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Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles
A wonderful, simple recipe for homemade refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles. No canning equipment required! Just prepare and pop in the fridge!
About five years ago, I vowed to spend the summer learning how to can and had grand plans to can ALL THE THINGS. I bought a book, read it, and had a list of recipes I wanted to try. Then I blinked, and summer was almost over. Oops. Then I saw this recipe for refrigerator bread and butter pickles, and I was immediately drawn to it because there was no canning equipment required. You could make these pickles in just about no time and pop them straight in the refrigerator. Score!
Bread and butter pickles have always been my absolute favorite sandwich pickle. A dill spear is great on the side of a burger for munching on, but give me bread and butter pickles on a big sandwich any day. They’re a little sweet and little zesty and with a kick. Love them!
You start out with beautiful little pickling cucumbers…
(If you have especially small regular cucumbers, you could use those, as well!)
You’ll slice up the cucumbers into pretty little pieces, about ¼-inch thick (you don’t want them to be super thin). I found this little wavy slicer thing (a very technical term) at the checkout in Bed Bath & Beyond about 10 years ago. I can’t find it on their website anymore, but I did locate it on Amazon, if you want the cute fancypants crinkle cut (which I happen to love).
Otherwise, just grab your favorite knife or a mandoline and slice away!
Once the cucumbers are all sliced up, you sprinkle them with salt, toss to combine, cover the bowl and pop them in the refrigerator for about an hour and a half.
After that hour, you rinse the cucumbers with cold water, drain, and then toss together with the thinly sliced onion.
Set those aside and get your pickling concoction together. You’ll combine white vinegar, cider vinegar, white sugar, brown sugar, mustard seed, celery seed and ground turmeric in a saucepan and get it to a simmer, making sure the sugar dissolves.
Once you reach that point, pour the liquid over the cucumbers and onions and let it sit at room temperature for about an hour.
That’s it! You’re done! Transfer the pickle and onion mixture (including the liquid) into the container you wish to store them in (I love these jars – they’re the perfect size!) and pop them in the refrigerator. After about 24 hours you will have absolutely delicious pickles!
I just made this recipe again last week with pickling cucumbers from my father-in-law’s garden, and they are delicious as always!
If You Like This Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles Recipe, Try These:
Three years ago: Peach Crumble Pie
Four years ago: Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars
Watch How to Make Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles:
Did you make this recipe?
A wonderful, simple recipe for homemade refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles. No canning equipment required! Just prepare and pop in the fridge!
Combine cucumbers and salt in a large, shallow bowl; cover and chill 1½ 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. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 1 month.
- I do not recommend using this recipe for canning or long-term storage.
- The jars pictured in the post are Bormioli jars - love them!
Nutritional values are based on one cup in juice
Calories: 308kcal
Sodium: 2629mg
Potassium: 347mg
Carbohydrates: 71g
Fiber: 2g
Sugar: 67g
Protein: 1g
Vitamin A: 2.6%
Vitamin C: 10.7%
Calcium: 5.7%
Iron: 4.8%
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
This recipe was originally published on August 25, 2011.
Our mustard seeds here is black instead of the one you’re using. Not sure if that would affect the taste somehow ? Do you know ? I wouldn’t wanna try and then waste an entire batch of cucumbers. Hope I get a reply on this.
Way too sour to be b and b’s. Unless I tweak next time, won’t be making these again.
I made these 2 days ago. When I tried one today I found them to be bitter. Followed the recipe as written. Not sure why they would be bitter. Is there anything I can do to take the bitter taste away??
It could be the pot you boiled the liquid in. You need to use a non-reactive pot whenever you boil vinegars so you don’t leach metal into your liquid. I found this out the hardway years ago after I spent an hour peeling tiny quail eggs to pickle.
I finally had a chance to make these now that we have a garden and a surplus of cucumbers. They are SO GOOD! Even my husband likes them, and he’s not always keen on sweeter pickles, but prefers spicier things. This is definitely going to be a recipe that I use again and again.
The best ever
Thanks for this recipe. I’m going to use it as a template to make a different blend of spices with less sugar.
Brine recipe doesn’t even cover the cucumbers :(
only covers half.
I love making these. Simple, easy, and most of all delicious!!! I like to add a 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes for a little heat.
You’re right. Although the pickles are yummy…..I’ve used this recipe for a couple of years. Makes yummy pickles, but I always have to double the brine amounts to get enough to cover pickles once they are jarred.
So very easy and came out deliciously! I used cucumbers and zucchini and used brown sugar and date sugar.
I so love them!! Can you eat them all and add more cucumbers?? Or do you pour out and remake?
People around my area make something similar to the pickles, but include zucchini, yellow squash, red, yellow, and green peppers, onions, and sometimes carrots. Could this liquid be used to make this treat, also?
Yes, absolutely!
I accidently salted them too much on step 1 (for some reason I had it in my head that I was doubling the recipe). Is all lost? Will they be super salty??
My pickles are not completely covered, what can i do?
can this recipe be canned?
No, it is not formulated for long-term storage.
Wow! The flavor is spot on! This was so simple to do and my family loves them. An entire jar gone in less than 30 minutes. So good!
We love love love these pickles. Can’t wait for our garden to start producing our pickling cucumbers to make again. Just wanted to let everyone know that these do hold up well wayyyyyy past the month mark. I made them last summer, put them in my spare refrigerator and ate my last jar in December and they were just as crunchy and yummy.
I made these last year and they were fabulous. Really tasty and easy to make. I was wondering if there is something that can be substituted for the sugars, not artificial but natural like possibly coconut palm sugar? Or if anyone has tried making this with a natural sugar. Thanks again for a great recipe!! Make them and you won’t be disappointed!!!
I used swerve substitute for sugar and they came out fabulous! No aftertaste, just perfect
Can this recipe be used to make whole B&B pickles????
Hi Angi, did you ever receive a reply about making a whole B&B pickles recipe? I can’t find any info on why they are always sliced and I would prefer to make mine whole, but am wondering if there is some good reason why they are never prepared that way? If you have gained any experience or insights (since you posted the question several months ago) that you can share, I would totally appreciate it. Thanks, John
I’m glad to see you did that. I’m diabetic and I was looking ❤️
I love these. I have been making them weekly because they keep disappearing. The only thing I do change is I add sliced jalapenos to make them sweet and spicy.
Becky, about how many jalapeno’s do you use?
Made 2 batches, some like it hot! In one jar I added a Tablespoon of red pepper flakes! They are definitely spicy! As a fan of bread and butter pickles, these were wonderful! Other than the peppers in one jar, I followed the recipe exactly. I will be making this recipe again soon because these won’t be in the fridge long! Thank you for this recipe!
Joie, great idea! I did that with the dill pickles I made, but didn’t think to add the chilis to this one. Will do that next time.
Omg! This recipe for refrigerated bread and butter pickles was fabulous..they taste awesome..and I never liked bread and butter pickles…thank you so much for the recipe..you made a bread and butter pickle lover out of me..
‘I’ve been canning his exact recipe for any years and storing them as well. They come out perfect for the past dozen years. Just wondering why you DO NOT suggest canning???
Can you tell me how to can them? I am new to this. I would like to make a big batch and keep it on a shelf through the year
I can them also….they turn out fine
I do t have the small cukes year round, can you use English or regular cukes for this recipe?