Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickle 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!

“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

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.
2. In a small saucepan, combine all brine ingredients (per the recipe below).
3. 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.

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