles bottles are perfect for that!
I’d love to make a batch of elderberry soda of my own in these~
I’d fill them with homemade ketchup, worcestershire sauce, a slew of shrubs, fruit syrups, homemade cough syrups, and infused alcohols.
nice bottles. i would put flavored vinegar and flavored oils in them
I’d love to try the elderberry soda, and we’d probably also use them for ginger brew & water kefir!
So pretty! I would try my hands at kefir soda, maybe an apple since we have so many of them right now.
I am in the process of doing grape juice
I am making homemade vinegars for holiday gifts. I would use these bottle for my gifts.
These bottles look amazing! Plus the zucchini pickle recipe sounds great!!!
I’d fill these with flavored sodas!
I’d fill them with kombucha or jun. Or maybe one of the other fermented drinks I’ve been considering trying.
Love these bottles. I would use them for syrups.
I can’t wait to make and fill them with elderberry soda and my favorite hibiscus kefir water!
I would full them with rhubarb huckleberry wine!
Hope to win 😆
Kombucha!
I’m planning to start kombucha soon, so these would be perfect.
I would fill them with kombucha!
I’d love to fill these bottles up with mulled apple cider. This is a wonderful giveaway!
I would fill these bottles with homemade ginger ale and give some away as gifts.
I would fill them with my Little Kicks fermented ginger soda! Just the right KICK of ginger, and not too sweet.
The elderberry soda sounds interesting, with the plus of being healthy.
I would fill them with kombucha or wine!
Ketchup!
The possibilities are endless! Grapes, Plums, Pear, Apples, Cherries, etc. All sorts of juice, etc 🙂 !
Cranberry liqueur and chokecherry liqueur
I’m planning on using the bottles for vinegar.
Home made elderberry, hibiscus, & pomegranate syrups, limoncello, Irish cream, & amaretto… all perfect for holiday gifting!
I would fill the 16oz. Flip Top Bottles with my ginger kombucha. I will be making the dill zucchini pickles this weekend. Fillmore Container is my place to buy canning jars; brought three cases this year.
Elderberry flavored kombucha
Homemade wine vinegar…thanks!
Home made liquors !!!!
I would fill them with a key lime ginger bug fermented soda!
I would fill them with Kombucha.
I would try the elderberry if I could beat the birds to them.
I would fill them with homemade fermented root beer and ginger beer.
I’d fill them with herb vinegars.
Hard cider!
Those bottles would be handy for infused vinegars or alcohol. Or homemade vanilla extract!
Homemade syrups to share for gifts.
I do fill them with Rose Petal Syrup for a friend of mine who is undergoing cancer treatments. She calls it her healing juice!!
I would probably fill them with homemade lemonade
fruit liqueurs….
Water kefir
I would fill with home made strawberry meade.
I make liqueurs for the fair and when I bring home the purple ribbon, I bottle for Christmas gifts. Swing top bottles would be perfect for gift giving!
I would fill my bottle with Kombucha flavored with the Elderberry Syrup from this blog. Sounds wonderful!
These bottles look like lots of fun! If I received these I would love to learn more about Kombucha, flavored vinegars and sumac aid!!
Thanks for the p fermented zucchini recipe!!
Fermented Gingerale and fermented lemonade!
As a brewer of wine and mead, I’d be using these for bottling my brews! I also make lots of cordials and elixirs to share with friends. 🙂
I would either full with kombucha or fire cider
Kombucha!!
I want to make my own fermented beverages
These bottles are perfect for my Limoncello
Vinegars, flavorings and infused fruit drinks! Oh! The possiblies!
Herb vinegars!!! 🌿, Home made limoncello & lemonade 🍋 !!!
I like to bottle things….probably homemade rootbeer, although the elderberry drink looks fabulous. I think I would have to try that sometime!
I would fill with homemade syrups such as peach and blueberry
Mead
Salad dressings for gifts!
Kombucha or home brew!
Since it’s apple season, I’d fill some of mine with homemade cider and syrup. Since I’m taking an herbalism course, some would be used for cough and cold syrups. Thanks for the opportunity to win these!
I would make homemade root beer with my kids!!!!
Beautiful! herb infused vinegar and herbal olive oil.
I would fill them with herb vinegars.
16 oz bottles are a great size for my husbands kombucha. I would probably fill them with fruity syrups, myself.
I would like to try the fermented Elderberry soda. It sounds yummy!!
If I don’t watch out, my husband would claim them for some home-made hard cider 🙂
I would definitely like the elderberry soda!
I would use them for syrups and they would be cute for spice bottles
Homemade apple cider! Wait—maybe EVOO! Wait—maybe root beer! Oh the possibilities!
This looks great! I’ve never tried fermenting my own zucchini pickles but I think after seeing this recipe its something I’m going to have to try! You made it seem so simple and straight forward. Thank you for sharing!
I would make homemade ginger ale and fruit syrup.
I would love to have these bottles to make water kefir in!
The elderberry soda sounds interesting, so I might try that, or flavored vinegars or vanilla extract…
Thanks for all the ideas!
Hard cider
These bottles would be great for home-made salad dressings.
I’d use them to make bottles of vanilla extract or limoncello to give away as Christmas presents!
Crabapple Liquor
I would fill them with kombucha or my homemade root beer.
these would be great for apple & blackberry brandy
I’d probably fill them with syrups and shrubs, though I’ve thought about making homemade rootbeer or ginger beer for years, but just never did it, so having the bottles would probably motivate me to do it.
I currently have eggnog aging in my fridge for Christmas time. I’d love these pretty bottles for gifting it.
I would use this terrific bottles for my cold brew coffee! Also for my cold brew tea! I have purchased a number of jars and items from your site for myself and for gifts. Love them all! Pat
I would fill them with my homemade Kombucha.
I would fill them with my homemade organic vanilla!!
Hot sauce!
I would probably make flavored vinegars.
I just made blackberry cordial so I would fill a couple of bottles with that.
I would use them for the different olive oils I use. I would also use it to make my own Vanilla bean extract.
Thank you for this wonderful giveaway
Lovely to store my homemade vinegars in!
These would be lovely to store my homemade vinegars in! Would love to win them!
I would fill them with my homemade vanilla
Yum! Gotta try this!!
Can’t wait ti be able to try this. I want to start preparing fermented food items.
I can’t wait to try this! Thanks so much for sharing,
I would love to be able to print out recipes!
Hi Lisa, We hear you…and have been working through our posts and updating them with easily printable versions. We haven’t gotten to this on yet. 🙂
Instead of grape leaves or green tea, you can also use leaves from blackberry or raspberry bushes to keep your pickles crisp.
Can’t wait to try this recipe!