Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles Recipe
This recipe for homemade Bread and Butter Pickles is easy, delicious, and doesn’t require canning. Just 20 minutes of prep and let your refrigerator do the rest of the work!
This recipe first appeared on Spend With Pennies where I am a contributor.
Easy Recipe for Refrigerator Pickles
One of the best parts about this recipe is that you don’t need canning jars to make it! Fresh cucumber slices are infused with flavor from a seasoned vinegar mixture, then stored in the fridge.
It takes just 15 minutes of hands-on time, then 25 hours to marinate. The result is a batch of sweet and salty pickles that the whole family loves!
Rebecca’s Recipe Review
Taste: Sweet and salty.
Texture: Crunchy.
Ease: 3/10
Pros: It’s quick to prepare a batch of pickles with just 3 simple steps and 20 minutes of prep time.
Cons: This recipe does need to chill for 25 hours for the best-tasting pickles.
Would I Make This Again? Yes!
“WOW, These are so easy and very good. I added 1/2 tsp turmeric just because I always add it to sweet and sour brine. Easiest and fastest b&b pickles I have ever made.. I will be making these again. Thank you so much.”
– Debbie Brown
What are Bread and Butter Pickles?
Bread and butter pickles are sweeter than dill pickles. They’re brined in a vinegar-sugar mixture with other ingredients and spices.
There are a few ideas where the name “bread and butter pickles” comes from:
- Some say it was popularized during the Great Depression because butter-and-pickle sandwiches were all people could afford for lunch.
- It may also be related to traditional English cucumber sandwiches, which are filled with cucumbers and butter or cream cheese.
- As the story goes, they didn’t have money for groceries, so they traded the sweet pickles for essentials like bread and butter. They also sold them to make cash, marketing them as “bread and butter pickles.”
Regardless of their origins, I think we can all agree that they’re delicious! Especially on a sandwich with Homemade Bread, deli meat, and cheese or cheeseburgers!
Bread and Butter Pickles Ingredients
- Cucumbers: Pickling cucumbers are smaller in size, and fresh is best! Get them at the grocery store, a local farmer’s market, or grow them in your own garden.
- Onions: Slice ‘em thin, they add lots of flavor to the brine!
- Brine: This is made with a base of white and apple cider vinegar. It’s seasoned with light brown sugar, mustard seed, celery seed, and kosher salt.
- You can also add red pepper flakes for an extra kick.
How to make Bread and Butter Pickles
- Thinly slice the cucumbers and onions and place in a large bowl with salt. Chill and let the salt pull out excess water to make room for the brine! After chilling, rinse off the salt, drain excess water, and put the cucumber and onions back in.
- In a small saucepan, combine all brine ingredients (per the recipe below).
- Pour the brine over the top of the sliced cucumbers and onions and chill!
How to serve this Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles
Pickles are great for so many things, here are a few ideas for how to enjoy them!ng Item Here
- With burgers and sandwiches
- In chicken or tuna salad
- In potato or pasta salad
- Battered and fried
- With Bloody Marys
How To Store Homemade Bread and Butter Pickles
As long as the container they are in is fully sealed, these pickles can last up to 4 months. We like to store our pickles in jars in the refrigerator. These are the Wide Mouth Jars and the Plastic Jar Lids we use.
How do you know if refrigerator pickles have gone bad?
You will know if they have gone bad based on if they smell bad as well as if the brine or the pickles themselves becomes discolored or cloudy.
Can I use tap water for refrigerator pickles?
The only water needed in this recipe is for rinsing. So as long as your tap water is drinkable, you can use it for that step.
Why are my bread and butter pickles mushy?
As long as you follow the recipe and store these in the refrigerator, they should not get mushy. Pickles become overly soft when the salt and vinegar brine isn’t strong enough. Storing at room temperature will also cause them to ferment and become slimy.
Is there a difference between bread and butter and sweet pickles?
Bread and Butter pickles are sweet pickles. But there are versions of sweet pickles out there that are sweeter and may not be called bread and butter.
More Easy Recipes!
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- Boat Dip Recipe – Mexican flavored dip made with only 4 ingredients in 5 minutes!
- Viral Onion Ring Chips – Crispy, crunchy slices of onion baked to golden perfection!
- No Bake Avalanche Cookies – A sweet treat made with just 6 ingredients and zero baking!
- 10-Minute Beer Cheese Dip – The perfect dip for Soft Pretzels!
Did You Make This Recipe?
If you’ve tried this recipe, please let leave a review in the comments below. I love hearing from you! Don’t forget to tag me – @sugarandsoulco – on Instagram and Pinterest with your photos, or join our Sugar & Soul Show-offs Community and share them there.
Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickle Recipe
Ingredients
- 7 pickling cucumbers
- 1 white onion
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup white vinegar
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons celery seeds
- 2 teaspoons mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Slice the cucumbers and onion into thin slices and place in a large bowl and toss with the salt. cover and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Transfer the cucumbers and onions to a colander and rinse off the salt. Drain any excess water from the bowl and put the cucumber and onions back in.
- In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, vinegars, and spices and heat over medium-high heat until the sugar has dissolved. Pour over the top of the sliced cucumbers and onions and allow the bowl to come to room temperature before placing in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Video
Notes
- The best flavor will come about 2 weeks after brining.
- Store in an airtight container for 3 to 4 months in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Delicious
Pickles were delicious
I have made bread & butter pickles before but have never added brown sugar, do you think you could substitute with same amount of white sugar, would like to try since I always canned mine but this can leave in refrigerator
You could do white instead of brown. You’ll lose a little bit of flavor from the loss of molasses.
Do you have to use the onions?
You don’t have to but they do add a lot of flavor.
Super easy recipes, and boy the results are great
I will try to make it on weekend.
Its beautiful and I love it 😀
Its so delicious years ago I made this very close to your recipe but lost the recipe it’s good with salads,cold meats, & in a burger love it and 😊
Can I use regular cucumbers or English cucumbers?
How long will they keep in the fridge?
You should be able to use those varieties, and these usually last a few weeks.
Awesome recipe! They’re delicious and stay nice and crispy! I am so glad I came across this recipe. I’ve been looking for a really good one for awhile! Thank you for sharing it!
So glad you enjoyed it! it’s one of our favorites too!
I just now made those pickles so don’t know how they turned out yet. Is it necessary to put them in a bowl to cool off or can you put them directly into a large jar in which they will remain? This is what I did adding a weight on top to keep them under the pickling liquid. I cut everything in very thin slices.
Also, should the finished product be crispy or soft?
Thanks for the recipe/ it looks good.
I’ll keep you posted when I try them.
Hi Mary, the longer the pickles brine/sit, the softer they will become. I find that if they are sliced thin then the centers are soft and the edges stay more on the crunchy side due to the skin.
If you are pour everything into one large jar, that should be fine.
Super easy way to make pickles! Great. Flavor! Thanks
So glad you liked them, Patty!
I especially like the method of preparation for this recipe. I changed up the herbs and spices. Including dill and fennel and omitting the caraway seeds. I’ve used chilli garlic and dill with pepper corns previously and found these worked well together too.
I made these and they were a big hit. Took them to a family dinner and they disappeared. Easy recipe!
So glad you loved them!
417 calories? Really? Is that for the entire recipe?
Hi Kathy, the nutritional information is broken down based on the serving size. This recipes makes about 3 pints total and the information is for each pint.
When do I put them in containers
After they sit in the bowl for at least 24 hours you can add transfer them to other containers.
Can you water bath can these pickles?
Yes. I have never done it but it should work.
Can you leave out the onions?
You could but it will change the flavor of the pickles quite a bit since they are essential for that signature Bread and butter flavor.
My brine turned out super dark that you could barely see the pickles.
Did you maybe use dark brown sugar and something other than white vinegar such as apple cider?
WOW, These are so easy and very good. I added 1/2 tsp turmeric just because I always add it to sweet and sour brine.
Easiest and fastest b&b pickles I have ever made.. I will be making these again. Thank you so much.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I stumbled across your recipe while searching for low carb b&b zucchini pickles. I replaced the cukes with zucchini and used brown monk fruit instead of brown sugar. Turned out great! I’ve made them a couple times now. Even my hubby likes them. He thinks they’re cucumbers. I can’t ever admit to him that they’re zucchini. 😀