Bread and Butter Pickle Recipe
Published December 26, 2019. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Skip the grocery store and learn how easy it is to jar up your own bread and butter pickles in under 90 minutes.
These are sweet, sour, and salty brined pickled cucumbers that are often cut into ridged chips and served on sandwiches. Try these out in my Southern Potato Salad or Southern Deviled Eggs.
Why Do they Call Them Bread and Butter Pickles?
Rumor has it they got their name during the great depression when people would make these sweet and sour pickles and serve them between buttered bread, hence the name bread and butter pickles.
What Are They Used For?
They can be eaten just like regular dill pickles and are fantastic on Burgers, Nachos, a regular lunch meat sandwich, or even a falafel sandwich. Its unique taste can really enhance the overall flavor of your food.
Can You Make Them With Regular Cucumbers?
Yes, you can absolutely use sliced cucumbers when making this, and here are the best pickles to use:
- Kerby
- Persian
- Boston Pickling Cucumber
- Bush Pickle
What’s the Difference Between These and Sweet Pickles
There is no difference between the two as they are the same but are simply called either bread and butter pickles or sweet pickles.
How to Make Bread and Butter Pickles
- Add your sliced cucumbers to a jar.
- Add the vinegar, sugar, onion, garlic, salt, mustard seeds, celery seed, turmeric, and cloves to a pot and bring to a boil or until the sugar and salt are dissolved.
- Next, Pour the brine over the cucumbers in the jar and cool to room temperature.
- Label and date the jars.
- Keep cool in the refrigerator for 4-6 weeks.
How to Seal Them
Once the brine has been poured over the top of the cucumbers, you will immediately screw on the lid and place it into a pot of boiling water with a rack in it, and boil for 10 minutes. Simply cool it to room temperature and keep it for up to 1 year. Pickles do not freeze well, so we advise against it.
You will know it has been sealed correctly if the lid on the jar will not move when pressing in the center of it, and you will hear a pop while it is boiling.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: You can make these bread and butter pickles up to 2 weeks ahead of time.
How to Store: Keep the lid on the jar and store in the refrigerator under 40° for 4-6 weeks. Pickles do not freeze well, so as a result, we advise against it.
chef notes + tips
- If you can’t find any pickling cucumber varieties, you can simply slice a regular or hothouse cucumber into spears or chips.
More Pickling Recipes
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Video
Bread and Butter Pickle Recipe
Equipment
- mason jars
Ingredients
- 12 pickling cucumbers
- 2 cups distilled vinegar
- 2 cups apple cider vinegar
- 2 ½ cups sugar
- 1 peeled thinly sliced yellow onion
- 3 finely minced garlic cloves
- 1 ½ tablespoons sea salt
- 2 tablespoons mustard seeds
- 1 tablespoon celery seed
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- 12-15 cloves
Instructions
- Slice your pickles to your desired slice and pack them into 4, 16-ounce sterilized mason jars.
- In a large pot, add the vinegar, sugar, onion, garlic, salt, mustard seeds, celery seed, turmeric, and cloves to the pot and bring to a boil or until the sugar and salt are dissolved.
- Evenly pour the brine liquid over the top of the cucumbers in the jar until they are completely covered.
- Cool to room temperature, add a lid, label and date, and store in the refrigerator for 4-6 weeks.
These pickles were gun to make… and oh so good!
One of my favorite pickles is Bread and Butter. This recipe is absolutely spot on with a great balance of sweet and sour. I’ll be make my pickles instead of buying
same!
Made these today, outstanding flavor! Just yum! Thanks Chef 😊
I love bread and butter pickles and I also love them sweet and spicy. Is there a one or two ingredient add that you think would add some heat?
red pepper flakes, sliced jalapeños.
These sound great and am definitely going to try them. However, when you canned some of them via water bath, I noticed that you filled the jar clear to the top. I have always been told to leave at least 1 inch of headspace to allow for expansion. Have you ever had any not seal or leak because you filled them too full?
Do what works best for you.
Now I know where my extra cukes are going. Thanks Chef.
so good!!
Getting ready to make these. Great recipe.
These are delish!
so good!!
Is there a minimum wait time before you should eat these pickles?
I usually wait until they are cooled to at least room temp.
I saved this recipe for summer when I have a ridiculous amount of cucumbers in my garden!!!
I grew up on dill pickles but my husband is all about bread and butter. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe and for the info on where the name came from. I always wondered!