Okay, so chances are you’ve found yourself wondering the same thing at least once—usually standing in your kitchen at 11 p.m., holding a half-full jar of pickles, and trying to recall if you need to put it in the refrigerator or if it’s just fine on the counter. Do pickles need to be refrigerated?
The short answer? Yes. Most of the time, yes. But like most things regarding pickles—and food preservation in general—it depends on certain variables. Let’s break it down, because apparently, there are layers to this.
Opened Pickles? Fridge. No Question.
Once you open the jar, that’s it. You have to put them in the fridge. Unless—and this is a big old “unless”—you have a house with a root cellar with active temperatures between 34° to 40°F. Most people don’t have that, especially nowadays. By the way, your “cool spot” in your kitchen is not a root cellar.
Refrigerating your opened pickles will ensure they retain their crisp texture (you want crisp pickles) and their sharp flavor. And, maybe the most important reason, refrigeration protects them from developing unwanted contaminants, such as mold and yeast, that want to colonize your delicious briny food. An open jar of pickles, left on the counter too long, is an invitation for bacteria to join the party. It is more gross if you’ve been fishing out pickles with your hand… please don’t do that.
What About Unopened Jars?
Now here is where things get slightly confusing. If the jar hasn’t been opened yet, it really depends on how the pickles were made and where they were stored at the store.
Unpasteurized & Sold Cold: Straight to the fridge, even if it’s unopened! These are live pickles—fermented, usually—and they will go bad fast if you leave them at room temp.
Pasteurized & Shelf Stable: These are the ones you see on the shelves of grocery stores, and not in the refrigerated section (think huge, commercially packed pickles). These pickles have been heat-treated and sealed tightly, so they are okay to chill (figuratively) in your pantry until you are ready to dig into them.
Once you open them though? Refrigerator.
The Two-Hour Rule (a.k.a., “Don’t Be That Person”)
So, let’s say for example you have forgotten the jar on the counter from lunch. How long do you have before things take a nasty turn? Generally, anything over two hours at room temperature is suspect. Especially in hot weather. Warm temps will start breaking down all that delicious crispness, which is everything you are in it for! Nobody wants a floppy, warm cucumber floundering about in brine. That’s just sad in a jar.
Can You Freeze Them?
Technically, yes. Should you? No. Please do not freeze pickles. Freezing pickles might seem like a handy hack until you try to eat one after it’s been frozen and thawed out. What comes out of that jar is no longer a pickle. It’s no longer anything remotely resembling a pickle. It becomes some strange briny cucumber mush. You have lost that satisfying snap. It has been replaced by… disappointment. So if you have made way too many pickles and are trying to “save” them via freezer, just do a BBQ with those instead.
Does It Matter If They’re Homemade?
Not really. And whether you made them yourself during a cozy canning session or you simply grabbed them off a grocery store shelf, the storage guidelines are roughly the same.
If it’s homemade and sealed, treat it like a store-bought pasteurized jar, so keep it in a cool, dark place until opened.
If the jar of pickles is opened? Back in the fridge.
If you have fermented pickles, they are unsealed, or you really aren’t quite sure? Just play it safe and toss them right in the fridge.
So, Final Answer?
If the jar has been opened, it should be refrigerated. Always. Regardless of the type of pickle.
If the jar is unopened, then you are looking at one of two options:
- If they are on a shelf in the store, and they were pasteurized, it’s fine for your pantry until you open it.
- If they were sold cold and unpasteurized? No question, you should put it in the fridge, even if it’s factory sealed.
Pickles love the cold! That’s what keeps them zesty & crunchy! That’s what keeps them from becoming a weird science experiment! And honestly, there is nothing worse than biting into a weird, soft, vaguely sour pickle.
So yes, you can stand in front of the fridge with the door open, fishing one out at 2 a.m.—but you better put that jar back when you are done.
