I taught this spicy quick pickled okra recipe a few years ago on Okra Day at our local farmers market. It's simple to make these delicious okra refrigerator pickles!
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My super awesome friend Jenifer Carter does design work with the Freedom Farmers Market. It's a small market that's dense with good vendors, and a few summers ago, they celebrated Okra Day and invited me to make spicy pickled okra at the market.
Quick pickled okra is delicious for snacking, as a garnish for tomato juice, or as part of a vegan cheese board.
If you like quick pickles, also check out my recipes for spicy pickled cabbage, pickled chilies, and quick pickled radishes! It's delicious on tacos, salads, sandwiches, and wraps. And if you're an okra fan, try my air fryer frozen okra and crispy air fryer okra recipes!
💡 Helpful Tips
- You don't need to sanitize your pint-sized jars, but you do want them to be clean. If you're using new mason jars to store your pickled okra, wash them either in the dishwasher or by hand with hot, soapy water. You can also reuse glass jars, as long as they're around a pint in size and are heat-proof. We are pouring hot brine into the jars, and you don't want them to shatter!
- Use fresh okra pods for this recipe. Frozen or canned will not work.
- You can use dried dill, as directed, or an equivalent amount of fresh dill. 1 tablespoon dried dill is about the same as 3 tablespoons fresh.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- okra and salt - Salting and then rinsing and drying the okra before pickling helps reduce sliminess.
- vinegar and water - The base for the brine. I'm using apple cider vinegar, but you can use white vinegar, if that's what you have.
- sugar - This is optional, if you like a sweet-and-spicy pickle. You can use an equivalent amount of your sweetener of choice.
- spices - Fresh garlic, fresh or dried dill, jalapeño, and crushed red pepper add flavor and heat. You can omit the crushed pepper for less heat. You can also seed the jalapeño or reduce or omit it for less heat.
📝 How to Make Quick Pickled Okra (Spicy or Not!)
Combine the okra and salt in a colander, and toss to combine it really well.
Let the okra sit for one hour, then drain and rinse well.
Dry the okra with a clean kitchen towel, then divide it between your jars.
Combine the vinegar, water, sugar (if using), onion, dill, garlic, and jalapeño in a small saucepan. For less spicy, reduce or even omit the jalapeño. You can add a pinch of red pepper flakes for more heat, if you like!
Heat the mixture on high until it comes to a boil, then simmer for just a couple of minutes, until the onions and jalapeños begin to soften.
Pour the hot brine over the okra in the jars, making sure to get some of the goods (the onion and jalapeños) into each jar as well as the brine.
Screw the lids onto your jars loosely, then tighten them when the jars have cooled to the touch. Let your pickled okra chill in the refrigerator for 24 hours before serving. Use within 3 to 4 weeks.
It's really that easy!
💬 Frequently Asked Questions
The pickled okra recipe below is a variation of my green bean refrigerator pickles. This recipe is for refrigerator pickles, which means that you don't need sterile jars or any sort of canning skills.
Refrigerator pickles get stored in the fridge, even before you open the jar. Stored in the refrigerator, these pickles keep for three to four weeks.
Quick pickles are often called refrigerator pickles, because you need to store them in the refrigerator. They will keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 weeks.
This recipe doesn't need a hot water bath or any canning supplies. The trade-off is that they won't keep for as long. You're still prolonging the shelf life, but it's by weeks rather than months.
Okra haters will usually say that it's the slime factor keeping them from eating okra, and I get it! Okra can be slimy. But there are ways to reduce the sliminess.
Wash and dry your okra well before you use it. For this refrigerator pickled okra recipe, we are salting and rinsing. If you want to reuse the slime, dry the okra, with a clean kitchen towel before stuffing the jars.
Acidity also helps reduce the slime, which pickling naturally provides. The apple cider vinegar in the pickling liquid/brine will keep the slime under control.
So, you pickled some okra. Now what? Here are some delicious ways to use it:
• Snack on it straight from the jar.
• Use it as garnish for a tomato juice or bloody Mary.
• Add it to your next vegan cheese board spread.
• Garnish your next martini, instead of using an olive.
• Dice it into vegan mayo-based salads, like chickpea salad or tofu salad.
• Create a fun spin on bruschetta with okra slices instead of tomato. The onions from the jar are nice here, too! Scatter onto toast rounds with a drizzle of olive oil.
✨ More quick pickles
📖 Recipe
Spicy Pickled Okra
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 ounces whole okra
- 1 tablespoon table salt or sea salt
Brine Ingredients
- 2 cups apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups water
- ¼ cup sugar optional
- ½ cup sliced sweet onion
- 1 tablespoon dried dill or 3 tablespoons fresh
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 jalapeño sliced, or more, if you want your pickles even hotter. Remove the seeds or reduce or omit the jalapeño for less spicy.
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper optional, for extra heat
Instructions
- Combine the okra and salt in a colander, and toss to combine it really well. Let the okra sit for one hour, then drain and rinse well. Dry the okra with a clean kitchen towel, then divide it between your jars.
- Combine the vinegar, water, sugar (if using), onion, dill, garlic, and jalapeño in a small saucepan. Heat the mixture on high until it comes to a boil, then simmer for just a couple of minutes, until the onions and jalapeno begin to soften.
- Pour the vinegar mixture over the okra in the jars, making sure to get some of the goods (the onion and jalapenos) into each jar in addition to the brine.
- Screw the caps onto your jars loosely, then tighten them when the jars have cooled to the touch. Let your pickled okra chill in the refrigerator for 24 hours before serving. Use within 3 to 4 weeks.
Tiffany G
Could you add cucumbers to this?
Becky Striepe
Sure! That would be lovely!
Billy Lo
How does it taste like.?. Like saukrates at all,?
Becky Striepe
The brine is similar to a conventional cucumber pickle.
Rosalie
Can you put this in a larger jar even quart or half gallon?
Becky Striepe
That should be fine, as long as a jar of that size will fit in the pot with the lid closed.
Peg
What size and how many jars???
Becky Striepe
You'll need 3 pint jars.
Victoria Robinson
How much would it mess up the recipe if I don't add jalapeños? I don't have any, plus I'm a spice wimp!
Becky Striepe
Oh, it will be fine without them, if heat isn't your thing. Enjoy them, Victoria!
Kim Thaxton
Hi
You mention 1 1/2 cups water but don't say when to add it.... I assume it's worth the acv mixture, is that correct?
Thank you
Becky Striepe
Yes! I will adjust the instructions now. Thank you for asking about that!!
Jan Smiley
I know you say these are refrigerator pickles but would they last processed in a hot water bath? I like your spices.
Becky Striepe
I wish I had an answer for you! Maybe you can follow a hot water bath recipe but use the spices from mine? I'd hate to steer you wrong!