Name: Bread and Butter Pickles
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 250 min
Ingredients: Approximately 2.5 pounds of pickling cucumbers (about 15 (6 inch)); 6 medium yellow or white onions; 1/2 cup pickling salt; 6 cups white vinegar; 4 1/2 cups sugar; 1/2 cup mustard seeds; 1 tablespoon celery seeds; generous pinch of turmeric (optional, for color)

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This sweet, crunchy homemade Bread and Butter Pickle recipe is a delicious treat! Whether you’re new to canning or an expert, this recipe for Bread and Butter Pickles is both easy and delicious. Pickles are a great way to preserve your cucumber harvest. They taste amazing piled high on a burger or sandwich. In fact, they taste so good you’ll probably want to just grab a fork and eat them straight out of the jar!

If you love pickling, be sure to check out our best recipes for Refrigerator Pickles or how about our sensational Canned Candied Jalapenos? And if you’re trying to preserve more of your garden’s fresh bounty right now, we have 22 Preserving and Canning Recipes right here for you!

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Canning pot with rack

Jar lifter

Jars with sealable lids and rims

What are in Bread and Butter Pickles?

Ingredients to make bread and butter pickles

You only need a few simple ingredients to make these sweet pickles. The star of the show is, of course, the cucumbers. You’ll want to use a pickling cucumber because they are shorter and have drier skin that allows more of the pickling brine to soak in. Once you have about 2.5 pounds or approximately 15 (6 inches) pickling cucumbers, you’re ready to make a batch of Bread and Butter Pickles.

Farmers’ markets are usually full of pickling cukes, but sometimes you can even find them in your local grocery store too.

Ingredients

Approximately 15 (6 inches) pickling cucumbers (about 2.5 pounds)

Pickling Salt

White Sugar

6 medium yellow or white onions

Celery Seed

Mustard Seeds

White Vinegar

Turmeric (optional, for color)

Note: If you can’t find pickling salt, you can use Kosher Salt as long as it doesn’t contain any anti-caking agents.

Canning Bread and Butter Pickles

To can the pickles, you’ll also want to make sure you have the necessary canning supplies. You don’t need a lot to can pickles at home, but you do need a few things. You’ll need:

12 glass pint canning jars with lids and rings

Water Bath Canner

Canning Jar Lifter.

Now, you’re all ready to get started!

Fresh Pickling Cucumbers from the Garden for Bread and Butter Pickles

How to Make Bread and Butter Pickles

Follow these easy instructions to make and can a delicious batch of Bread and Butter Pickles.

First, rinse the cucumbers and then slice them. I like thin pickle slices because I like to really pile them onto a sandwich, but you can slice them how you like them – thick and crunchy is good too! It’s handy to use a mandolin, or even a slicer attachment on a food processor, for more even slices.

Cucumbers sliced to make Bread and Butter Pickles

Then, peel the onions and slice them in thin slices as well. I also use a mandolin to get nice, thin slices quickly here too.

Once your cucumbers and onions are sliced, place them together in a large stainless steel bowl, or a pickle crockery if you have one. Sprinkle them with 1/2 cup of the pickling salt, and then use your hands to gently toss the cucumber slices and onion slices to distribute the salt. Let them sit for 3 hours.

Overhead of sliced cucumbers and onions in a bowl.

Preparing Your Jars

While the cucumbers and onions are resting, it’s a good time to prepare your jars. I like to put them through the dishwasher so they are “sterilized” and hot when it’s time to add the pickles.

When they come out of the dishwasher, I place them into a shallow pan with a few inches of lightly boiling water just to make sure they stay warm and sterile. I do the same with the lids and rings.

When the pickles, onions, and salt have rested for 3 hours, drain them well but don’t rinse them. In a large stainless steel pot, combine the Vinegar, Sugar, Celery Seeds, and Mustard Seeds and bring them to a boil. You can also add a generous pinch of Turmeric for color if desired.

Once they are boiling, add the salted cucumbers and onions. Bring the mixture back to a low boil over medium heat and then pack them immediately into the hot, sterilized pint jars, leaving 1/2 inch headroom.

Canning Your Pickles

Overhead view of a pot of bread and butter pickles

Before I put on the lids, I always wipe the outside of the jars down and the rim (the sugar-water mixture is very sticky!). Then, put the lids and rings on and process in a Hot-Water Bath (185 F/85 C) for 10 minutes. Note: If you are canning at a high altitude, you may need to adjust your processing time.

After the water bath, use your jar lifter and place the hot jars upright onto a layer of paper towels or a tea towel and let them cool naturally.

You can eat them right away, but the flavors do get better after a few weeks. Either way, you’ll have a delicious batch of sweet Bread and Butter Pickles to enjoy for weeks to come!

Why do they call them Bread and Butter Pickles?

For a long time, I thought they were called Bread and Butter Pickles because people used to eat them between two slices of buttered bread. However, while it’s true that pickle sandwiches on buttered bread were a depression-era staple, there’s actually a different reason for the name.

In 1923, Illinois residents Omar and Cora Fanning registered for a trademark on the logo “Bread ‘n Butter Pickles” for their family pickles. As the story goes, Mrs. Fanning worked out an agreement with a local grocer who gave her groceries (bread and butter) in exchange for the pickles.

Isn’t that a fun story to think about when you’re making your next batch of pickles?

Taking pickles out of a jar with a fork.

First jar is open with a fork and the rest are closed and filled with pickles

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Pin it HERE!!