A few weeks ago, my clients Heather and Gary brought me a jar of homemade pickles. They got the recipe from Once Upon A Chef, and I must say, those pickles were tasty! I put them in my beast of a salad every day, and when there were no more left, this is what I did:

Simply buy some cucumbers and throw them into the brine (you can cut them up or put them in whole if you like). Make sure to shut the lid tightly and let it sit in the refrigerator for a few days.

In my opinion, you can reuse the brine two or three times before it’s best to make a new batch. Once the brine becomes murky, it’s time to call it quits, but until then, you’re good to go!

You can do the same sort of thing with sauerkraut. Fermented vegetables are great sources of probiotics, and pickles are loaded with sodium (an average-sized pickle contains about 300 mg of sodium).

Take-Home Message: Don’t throw that jar away when you finish your homemade pickles. You can reuse the brine two or three more times.