Easy Bread and Butter Pickles

Bread and butter pickles are hands down my favorite thing to make during cucumber season. My neighbor grows these crazy good pickling cucumbers and every August she dumps bags of them on my porch. Last year I made 47 jars and they were gone by Christmas.

These aren’t like those mushy store pickles that fall apart when you bite them. Mine stay crunchy for months and have this perfect sweet-sour thing going on. My kids literally fight over the last pickle in the jar.

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe

I’ve been making these for six years now and they’re foolproof. Even my sister-in-law who burns water managed to nail these on her first try. They taste way better than anything you can buy and cost maybe a third of what fancy pickles cost at the store.

Print

📝 Ingredient List

For the Vegetables:

• 4 pounds pickling cucumbers (the bumpy little ones work best)
• 1 pound white onions
• 3 tablespoons pickling salt
• Ice cubes

For the Brine:

• 1¼ cups white vinegar
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2¼ cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoon celery seeds
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon allspice berries
• 4-5 whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon turmeric

Swaps:

• Regular cucumbers work if they’re super fresh and firm
• Yellow onions are fine too
• Kosher salt instead of pickling salt is okay

🔍 Why These Ingredients Work

My mom taught me to use two kinds of vinegar because one alone tastes too harsh. The white vinegar gives you that pickle punch but the apple cider vinegar smooths it out. Don’t skimp on the sugar – I tried cutting it once and they tasted awful.

The turmeric makes them that pretty golden color. Without it they look kind of gray and sad. Mustard seeds give them bite and the warm spices make them taste homemade instead of store-bought.

Essential Tools and Equipment

• Big bowl
• Colander
• Heavy pot
• Wooden spoon
• Good knife
• Mason jars
• Jar lifter if you’re doing the canning thing

👩🍳 How To Make Bread and Butter Pickles

1. Prep the Vegetables (4 hours ahead) Slice cucumbers maybe ¼ inch thick. Don’t stress about perfect slices. Cut onions thin. Mix with salt and cover with ice. Stick it in the fridge for 4 hours. This part is super important for crunch.

2. Rinse and Drain Dump everything in a colander and rinse really well. You want all that salt off. Let them drain good.

3. Make the Brine Put both vinegars, sugar, and all the spices in your pot. Heat it up stirring until sugar dissolves. It smells amazing.

4. Add the Vegetables Throw in your cucumbers and onions. Stir gentle-like. Bring it back to boiling then pull it right off the heat. Don’t cook them longer or they get mushy.

5. Pack the Jars Spoon the hot stuff into clean jars leaving some room at the top. Pour the liquid over everything. Tap the jars to get bubbles out.

6. Seal and Process (Optional) For fridge ones just let them cool and refrigerate. For shelf ones boil them 10 minutes in a water bath.

If you’re craving that classic sweet-and-tangy crunch, my Bread and Butter Pickles are a timeless favorite—perfect on burgers, sandwiches, or straight from the jar. And once you’ve got the pickling bug, don’t stop there! My Refrigerator Pickled Vegetables are a quick, colorful way to preserve whatever’s in your crisper drawer, and for a little extra zing, my Sweet Heat Pickles bring just the right touch of spice to the mix. It’s everything you love about summer, packed into jars.

Tips from Well-Known Chefs

My cousin who worked at a restaurant says the salt step is everything. She goes “You salt them or you get soggy pickles. There’s no in-between.” She’s right too.

❗ You Must Know

Do not skip salting them for 4 hours. I did it once when I was in a hurry and they were terrible. Soft and gross. The salt pulls water out so they stay crispy.

Personal Secret: I put an extra cinnamon stick in each jar. It keeps adding flavor and people always ask what’s different about mine.

💡 Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

Get cucumbers as fresh as possible. I pick mine the same day I make pickles if I can. Wash your jars in hot dishwater or boil them clean.

Don’t let the vegetables sit in that boiling brine. Just bring it to a boil and off the heat. Cook them longer and you’ll have mush.

Keep that leftover brine. It’s great in potato salad and my husband puts it in his Bloody Marys. Use kosher salt not table salt or your brine looks cloudy.

🎨 Flavor Variations & Suggestions

Spicy ones: Use more red pepper flakes and add jalapeño slices With herbs: Fresh dill and garlic in each jar
Extra sweet: More sugar and a tiny bit of cayenne Different: Fresh ginger grated into the brine

⏲️ Make-Ahead Options

You can salt the vegetables the night before no problem. Fridge pickles keep for months. Canned ones sit on your shelf for a year easy.

Don’t freeze them. They turn to mush and nobody wants that.

Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips

These got called bread and butter pickles during the Depression when farmers traded them for bread and butter. Not because those are ingredients in them.

Taste your brine before you add the vegetables. Too sour? More sugar. Too sweet? Well that’s harder to fix so start conservative. Use real canning jars with new lids if you want them shelf stable.

🍽️ Serving Suggestions

I put these on everything. Burgers obviously but also chopped up in egg salad and chicken salad. My husband eats them straight from the jar watching TV.

They’re really good on cheese plates too. The sweet cuts through rich cheese. And try them on grilled cheese sandwiches. So much better than plain cheese.

🧊 How to Store Your Bread and Butter Pickles

Fridge ones: Last 3 months unopened. Once you open them eat within a month.

Shelf ones: Keep a year in a cool dark place if you did the water bath right.

When to eat: You can eat them after a day but they get way better after a week. Best flavor is around 2-3 weeks when everything has mixed together.

⚠️ Allergy Information

These are pretty safe for most people. No gluten, dairy, nuts, or weird stuff. Just check your spice jars if you have bad allergies since sometimes they get contaminated.

❓ Questions I Get Asked A Lot

I make these every summer and my freezer stays full of them all year. There is just something about opening a jar of pickles in February that brings back all those warm summer days when I was standing over the stove, stirring that golden brine.

Hope your family enjoys them as much as my family does !🥒

💬 Made these? Tell me how they turned out! Did you change anything? Did your family love them? I want to hear all about your pickle adventures!