- Season
- Available all year in jars. Fresh pickling cucumbers (nakládačky) for home preserving are in season from about July to September.
- Price
- Low
- Nutrition per 100 g
- 29 kcal
- 0.5 g protein
- 0.1 g fat
- 6.4 g carbs
Pickled Cucumbers (Jarred)
Pantry staples
Pickled Cucumbers (Jarred)
Okurky sterilované are the standard Czech jarred gherkins: small pickling cucumbers packed in a spiced sweet-sour brine of water, vinegar, sugar and salt, sealed in glass jars and heat-treated. They are not fermented.
In practice
How to store
- On the counter
Unopened jars keep in a cool, dry, dark place until the best-before date. Labels typically say 0–28 °C. Once opened, do not keep the jar at room temperature.
- In the fridge
After opening, keep the cucumbers covered with brine in the refrigerator at no more than 10 °C, and always take them out with a clean fork. They usually stay good for several weeks. Throw them out if they go soft or slimy, or if mould or an off smell appears.
- In the freezer
Not recommended. Freezing breaks down the cell structure and the cucumbers become soft and watery.
How to choose
Choose the size for the job. Small gherkins (3–6 cm or 5–7 cm) are best whole on chlebíčky and cold platters. 7–9 cm is the all-round size. 9–12 cm and larger are economical for chopping into potato salad, tartar sauce or meat fillings. Read the ingredient list. Some brands sweeten only with sugar, while others use sweeteners in part or completely. The label also tells you whether the jar contains whole cucumbers or slices (plátky). The drained weight (pevný podíl), usually about half the net weight, shows how much cucumber you are actually buying. The brine should be clear or only slightly cloudy and the lid should be flat and not bulging. Do not buy jars with a domed lid, leaking brine or foam. When you open a jar, it should hiss or pop.
What to swap in
Best swap
Other sweet-sour vinegar gherkins from Central Europe, such as German Gewürzgurken or Polish ogórki konserwowe, are the closest match in taste and texture.
In a pinch
French cornichons or plain dill pickles in vinegar, with a pinch of sugar added to the dish. They are sharper and less sweet. Lacto-fermented kvašáky also work in salads, but they change the flavour noticeably.
Preparation
Serve straight from the jar. Drain the cucumbers, and pat them dry if they go into mayonnaise salads or sauces so the dressing does not get thin. Slice them lengthwise into fans for chlebíčky, dice them finely for tartar sauce (tatarská omáčka), potato salad or vlašský salát, or cut them into strips for rolled meat dishes. For home preserving, Czech recipes pack scrubbed small cucumbers tightly into clean jars with onion, mustard seed, dill and spices. They pour a boiled vinegar-sugar-salt brine over the cucumbers, seal the jars and heat them in a water bath. Water-bath temperatures of about 80–90 °C are common in Czech recipes because they keep the cucumbers crisp. Use a tested recipe, keep to its vinegar ratio, and store home jars cool and dark.
Don't toss it
Keep the brine. A spoonful sharpens potato salad, tartar sauce, salad dressings or the cooking water for lentils. It can also serve as a quick pickling liquid for sliced onion or carrot that you will eat within a few days.
In the kitchen
Cooking
Mostly eaten cold. They are an essential part of Czech chlebíčky (open sandwiches), Christmas potato salad, vlašský salát, tartar sauce and pickle platters with sausages or cheese. Cooked, they go into the rolled beef dish španělští ptáčci and some meatloaf (sekaná) fillings, where they are wrapped in meat and braised or baked. Diced gherkins also finish some sauces and goulash-style dishes. Heating softens their crunch, so cut them in late if you want texture.
Goes well with
- Ham
- Hard-Boiled Egg
- Mayonnaise
- Potatoes
- Onion
- Mustard
- Smoked Sausage
- Fried Cheese
- Rye Bread
- Dill
What it is
Okurky sterilované are the standard Czech jarred gherkins: small pickling cucumbers packed in a spiced sweet-sour brine of water, vinegar, sugar and salt, sealed in glass jars and heat-treated. They are not fermented. Commercial versions such as Znojmia list cucumbers, water, vinegar, sugar, onion, salt, mustard seed and spice extract on the label. Homemade versions usually add dill, allspice, black pepper, bay leaf or a slice of carrot or horseradish. The cucumbers are graded by length, for example 3–6 cm, 5–7 cm, 7–9 cm or 9–12 cm, and the size is printed on the jar. They are a different product from kvašáky (also called kvašené okurky or kyselé okurky po domácku). Kvašáky are soured by lactic fermentation in salt brine, without vinegar or sugar.
How it tastes
Bright vinegar sourness balanced by clear sweetness, a light saltiness and gentle spice from mustard seed, onion and, in many recipes, allspice or dill. Good jars are firm and crunchy. The flavour is cleaner and sweeter than lacto-fermented pickles and has none of their yeasty, garlicky depth. Smaller gherkins tend to be crisper; larger ones are juicier and milder.
Common questions
What is the difference between okurky sterilované and kvašáky?
Do sterilised gherkins contain allergens?
How long do they keep after opening?
Which size should I buy?
Are they sweetened with sugar or sweeteners?
Deep dive
3 min read
Varieties
By size
– Czech jars are sold by cucumber length, from tiny 3–6 cm gherkins to 9–12 cm and larger. Cucumber slices (okurky plátky) and cut strips are also sold.
By sweetener
– Some jars use sugar only, some combine sugar with sweeteners, and some reduced-sugar versions use sweeteners alone. The ingredient list says which.
Homemade (domácí sterilované okurky)
– Preserving cucumbers at home in summer is still common in Czechia, and many families have their own brine ratios and spice mixes.
Relatives (different products)
– Kvašáky are Czech lacto-fermented cucumbers made in salt brine with dill and garlic. Mostly made at home, they are sour rather than sweet and are not vinegar pickles. Spreewald gherkins (Spreewälder Gurken) from Germany are a protected regional relative. Cornichons are small, sharper French vinegar pickles.
History
Cucumbers have been grown around Znojmo in South Moravia since at least the second half of the 16th century, and Znojmo gherkins became well known in the 19th century, including for export. After the original Znojmia company went bankrupt in 2002, Hamé took over the brand and its recipes and moved production to Bzenec in South Moravia. Hamé, and with it Znojmia, has belonged to the Norwegian Orkla group since 2016. Orkla closed the Bzenec plant in 2023–2024 and moved production abroad, mainly to Turkey, but Znojmia jars are still widely seen as the reference Czech product. The wider habit of preserving summer cucumbers in vinegar brine at home is part of everyday Czech household cooking.
Science
These cucumbers stay safe because of acidity and heat. Vinegar gives the brine a low pH, which stops the growth of food-poisoning bacteria such as Clostridium botulinum. Heating the sealed jar inactivates yeasts and moulds, and cooling then creates the vacuum that holds the lid down. Fermented pickles work differently: lactic acid bacteria in a salt brine make their own acid.
Czech law on preserved fruit and vegetables (vyhláška 397/2021 Sb.) treats sterilised vegetables and lacto-fermented vegetables as separate categories. It also sets quality requirements for pickled cucumbers, such as firmness and size uniformity. Crunchiness depends on fresh, small, firm cucumbers and on not heating the jars too much or for too long.
Sourcing and ethics
South Moravia, especially the Znojmo and Bzenec areas, is the traditional Czech centre for growing and processing pickling cucumbers. However, many commercial jars, including Znojmia, are now produced outside Czechia, so check the label for the producer and country of origin if this matters to you. Glass jars and metal lids go in separate recycling bins (glass and metal or mixed, depending on the municipality). Buying locally grown nakládačky in season to preserve at home is a low-packaging alternative.