This is truly a wonderful, no-canning skills needed recipe for Bread and Butter Pickles.
Watch the video showing you how to make these Bread and Butter Pickles, then scroll to the bottom of this post so you can print out the recipe and make them at home.
This Bread and Butter Pickles recipe is one that I love with all of my heart.
When I was little (old enough to stay by myself), I’d sometimes hang out at my Dad’s house in the summers while he he went off to work. Lunchtime would roll around and I’d open his refrigerator to see what sorts of things a Dad keeps in there. Sweet pickles and American cheese were always to be found. Yes, I like all varieties of pickles, and (gasp!) I like American cheese too. I discovered the joy of eating them together.
But before I gross you out too much, I must share with you my first experience with pickling: Bread and Butter Pickles
Although sweet pickles are my favorite, bread and butter pickles run a close second. Their sweet and tangy crunch are pretty irresistible.
How to Make Bread and Butter Pickles:
Start with buying some pickling cucumbers. They’re smaller than a salad cucumber. Your market should carry them, and in the summer months you’ll find them at farmer’s markets too.
Slice them up. Good, thick slices that will still allow the pickle to yield a crunch when you bite into it.
If you have one of these fancy doo-dads, you can make fancy pickles with ridges.
The pickles get a good dose of Kosher salt, then they can sit in the fridge for an hour. Then those pickles get rinsed off in the sink. Just rinse all of that salt off really well so that salty flavor won’t follow the pickles into the pickling liquid.
Make the pickling liquid. Combine the sugar…
…with white vinegar,
cider vinegar,
brown sugar,
mustard seeds,
celery seeds,
and turmeric. Bring that all to a boil.
Meanwhile, add some sliced sweet onion to your sliced cucumbers.
Pour the hot pickling liquid over the cucumbers and onion.
Let it sit there at room temperature for an hour or so.
Move those cucumbers and onions to the cutest jar you have, and refrigerate them for 24 hours. This is when the magic process of pickling is going to happen.
If you’re impatient like me, you won’t wait 24 hours. I tried my Bread and Butter Pickles after just a few hours and they tasted perfectly pickled to me. So sweet and crunchy and incredibly tangy.
If you’re a pickle fan (and you should be), you probably will enjoy these. They are so simple to make, and how cool would it be to be able to share homemade Bread and Butter Pickles at a summer barbecue?! And I promise that you don’t have to eat them with American cheese (but you’re tempted to try it now, aren’t you?)
If you are looking for more recipes using cucumbers, you might also enjoy my Tomato, Cucumber and Basil Salad or this Cucumber- Gin Fizz Cocktail. Cucumber Sorbet, Cucumber Salad, and Cucumber Tea Sandwiches are also great recipes starring cucumbers!
Bread and Butter Pickles
Recipe Details
Ingredients
- 5½ cups (1½ pounds) thinly sliced pickling cucumbers
- 1½ tablespoons Kosher salt
- 1 cup thinly sliced sweet onion
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 cup white vinegar
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoons mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon celery seeds
- ⅛ teaspoon ground turmeric
Instructions
- Combine the cucumbers and salt in a large, shallow bowl; cover and chill 1½ hours. Move the cucumbers into a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold water. Drain well, and return the cucumbers to bowl. Add the onion to the bowl.
- Combine the sugar and the remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the cucumber mixture; let stand at room temperature 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.
Video
Notes
- Don't cut the cucumbers too terribly thin. You want them to have a little bit of crunch to them!
- You may find that your cucumbers are already ready to sample within just a few hours of marinating in the pickling liquid (rather than waiting an entire 24 hours!)
In the mid to late 1940’s my mother made B & B pickles very similar in recipe to your recipe. Her unclear directions said ‘bring to boil but not too long.’ Boiling probably makes them less crisp. But I am aslo sure that she used a water bath to preserve them. The water bath would also cause some limpness in pickles. My 92 year old brother gave my recent attempt an A+++ but the last time he had them was in the 1940’s. Can you/anyone advise on best way to ‘can’ for long term. I want to be able to send to relatives and friends. Thanks. FRANK
I just discovered this recipe and am glad to see someone else likes to eat sweet pickles with cheese! I made some Lime Pickles (sweet) and my favorite way to eat them (the only way, actually) is with a small piece of cheese with each pickle slice. Thanks for this recipe – looks delicious! :od
My husband frowns at me every time…but I have been eating sweet or bread and butter pickles with my grilled cheese sandwiches since I was a little girl. I don’t put them on the sandwich, I just eat them with it….but I’m never without. The day I don’t have pickles with my sandwich is sad….its just not the same.
We are of like minds! When I was little, I was an EXTREMELY picky eater. My specialty was bread ‘n butter pickles, american cheese and mustard sandwiches! My absolute favorite lunch, and everyone thought it was gross… I say try it before you knock it folks!
I am definitely going to try these. I love them!
Yay!!! Someone else who enjoys bb pickles with American cheese. My husband thinks it’s pretty gross, but to me a perfect sandwich is mayo, cheese, and pickles! Yum O! I can not wait to try this recipe, it looks soo darn easy. Thank you so much for sharing. 🙂
Yay!
Will this recipe work with whole pickles? Noone makes bread and butter pickles whole, like the really good fat dills.
Hi Ken,
I have not tried the recipe with whole pickles, so I’m not entirely sure.
Pickling pickles is a passion. Once bitten, you’ll never go back! I’ve pickled cases and cases of cukes, beans, asparagus, etc. to sell at craft and home shows for Christmas time. They literally fly out the door. Back to bread and butter – my husband’s favorite on sandwiches. He’ll will put them on any sandwich and has even made a sandwich out of the pickle itself! I’m actually doing up my first batch today (about 2 cases worth). I’ll do another as it’s CUCUMBER SEASON here in Minnesota! They make wonderful Christmas presents. No one says, “Ewww!” to a pickle. Oh, I don’t do the shows anymore, thank goodness. I’m too old to haul cases of pickles all over town. Yay for pickling!!
I just made these and am so excited to try them. I’ve been wanting to makes pickles for a while now and was intimidated. But they were so easy to make. As i poured the vinegar mixture over the cucumbers and onions I was immediately transported back in time to my Grandma’s house by the smell. They smell exactly like her pickles which I haven’t had in at least 20 years. Can’t wait to try them. I will have to make a batch for my father as I think he would really enjoy them as well.
Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
What a fun message! I love that you were transported back in time. Hope you all enjoy them!
These are the best pickles! My 10 year old son is really getting into cooking so when I saw this recipe, I thought he would like to try it. It was simple enough for him to do, but still challenging because he did a double batch and had to figure out the adjustments. He had so much fun making them and then getting rave reviews from family declaring them to be EXCELLENT. And this was said even before they were told who made them….lol..These will definitely be made again. Thanks for the great recipe!
This makes me so happy! Does your son know about my 10 year old’s food blog- http://www.recipeboy.com? He might enjoy taking a peek 🙂
This will be have to be next on my canning/preserving adventures! Fantastic recipe!
A Kool-Aid soaked pickle 🙂 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/dining/09kool.html
That’s just CRAZY!
This looks so fun and you make it look so easy. I need to make these for the pickle lovers in my life 🙂 Have you ever made a Koolickle, Lori? xoxo
What the heck is a Koolickle?!
Beautiful pictures..thanks for the great post!
Lori…I found your great and simple way to make bread and butter pickles. I am not into the canning and stuff…and I have been making my own dill pickles the easy way with out adding the salt. They are great with out it. My wife and I do not like the salt added because of health reasons, and I wanted to know if I left the salt out how much it would change the end result. Does most of the salt wash away and out of the pickles or get absorbed into the mix. Can you tell me how much sodium will be in the end result if we do put it in? Thanks in advance if you can answer these for me.
Richard B. at laurichaa@aol.com
Hi Richard- I wish I knew how the chemical process worked. It’s my first time pickling, so I was just adapting a recipe that I had in my files. The salt must get absorbed somewhat, but it’s washed off well before pickling. They don’t taste salty, but I’m afraid I cannot tell you how much sodium is in there.
These look so yummy! Love the photos–beautiful!
I cannot WAIT to try these! I have never tried canning and have been afraid to, but this is where I start!
YUM! How long will they stay good in the refrigerator? (in the slim chance that we don’t gobble them all up immediately)
A couple of weeks.
Like others, I had a grandmother who made bread and butter pickles This post takes me back to those childhood days and her delicious pickles. Bread & butters are one of my favorite pickles–I love their crispness. Yum
I just love canning bread and butter pickles in the summer. Yours look wonderful!!
Beautiful! I love your step-by-step directions. And even more, I love this idea. My grandmother made bread and butter pickles every year, using cucumbers from the garden my grandfather planted.
I don’t have a garden now but I do have an idea that I’d like to add to cucumber week. It’s a recipe straight from The Food Network Magazine itself, and a good one: Chicken with Pickle Sauce
Best, Charity
How do you say…AWESOME and these are my very favorite pickle to crunch and enjoy! YUM double YUM!!
Growing up my Granny used to always make a huge batch of bread and butter pickles every summer when her garden was full of cucumbers. I have never taken on the challenge myself and I am so glad you reminded me! I can not wait to try these this weekend when I pick up a bunch of cucumbers at the farmers market!
Pickles look great. We just made our first batch of pickles the other week and they turned out great 🙂 We were so surprised and happy!
Love this post of your pickles and was so glad I was there to watch you in action from start to finish. The photo’s and your story explained it all in living color. It is definitely a winner and will be appreciated by all your blogger friends for sure. LOVE