Description
These homemade Bread and Butter Pickles deliver that perfect sweet-and-sour crunch you crave! Thinly sliced cucumbers, onions, and a blend of warm spices soak in a sweet vinegar brine for irresistible flavor. Perfect on sandwiches, burgers, or straight from the jar! This easy refrigerator recipe requires no canning and is ready in just 24 hours. Save this timeless favorite for summer snacking and gift-giving!
Ingredients
For the Vegetables:
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- 4 pounds pickling cucumbers (the bumpy little ones work best)
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- 1 pound white onions
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- 3 tablespoons pickling salt
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- Ice cubes
For the Brine:
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- 1¼ cups white vinegar
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- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
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- 2¼ cups sugar
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- 2 tablespoons mustard seeds
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- 1 tablespoon celery seeds
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- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
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- 1 cinnamon stick
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- 1 teaspoon allspice berries
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- 4–5 whole cloves
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- 1 teaspoon turmeric
Swaps:
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- Regular cucumbers work if they’re super fresh and firm
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- Yellow onions are fine too
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- Kosher salt instead of pickling salt is okay
Instructions
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.
Notes
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.
- Prep Time: 4 hours 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Condiment
- Method: Pickling
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 tablespoons
- Calories: 25
- Sugar: 6g
- Sodium: 180mg
- Fat: 0g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 6g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 0g
- Cholesterol: 0mg