Homemade Bread & Butter Pickles

Simple Homemade Bread & Butter Pickles with a sweet-tangy flavor perfect for burgers, sandwiches or straight out of the jar. 

Today I have some delicious pickles to share with you. Growing up, my mothers favorite pickles were Bread & Butter Pickles. I remember sitting side-by-side my mom and sharing pickles and pickled beets together. I guess that's why I love them both so much. 

I don't really care for sweet pickles, sour pickles or dill pickles and the only way I will eat dill pickles is if I make fried pickles (yum). When it comes to pickles, bread and butter pickles are the perfect combination of semi-sweet and crunchy just how I like them.  

Bread and butter pickles are so good and perfect on burgers, hot dogs, in tuna salad sandwiches or straight out of the jar, so we always have a jar on hand in the refrigerator. For me the best bread and butter pickles have the perfect combination of sweet and tangy with a good crunch. And the crunch part is very important!! 

I always thought making pickles was difficult, but it's actually really simple and they taste just like store bought, but better because they're homemade. This week alone, I've canned two batches of pickles and I see a third batch coming pretty soon, because currently my vegetable garden is in cucumber overload.

I'm still amazed that just a small amount of seeds tuned into all those cucumber plants. This was my first year growing cucumbers, so I decided I would let the plants run wild in the raised bed garden, but that was my first mistake. 

I had no idea that using trellis's was so important when growing cucumbers until they started spreading like wild fire. Once the plants started to take off it was like they kept multiplying overnight. It was at that point that I added 3 trellis and then the cucumbers really took off and the plants were so much healthier off the ground.  

All I can say is you live and learn and I will definitely be setting things up differently next year. Other than that I've been blessed with loads of pickling cucumbers, so I'm not going to complain too much.  

I think next week I will can one more batch of bread and butter pickles and then I want to try my hand at a refrigerator vegetable medley mix. Let's get to the recipe and the step-by-step photos. 


Start by gathering all your ingredients together. In a large glass or stainless steel bowl, combine sliced cucumbers, onion and pickling salt. Mix well, cover with cold water and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours. 

Transfer cucumber mixture to a colander placed over a sink, rinse with cool water and drain thoroughly. Prepare-canner, jars, lids and rings. 

In a large stainless steel pot combine, vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, celery seed and turmeric. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Stir in the cucumber mixture and return the mixture to a boil and for about 1 1/2 minutes. 

Remove from heat and pack the cucumbers into hot sterilized jars up to 1/2 inch from the top rim of each jar. 

Ladle hot pickle liquid into each jar to cover vegetables (leaving a 1/2 inch headspace). Remove any air bubbles. Wipe the rim of each jar with a clean wet cloth. 

Center the lids on each jar and screw on a band/ring on each jar to fingertip tight. 

Place jars into prepared hot water canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process pints for 10 minutes and half pints for 5 minutes (add canner lid). After processing, remove canner lid turn off heat and wait 5 minutes before removing jars. 

Remove jars to a the counter lined with a thick kitchen towel. As the jars cool the lids will pop and seal. When completely cool make sure lids are pressed down in the middle and sealed. If the lids are not sealed then reprocess again. 

Homemade Bread & Butter Pickles 

10 - cups pickling cucumbers, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 - onion, thinly sliced
1/2 - cup pickling or canning salt
3 - cups white vinegar
1/2 - cup water
2 - cups granulated or cane sugar
2 - tablespoons mustard seed
1 - teaspoon celery seed
1 - teaspoon ground turmeric

In a large glass or stainless steel bowl, combine sliced cucumbers, onion and pickling salt. Mix well, cover with cold water and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours. 

Transfer cucumber mixture to a colander placed over a sink, rinse with cool water and drain thoroughly. Prepare-canner, jars, lids and rings. 

In a large stainless steel pot combine, vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, celery seed and turmeric. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. 

Stir in the cucumber mixture and return the mixture to a boil and for about 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat and pack the cucumbers into hot sterilized jars up to 1/2 inch from the top rim of each jar. 

Ladle hot pickle liquid into each jar to cover vegetables (leaving a 1/2 inch headspace). Remove any air bubbles. Wipe the rim of each jar with a clean wet cloth. 

Center the lids on each jar and screw on a band/ring on each jar to fingertip tight. 

Place jars into prepared hot water canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process pints for 10 minutes and half pints for 5 minutes (add canner lid). 

Remove canner lid turn off heat and wait 5 minutes before removing jars. Remove jars to a the counter lined with a thick kitchen towel. 

As the jars cool the lids will pop and seal. When completely cool make sure lids are pressed down in the middle and sealed. 

Pickles are ready to eat about one week after canning if you can wait that long. Store jars in a your pantry for up to 12 months. 

recipe yields: 5 pint size jars 
adapted from: Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

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