Bread and Butter Pickles
Updated
Updated
These homemade refrigerator bread and butter pickles are sweet, zesty, and crunchy. This recipe is so easy to make and rival anything you’ll buy at the store. A perfect condiment for a burger or sandwich, or enjoy them as a snack on their own!
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5 STAR REVIEWS
We are a pickle loving family over here. 1000% if that was a thing. My pantry is never ever without dill pickle potato chips and my refrigerator is always stocked with pickled beets and pickled eggs. Not to mention that I have countless varieties of vinegar in my cupboard. Pucker up!
While dill pickles are #1 for us, bread and butter pickles are right on their heals. We’ve been known to polish off an entire jar of these in an afternoon. And making homemade bread and butter pickles is so easy! There are only a few simple steps, some resting time, and then chilling. Take these to a summer barbecue and make all the friends!
Helpful Tips
- Pickling cucumbers. These pickles are made from a smaller cucumber than you use on a salad. They’re marketed as pickling cucumbers and can be found at most regular grocery stores. Use the freshest, unblemished ones you can find.
- The thickness of the slices matter. The cucumber slices should be about 1/4-inch thick. You want some crunch! Too thin and they can disintegrate when soaked with the hot brine. Too thick and they won’t soak up the brine enough.
- Use a mandolin, if possible. I highly recommend using a mandolin, which ensures the slices are all the same size. It also makes the process so much easier and faster!
- Don’t skip the sugar. You need the sugar to balance out the vinegar or the brine will be too harsh. This recipe includes both granulated and brown sugar for the best flavor. I have not tried this recipe with any sugar substitutes, so without further recipe testing, I can’t vouch for the results.
- Chill overnight for optimal flavor. For the truest flavor, these are best chilled in the fridge overnight, but if you’re really impatient, they do taste great after only a few hours.
Bread and Butter Pickles
Ingredients
- 1 & 1/2 pounds pickling cucumbers, , sliced 1/4-inch thick (about 5 & 1/2 cups)
- 1 & 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt
- 1 cup thinly sliced sweet onion
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 & 1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
- 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
Instructions
- Combine cucumbers and salt in a large, shallow bowl; cover and chill for 1 & 1/2 hours.
- Move cucumbers into a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold water. Drain well, and return cucumbers to bowl.
- Add onion to the bowl and toss with the cucumbers.
- Combine the granulated sugar, white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds and ground turmeric in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
- Pour the hot vinegar mixture over cucumber mixture; let stand at room temperature 1 hour.
- Cover and refrigerate 24 hours. (If you’re really impatient, though, they taste great after only a few hours!)
- Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 1 month.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and any changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are very important to you, I would recommend calculating them yourself.
Did you make this? Leave a rating below!
Why are they called bread and butter pickles?
Some say they gained popularity during the Great Depression. Since they were a cheap kitchen staple, people would use them on buttered sandwich bread for an easy, inexpensive lunch.
Another story is that Omar and Cora Fanning, who were Illinois cucumber farmers back in the 1920’s, pickled and sold their small cucumbers and would also trade the pickles with their local grocer for essentials, like bread and butter. They ended up filing for a “Fanning’s Bread and Butter Pickles” trademark.
Are bread and butter pickles sweet?
Unlike dill pickles, they’re definitely on the sweeter side, but they’re also tart, with a slight kick. They’re infused with a sugar-vinegar brine and other spices that make them pretty irresistible and perfect on sandwiches!
Proper Storage
These pickles are not shelf stable without going through the canning process and do need to be stored in the fridge. Store them in a sealed glass or ceramic container, not metal or plastic, in the refrigerator. They will keep up to 4 weeks.
More Pickle Recipes
Looking for more cucumber recipes? Try my Cucumber Tomato Salad, Creamy Cucumber Salad, Beet and Cucumber Salad.
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube!
This recipe is so easy and tastes delicious. They rival theatres bought for sure
Will these pickles keep on shelf if sealed
No, the way this recipe is written is for refrigerator pickles. You’d need to go through the canning process for them to be shelf-stable.
This recipe is amazing. Had an excess of cucumbers in the garden. The cucumbers and onion stay so crunchy. Bo us so easy to do and your instructions so clear. Thank you
I used swerve sugar and brown sugar substitutes. I loved them. A very simple recipe.
So delicious! This recipe is so easy and quick to make. The pickles have the perfect crispness. My husband can’t stop raving about them.
Amy, I made this using 1cip of swerve granular and 1/4 cup of trivia brown sugar and it turned out great. I’m diabetic but wanted some of these bread and butter pickles , certainly brings back memories. Thanks!
Just fantastic. Already making another batch. Followed the recipe to a T and they are delish!!
I am not much of a pickle eater. When My husband planted one cucumber plant I realized I needed to make pickles. This is the only recipe I have tried. It is easy and amazing. I have made the recipe three times in the past 6 weeks and twice it was a double recipe! Thank you, my husband thanks you and my neighbors thank you!
I’m doing full time rv living so space for canning is limited. This recipe was so easy and they turned out great! I’m excited to share my bounty with my friends.
I’m on my second batch from my garden harvest. I sliced thinner than recommended (personal preference). Great on burgers! Oh, and I happen to use “substitute” sugar and they are delicious!
Absolutely delicious!! I am here to say that I made half this recipe with Lakanto Monk Fruit and half with granulated sugar. I didn’t have molasses to make my own brown sugar so I just added 2 tbsp of monk fruit and sugar to each half of the recipe (sugar free and with sugar). Both recipes were fantastic. I’ve tried making this with erythritol last year and the vinegar liquid crystallized in clumps so it wasn’t nearly as good. This recipe is a keeper!!
This recipe is awesome! I used it for a batch of leftover pickling cukes and a batch of slicing cukes. Both came out sooooo delicious! I’ll never buy store bought bread and butter pickles again! Thank you for sharing this incredible recipe!! ????
(The question marks were meant to be cucumber emojis!)
3rd time making these…I never even liked bread and butter pickles, but I absolutely love this recipe!
These pickles are awesome. Thank you for sharing.
I had never made any kind of pickles. My sister gave me a huge batch of cucumbers. So…. I decided to try this recipe after reading the excellent reviews. OMG! It is the BEST. I was making them and planning to keep them for a family camping trip in August—- I can’t keep the folks in the house out of them!! I actually hid the rest in the second frog in the garage! ??. This is the BEST recipe ever! Try it! You won’t be disappointed!! Thank you for sharing this!
Can I use English cucumbers to make bread and butter pickles
Just made these and wow!! SO GOOD!! They are so easy to make and my new favorite!
We love them. Can I can the extras so we have them all winter?
Hi JoAnn – I haven’t tried canning these, but if you followed proper canning instructions, I can’t see why it wouldn’t be fine.
How long will these keep in the refrigerator?
Love this recipe but can you give me the measuring amounts for one case or appproximately 25 pounds of pickling cucumbers?
They didn’t last more than a few days, couldn’t stop eating them. Getting ready to make another batch.