Garden fresh cucumbers and just a few simple ingredients and you can make your own easy Bread and Butter Pickles from scratch!
I've mentioned I love pickles, right? Since making the Super Easy Dill Pickles, our cucumbers have continued to explode. No, seriously. I've been making so many Asian Cucumber Salads (which trust me is not a bad thing), because we've had SO many cucumbers coming out of our garden! I seriously can't believe it and couldn't be happier. So it was time to make some more pickles. Some sweet and sour delicious easy-to-make Bread and Butter Pickles.
Why are they called Bread and Butter?
Ever wonder why these sweet and sour pickles got the name Bread and Butter Pickles? Me too, but I didn't really get a definitive answer, here's what my extensive research (Google search) found:
- They were an everyday food, just as common as "bread and butter."
- During the Great Depression, they were eaten with bread and butter as sandwiches because cucumbers were once considered super nutritious
- Cucumber farmers in the 1920s Omar and Cora Fanning started making them and then would barter them for staples such as bread and butter.
- Some dude whipped these up at home and sold them roadside and they were such a success that it became his 'bread and butter.'
The latter is of course my favorite so it's the one I'm going with.
Ingredients Needed
- Cucumbers - We love to grow Japanese Cucumbers in our gardens which are our favorites for pickles, but English or Kirby are also great.
- Sugar - For the sweetness! We use both white and brown sugar.
- Vinegar - White and Apple Cider to add just the right amount of tang.
- Spices - Mustard seeds, turmeric, and kosher salt.
All very easy to make! And customizable - sometimes we cut the sugar for a little more bite and other times we add a touch more sugar for additional sweetness!
Easy to Make
Step 1: Crinkle slice cucumbers with a mandolin at 1/8 inch thickness.
You can of course also slice them thin with a knife, but we love the crinkle-cut look that you can get from a mandolin.
Step 2: Add a healthy dose of salt to "sweat" or draw out the excess liquid from the cucumbers. Let them sit for an hour before giving them a good rinse.
Step 3: Meanwhile add the sugar, vinegars, and spices to a pot to bring to a boil.
Step 4: Pack your pickles in a jar and then pour in the hot vinegar sugar mixture.
Step 5: Let it cool and then pop it in the fridge to crisp overnight and the next day you're good to go!
No fermentation required for these refriderator Bread and Butter Pickles!
The next dady, we devoured these sweet, tangy, sour, crunchy bread and butter pickles! We actually agreed we liked them more than the dill pickles. They're just so incredibly snackable!
These are not going to last long. Luckily, my cucumbers are still exploding and so there will be many many more refrigerator pickle jars in our future! Happy pickle-making!
Enjoy! As always, if you make this recipe or any of my others, I love to hear what you think! Leave a comment below, email me, or you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
Bread and Butter Pickles
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 1/2 cups 1 1/2 pounds thinly sliced cucumbers
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons kosher salt
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds
- 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
Instructions
- Combine cucumbers and salt in a large, shallow bowl; cover and chill 1 1/2 hours.
- Move cucumbers into a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold water. Drain well, and return cucumbers to bowl.
- Combine sugar and remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour hot vinegar mixture over cucumber mixture; let stand at room temperature 1 hour.
- Cover and refrigerate 24 hours. Store in an airtight container / jars in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.
I love pickles but never tried to make them myself at home. Your recipe with tutorial is so helpful and the pickles turned out amazing!
So great to hear, Hayley! Thanks so much for sharing!
What a great idea. I don’t think I would have thought of making bread and butter pickles on my own. Thanks for the fine recipe and images. I look forward to trying it.
Enjoy, Jenny!
I’ve been wanting to make bread and butter pickles but didn’t know how… Great tutorial and wonderful outcome, thank you!
Thanks so much, Chandice!
I am addicted to these easy and tasty bread and butter pickles. They are perfect in potato salad or on top of burgers.
They sure are!
Can table salt be used in place of kosher salt?
Yes! Just use ¾ teaspoon table salt in place of 1 teaspoon kosher salt, so for this recipe, you can use 3 1/2 teaspoons of table salt. Enjoy!
These are our favorite flavored pickles and your recipe is even better than the store bought ones I always would get. Making these again asap!
This pickle recipe looks absolutely yummy, The way it preserves in a jar makes this tempting! Just looking at it makes me hungry and crave it!
Thanks Amy!
I am a major pickle fan no matter what kind they are. Now that I have cucumbers coming out of my garden I couldn't think of anything I liked better than making them into pickles. These were easy to make and so tasty that they've become a staple in my refrigerator.
So great to hear, Linda! Thanks so much for sharing!
I'm not usually a fan of bread and butter pickles because I feel like they're too sweet. Your recipe had just the right amount of sweetness and I was able to pickle all of my cucumbers from the garden with it!
Great to hear, Marta!! Best part of making you own is that you can adjust the sweetness!
What a classic recipe! I love the addition of turmeric too. Honestly,I I prefer refrigerator pickles. I think the flavor is better than fermented!
I had a bunch of cucumbers ready in the garden, so I made a batch of these pickles -- so good! The mustard seeds really added a nice flavor to the brine.
So glad you enjoyed them, Amanda!