These homemade refrigerator bread and butter pickles are sweet, zesty, and crunchy. A perfect condiment for a burger or sandwich, or enjoy them as a snack on their own. This recipe is so easy and doesn’t require any canning skills!
We are a pickle loving family over here. 1000% if that was a thing. My pantry is never ever without dill pickle potato chips and my refrigerator is always stocked with pickled beets and pickled eggs. Not to mention that I have countless varieties of vinegar in my cupboard. Pucker up!
While dill pickles are #1 for us, bread and butter pickles are right on their heals. We’ve been known to polish off an entire jar of these in an afternoon.
Why are they called bread and butter pickles?
Some say they gained popularity during the Great Depression. Since they were a cheap kitchen staple, people would use them on buttered sandwich bread for an easy, inexpensive lunch.
Another story is that Omar and Cora Fanning, who were Illinois cucumber farmers back in the 1920’s, pickled and sold their small cucumbers and would also trade the pickles with their local grocer for essentials, like bread and butter. They ended up filing for a “Fanning’s Bread and Butter Pickles” trademark.
Are Bread and Butter Pickles Sweet?
Unlike dill pickles, they’re definitely on the sweeter side, but they’re also tart, with a slight kick. They’re infused with a sugar-vinegar brine and other spices that make them pretty irresistible and perfect on sandwiches!
Making homemade bread and butter pickles is so easy! There are only a few simple steps, some resting time (for the pickles and hopefully for you, too! HA), and then chilling in the fridge overnight to get the truest flavor. If you’re really impatient, though, they taste great after only a few hours!
Bread and Butter Pickle Recipe Ingredients
Pickling cucumbers – these pickles are made from a smaller cucumber than you use on a salad. They’re marketed as pickling cucumbers and can be found at most regular grocery stores. Use the freshest, unblemished ones you can find.
Onion – sweet onions pair perfectly with the tangy brine.
Vinegar – white vinegar and apple cider vinegar are both used.
Sugar – a combination of granulated and brown sugar.
Seasonings – mustard seeds, celery seeds, ground Turmeric, and Kosher salt
The cucumber slices should be about 1/4-inch thick. You want some crunch! Too thin and they can disintegrate when soaked with the hot brine. Too thick and they won’t soak up the brine enough.
I highly recommend using a mandolin, which ensures the slices are all the same size. It also makes the process so much easier and faster!
Take these to a summer barbecue and make all the friends!
Looking for more cucumber recipes? Try my Cucumber Tomato Salad, Creamy Cucumber Salad, Beet and Cucumber Salad.
Watch the video for this Bread and Butter Pickles Recipe
I hope you love this delicious and simple recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full onFacebook,Instagram,Pinterest, andYouTube!
Bread and Butter Pickles
5 from 49 Ratings
These easy homemade bread and butter pickles are sweet, zesty, and crunchy. Perfect for a burger or sandwich, or enjoy them as a snack on their own!
Combine cucumbers and salt in a large, shallow bowl; cover and chill 1 1/2 hours.
Move cucumbers into a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold water. Drain well, and return cucumbers to bowl. Add onion to the bowl and toss with the cucumbers.
Combine the granulated sugar, white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds and ground turmeric in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
Pour the hot vinegar mixture over cucumber mixture; let stand at room temperature 1 hour.
Cover and refrigerate 24 hours. (If you’re really impatient, though, they taste great after only a few hours!)
Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 1 month.
Video
Notes
I have not tried this recipe with any sugar substitutes, so without further recipe testing, I can’t vouch for the results.
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and any changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are very important to you, I would recommend calculating them yourself.
Other Notes
Course: Condiment
Cuisine: American
Keyword: bread and butter pickles, Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles
Did you make this recipe?Snap a picture and mention @bellyfullblog!
Fermented foods like pickles are basically probiotic superfoods, packed full of good bacteria that can support the health of your gastrointestinal microbiome and are good for your gut bacteria.
Pickles are fat-free and low in calories, but they are also low in most other nutrients, except for sodium. A 100-gram serving of bread and butter pickles contains 457 milligrams of sodium, or nearly 20% of the recommended daily limit. Most pickles are high in sodium, so it is important to limit consumption.
Let the jars cool to room temperature. Store the pickles in the refrigerator. The pickles will improve with flavor as they age — try to wait at least 24 hours before using.
Eat bread-and-butter pickles in moderation to limit added sugars, and keep an eye out for sodium too—if you already eat out or eat foods high in sodium, a pickle spear or two per day could push you over the limit. Buy fermented pickles for added gut health benefits.
Pickle juice is a common home remedy used to treat an upset stomach. While there is no scientific proof that it can kill harmful bacteria in the stomach, pickle juice contains rich amounts of sodium, potassium, and vinegar, whose antimicrobial properties relieve symptoms of stomach illnesses.
You might crave pickles if you're low in sodium, dehydrated, or just feeling a little snacky! Pickles are a great way to satisfy the midnight munchies. Eating pickles all the time could be a symptom of extreme stress. Pickles may be your comfort food.
Promotes weight loss: As a low-calorie snack, pickles can be a satisfying and healthy option for those trying to lose weight. Fights inflammation: The antioxidants in pickles can help reduce inflammation in the body, which is linked to various chronic diseases.
“The pickles that are beneficial for your gut health are the fermented ones, made by brining them in salt rather than vinegar,” says Dr. Oppezzo. “While vinegar pickling is a common method, true fermentation in brine enriches them with beneficial probiotics for your gut.
Are pickles safe for people with diabetes? People living with diabetes can enjoy pickles as a snack or part of a meal. However, they should use caution with sweet pickles, and consider the impact of extra sodium for those at risk of heart disease. Pickled and fermented foods may provide some benefits.
Pickles can be keto-friendly as long as they don't contain added sugar. In general, you should select dill or sour pickles but avoid sweet, candied, and bread and butter ones.
And, as always, moderation is key. Eating too many pickles can lead to weight gain and other health problems, so enjoy them in moderation. So yes, pickles can be considered keto food, as they are a great low-carb snack option. One small dill pickle contains only 1 gram of carbs.
Sterilizing jars and standing over a steamy water bath for hours is not the most pleasurable way to spend a summer day! You can skip that whole process and make the next best thing – refrigerator pickles.
“Absolutely yes, you can reuse pickle brine,” says Phillip Bec of McClure's Pickles. Mark Hungarland, the co-founder of Doux South Pickles, agrees. "We have always encouraged our customers to reuse our brines," Hungarland tells Southern Living. "It is such a waste to dump the brine after the pickles are gone."
Once you've opened a jar of pickles, you should store them in the refrigerator. Many cooks keep them in a condiment shelf on the door — that's fine, as long as your fridge is kept to 40°F or below. You can also keep unopened, jarred pickles in the refrigerator, although it's not necessary.
I love bread and butter pickles. But the general kind of pickle, made with vinegar, lacks the digestive enzymes and probiotics of the fermented ones. Here is a recipe for how to make these delicious and helpful pickles.
Note that since these are not fermented pickles, they won't have the healthy probiotic bacteria produced by lacto-fermentation but they are still all natural (just take a look at all the junk in store bought vinegar pickles!) and can easily be made using organic produce and sugar.
To cater to the gut microbiome, seek out pickles like traditional dill, naturally fermented with garlic and spices, or briny delights like sauerkraut and kimchi, which offer a bevy of live bacteria.
Fermented dill pickles are made with salt and not vinegar, so by comparison they are milder than vinegar pickles which contain acetic acid. These are the gut healthy, microbiome-boosting superfood pickles that you should be consuming everyday, three times a day.
Introduction: My name is Lakeisha Bayer VM, I am a brainy, kind, enchanting, healthy, lovely, clean, witty person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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