Bread and Butter Pickles are crunchy, sweet and tangy. They’re delicious with sandwiches, burgers, or as a snack. Old-fashioned bread and butter pickles – just like grandma used to make!
Bread and butter pickles are made with cucumbers, onions, peppers, vinegar, sugar and spices. Sealed jars will last up to 18-months. Find detailed step images and a video below! This recipe has been in our family for over 100 years!
They’re delicious chopped in our tuna salad or Southern potato salad.
Find simple to follow instructions are below. This canning recipe comes from my great-grandmother’s farm kitchen and has been passed down for generations.
Be sure and try my Refrigerator Dill Pickles and Pickled Peppers. They are so good!
Why this recipe works
- Uses simple ingredients – Simple to find ingredients readily available at most grocery stores.
- Flavor – Creates a flavorful, crispy bread and butter pickles with only a few ingredients.
- Controls the ingredients – Making homemade pickles free of preservatives and any additives.
- Stock your pantry – Sealed with jars of homemade pickles that will last up to 18-months.
- Surplus of cucumbers – The perfect home canning recipe for using a surplus of cucumbers.
What you’ll need
- Pickling cucumbers – They are a smaller cucumbers with thicker skin and less seeds. Thicker skin helps keep them crispy through the canning process. (Grow them yourself or find them at your local farmers market throughout the summer!)
- Bell Peppers – We love the combination of red and green bell peppers.
- Yellow or white onions – Use whatever type of onions you want. We chop them, but you can also just slice.
- Pickling or Kosher salt – This is an essential ingredient to canning pickles. Salt, along with ice, helps draw the excess water out of cucumbers, giving you a crisp pickle.
- White vinegar – Vinegar creates the perfect flavor combination for the brine for bread and butter pickles.
- Sugar – Adds just the right amount of sweetness to this pickle recipe.
- Cloves, celery seed, mustard seeds and turmeric – Adds a pop of spice to these pickles.
- Mason jars – Easily locate them at Tractor Supply stores, Walmart and small independent hardware stores.
- Water bath canner – This large enamelware pot with tools will last a life time of canning. Order it here! You will need to water bath pickles to make shelf stable.
- Jar lifter – This is my favorite Ball jar lifter. It’s heavy duty built and rubber helps grip the canning jars well. You’ll use this to place jars into the water bath canner and remove after they are done.
We grow our own pickling cucumbers, but you can also buy pickling cucumbers at local farmers markets.
How to make Old Fashioned Bread and Butter Pickles
- Prep ingredients – Wash pickling cucumbers and cut into slices. Cut onions and peppers into small pieces.
- Combine cucumbers, onions, peppers with salt – Place the salt, cucumber slices, onion, and bell peppers in a food-safe bucket. Use your hand to stir the mixture so the salt is evenly distributed.
- Add ice – Put a clean kitchen towel on top of the cucumbers, with few inches of ice. Let sit for 3-4 hours in a cool place. (Salt, along with the ice help the cucumbers remove excess water so pickles will remain crisp when canned.)
- Drain water from cucumbers -Drain water from the cucumbers, set aside.
- Make the brine – In a large pot, combine vinegar, sugar, ground cloves, mustard seed, celery seed and turmeric. Bring to a boil and stir with a spoon to combine ingredients. (Don’t add the cucumber mixture to the brine or it will make pickles soggy!)
- Prepare water bath canner and jars – Prepare the boiling water canner. Heat the jars in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Wash lids in soapy water and rinse well, set aside. Set bands aside.
- Add to jars– Place equal amounts of cucumbers, onions, and bell peppers into each hot jar. Ladle hot pickling brine over top of cucumbers, leaving ½-inch headspace.
- Seal jars – Wipe the rims with a clean, damp paper towel. Center the lids on jars. Apply the bands to fingertip tight.
- Hot water bath – Process jars in the boiling water canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude.
- Cool and store jars – Remove the jars with a jar lifter and allow to cool completely on the counter for 24 hours. Wash jars with damp kitchen cloth and remove bands to store.
- Check if jars are sealed – Let the jars cool and the lids will begin to make a “pinging” sound as they seal. The lid should not flex up and down when the center is pressed.
For brining pickles, use a food safe 5-gallon bucket. Often times you can pick one up from a bakery. But, if you cannot find one use these food safe plastic bags to line a 5-gallon bucket.
Don’t be nervous if you’ve never canned- it’s really easy! A cookbook on home canning that I highly recommend is from Ball Canning. Order it here!
Each year, we plant a small vegetable garden and grow our own pickling cucumbers. As you can see, in the picture above, we train the vines to grow up the lattice.
This keeps the cucumbers up off the ground, so they grow nicely, take up less space, and keep them in better shape as they mature. Pickling cucumbers will also have less chance of disease when grown this way.
It’s a summer tradition in our household to make homemade Bread and Butter Pickles. And I love Pickled Peppers too! These old-fashioned bread and butter pickles are a must-have to our pantry shelves. We use them to barter with other farms and neighbors, plus enjoy plenty ourselves! (They are delicious with a sandwich or cheeseburger!)
Why they’re called Bread and Butter Pickles
It is said that these delicious pickles got their name because during the Great Depression, they were an inexpensive staple in households. People used them in sandwiches of Bread and Butter because that’s what they could afford. Many things during that time were rationed too, so they made many things from scratch.
Best Varieties of Cucumbers for Making Pickles
Canning Bread and Butter Pickles is relatively easy. While you can certainly use different kinds of cucumbers, pickling cucumbers are the best. They have a thicker skin and are small in size, therefore have less seeds. They can withstand the very hot brine and still come out crunchy.
Recipe FAQs
We use a combination of ground cloves, celery seed, mustard seeds and turmeric for this bread and butter pickle recipe. They blend perfectly for this recipe.
Dill pickles use a herb called Dill and have less sugar, making them a little more tart. Old-fashioned bread and butter pickles use a blend of spices, sugar and vinegar making them have a unique sweet and tangy flavor.
Once the jars of homemade pickles are sealed, store them in a cool, dry place for up to 18 months or so. Although, I highly doubt they will last that long!
More Canning Recipes
Be sure and check out Spicy Dill Pickles from Delicious Table.
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Bread and Butter Pickles Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Bread and Butter Pickles
- 25 to 30 pickling cucumbers, sliced ¼-inch thick
- ½ cup pickling or kosher salt
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 1 large green bell pepper diced
- 1 large red bell pepper diced
- 7 cups white vinegar
- 6 cups granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
- 2 teaspoons celery seed
- 1 ½ teaspoons turmeric
Instructions
Bread and Butter Pickles
- In a 5-gallon food-grade bucket, combine the sliced cucumbers, salt, onion, and bell peppers. Stir so the salt is evenly distributed. Cover the cucumber mixture with a clean kitchen towel or tea towel, and place a few inches of ice on top of the towel. Allow to sit for 3-4 hours in a cool place.
- Drain the vegetables and set aside. Make the brine by bringing the vinegar, sugar, cloves, mustard seeds, celery seed, and turmeric to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Meanwhile, prepare a boiling water canner. Heat the jars in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Wash the lids with hot soapy water. Set bands aside.
- Place an equal amount of cucumbers, onions, and bell peppers into each hot jar. Press down the mixture, as it will rise when you pour in the brine.
- Use a wide-mouth funnel, ladle hot pickling liquid over top of the cucumbers, leaving a ½-inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles. Wipe the rims with a clean, damp paper towel. Center the lids on the jars. Apply the bands until the fit is fingertip tight.
- Process jars in the boiling water canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove the jars and allow to cool completely on the counter for 24 hours. Check the lids for seal. The lid should not flex up and down when the center is pressed.
- For best flavor, let stand for 3-4 weeks before enjoying. Store the jars in a cool, dry place for up to 1 year. If a jar doesn’t seal, store in the refrigerator and use within 3 months.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
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Susan says
FANTASTIC – I made this recipe and just ate a whole jar – so goooood!!!!
Jessica Robinson says
My mom and great grandmother would be thrilled to hear you loved it!!
Moni A says
Hi. I’ve never tried pickling before, but my mother has a few over ripe cukes from her gardenand pickles were the suggested solution. I usually like bread and butter pickles vs dill. I’m not overly concerned about getting crunchy one (even though I’d prefer them), I just want the great flavor. With that being said, do you think it’ll still work to pickle these? Also, it’s only 4 large cukes, so I’m probably going to cut the recipe into a quarter.
Would the lack of crisp be my only concern here?
I plan to make sure they aren’t busy before starting the process as well.
Jessica Robinson says
Hey Moni,
Glad to hear you are interested in trying pickling. We’d recommend using smaller cucumbers for pickling. Preferably pickling cucumbers. I’m not sure what variety you have.
A good place to start if you’ve never pickled is to look at the Ball Canning cookbook.
Ashley says
Sliced the onion instead of chopped and did not add green bell pepper only the red. Looks good. Can’t wait to try them!
Pascale says
Such an easy recipe! Delicious…
Tori says
Those are the best! I usually want to change a recipe but not yours. Those are fantastic pickles. I am lucky that all the ingredients came from my garden. Thank you so much
Heather says
Its our first time making Bread and Butter pickles. We found the recipe clear and easy to follow. They look lovely and we can hardly wait for the taste test. Thank you
Jessica Robinson says
Heather,
That’s incredible to hear!!! Great job at your first time making pickles too. Thanks for letting us know.
Captioner Michelle says
I haven’t read all the comments, so it may be there, but is there a weight measure for the cucumbers? Mine are on the small side and would find that a helpful addition to the recipe, even if it’s a suggested, adjustable-to-taste type of measurement 🙂
Jessica Robinson says
I’ve never weighed the cucumbers for measurement. However, I generally make a double batch and have about 3/4 of the 5-gallon bucket full. If your cucumbers are on the smaller side, maybe you’ll need a few more to make one batch. It certainly doesn’t hurt to make more brine than you think you might need. It can be used for refrigerated pickles and kept in the fridge for a while.
Joyce says
I made these for my family and it was a hit! They loved them. I will definitely use this recipe from now on. Thank you!
Jessica Robinson says
Oh thank you so much Joyce!! (My grandmother’s name was Joyce and these came from her mama’s kitchen!!)
Kathy Sohn says
I wish the directions would have Indicated that the ice will need to melt to dilute the salt. I thought I just needed to remove the unmelted ice, since the directions indicated put a dishtowel in the bucket, and drain.
Jessica Robinson says
Kathy,
Our directions are correct. Plus there is a video in the post showing you exactly how to make these pickles. You place a layer of ice on the top of the cucumbers with a clean kitchen towel. That sits for 3-4 hours. Then you remove any ice that remains (see the video) and pour out the excess water/liquid. Please let us know if you have any further questions about making these pickles. Making pickles is an art, so it takes time sometimes to get it perfect.