My easy homemade refrigerator bread and butter pickles recipe has the most delightful balance of sweetness and tanginess! I make them with vinegar, salt, sugar, and the perfect blend of pickling spices.
I grew up with bread and butter pickles and love them! They are a type of pickled cucumber with the most delicious sweet and tangy flavor. These are seriously so good!
I make them by adding sliced cucumbers to a mixture of vinegar, sugar, salt, and spices. The result is a sweet, tangy, crisp, and colorful pickle! For more easy pickle recipes, see our delicious pickled beets, homemade dill pickles, or these easy pickled red onions.
Key Ingredients
- Cucumbers: I recommend using Kirby cucumbers, Boston pickling cucumbers, or other pickling-specific varieties. They stay crisp in the brine and make delicious pickles. If these aren’t available, smaller Persian cucumbers are a good alternative.
- Vinegar: Look for distilled vinegar labeled with “5% acidity” on the bottle.
- Salt and Sugar: For bread and butter pickles, I use pickling salt or sea salt, and granulated sugar for sweetness.
- Spices: I’m a big fan of store-bought pickling spice, and my go-to is McCormick’s blend (you’ll spot it in almost any grocery store). It has cinnamon, allspice, mustard seed, coriander, bay leaves, ginger, clove, red pepper, black pepper, cardamom, and mace. Then, I add some extra peppercorns and ground turmeric, adding color and flavor.
How to Make Bread and Butter Pickles
Just like my pickled beets or these easy dill pickles, these bread and butter pickles are refrigerator pickles and only require two simple steps:
- Slice the cucumbers into coins and place them into a jar.
- Cover the cucumbers in the jar with my sweet and tangy vinegar brine.
After that, let them cool to room temperature, refrigerate the jar, and enjoy your delicious homemade refrigerator pickles!
The magic behind these pickles lies in their simple brine. You’ll need vinegar, salt, sugar, and a handful of spices to make them shine. To make the brine, bring everything to a simmer in a small saucepan and cook until the sugar and salt dissolve. Then, while the brine is still hot, pour it over sliced cucumbers in a jar and allow to cool to room temperature.
Once cool, secure the jar’s lid and refrigerate. I like to store my jar upside down in a bowl for the first night to ensure the turmeric color reaches every corner.
Easy Bread and Butter Pickles
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Simple homemade refrigerator bread and butter pickles made using vinegar, salt, sugar, and the perfect blend of pickling spices. These pickles have the most delightful balance of sweetness and tanginess!
You Will Need
1 pound (454g) pickling cucumbers, like Kirby, sliced into coins, 3 to 4 cucumbers
1 ½ cups (355ml) vinegar (5% acidity)
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
1 tablespoon pickling spice, see notes
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
1 ½ tablespoons (23g) pickling salt or sea salt, recommend using weight, see notes
Directions
1Combine the vinegar, sugar, pickling spice, turmeric, peppercorns, and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat. Let the mixture come to a simmer and continue cooking until the sugar and salt completely dissolve.
2Pack the sliced cucumbers into a 1-quart (1 liter) jar.
3Carefully pour the hot pickle brine over the cucumbers. Leave about 1/8-inch of space between the top of the brine and the lid of the jar.
4Allow the jar to cool down to room temperature. Then, securely tighten the lid with your fingers and place it in the refrigerator.
5Let the pickles sit undisturbed overnight before enjoying them. For the first night, position the jar upside down in a bowl and flip it right-side-up the next day.
6The pickles will last in the fridge for up to one month.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Picking spice blend: There are quite a few brands that sell pickling spice blend, we use McCormick “Mixed Pickling Spice”
- Are these shelf stable? These pickles have been specifically designed for refrigeration storage. They are meant to be kept in the fridge at all times. However, if you’re experienced in canning, you could potentially adapt them for long-term shelf stability. This would involve using sanitized jars, new lids, and a pressure canner.
- Different salts can be used for pickling. Pickling salt is best, but you can also use Morton’s kosher salt or sea salt. Avoid table salt due to additives. If using Diamond Crystal salt, you may need to adjust quantity as it’s larger than pickling salt. We recommend measuring by weight for pickles. If you are measuring by volume (like tablespoons), you will need about 50% more Diamond Crystal salt.
- Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values. It is difficult to calculate how much salt and sugar are in the pickles, so we have included all of the brine in the calculations (which is why salt and sugar is higher).
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Made this recipe for bread and butter pickles last night. It was quick, easy, and tastes great. We added a little extra vinegar to top off the jar and added thin slices of peppers and onions with the cucumber. Will definitely be making this again, and trying it with other vegetables. Thanks for a great recipe.
I would love to make these pickles. They sound wonderful! Can you please tell me how long they last in the refrigerator? Thank You, Cinda
Hi Cinda, The pickles will last in the fridge for up to one month.
I recently made your pickled beets and they are wonderful. Next up, refrigerator bread and butter pickles! Thanks for the great recipes.