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!
Made with cucumbers, onions, and a homemade brine, this recipe is quick to prepare. Enjoy them with your favorite burger, sandwich, or as a snack by themselves.
This recipe first appeared on Spend With Pennies where I am a contributor.
Why We Love this Recipe
One of the best parts about refrigerator pickles is that you don’t need canning jars to make them! 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!
What Are Bread & 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!
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 Refrigerator Pickles
While this recipe does need to chill for 25 hours for the best tasting pickles, it is quick to prepare with just 3 simple steps!
Step 1: 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.
Step 2: In a small saucepan, combine all brine ingredients (per the recipe below).
Combine: Pour it over the top of the sliced cucumbers and onions and chill!
Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container or pint jars.
How To Serve Them
Pickles are great for so many things, here are a few ideas for how to enjoy them!
- With burgers and sandwiches
- In chicken or tuna salad
- In potato or pasta salad
- Battered and fried
- With Bloody Marys
- With deviled eggs
Bread and Butter Pickles
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If you’ve tried this recipe please let me know how you liked it in the comments below and leave a review, I love hearing from you! And don’t forget to tag me – @sugarandsoulco – on Instagram and Pinterest with your photos!
Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles
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.
Rebecca Hubbell says
So glad you liked them, Patty!
Rebecca Hubbell says
So glad you enjoyed it! it’s one of our favorites too!
Valerie says
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!
Rebecca Hubbell says
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.
Mary says
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.
Patty Jones says
Super easy way to make pickles! Great. Flavor! Thanks
Robyn says
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.