Bread and butter pickles are the sweet, golden chips that belong on every burger and next to every barbecue plate — and the refrigerator version asks for no canner, no processing and no guesswork. Sliced cucumbers and onion get salted, rinsed, and covered with a hot spiced brine, and by tomorrow they are crisp, sweet-tart and ready. It is the gentlest possible entry in our Canning and Preserving collection, because nothing here is shelf canning at all.
The name invites arguments — bread and butter as in a Depression-era sandwich, or pickles so good they were traded for bread and butter — but the flavor profile is not up for debate: sweeter than a dill, gentler than a hot pickle, with mustard seed and turmeric doing the background work. The turmeric is not optional decoration; it is what gives the chips their familiar golden color and a faint earthiness under the sweetness.
Make them the way we make our Refrigerator Dill Pickle Spears: in clean jars, stored in the refrigerator, eaten within a few weeks. Label the jar with the date, because a jar this good tends to get forgotten behind the jam right around the time it peaks.
This is a refrigerator pickle — and that is a safety feature, not a shortcut
These pickles are never processed in a water bath and they are not shelf-stable. They keep in the refrigerator only, for up to about a month, and the jar lives in the fridge from the moment it cools — never on a pantry shelf, never in a gift basket that will sit out. That is the same rule as our Quick Pickled Red Onions. If you want bread and butter pickles for the pantry shelf, use a tested water-bath recipe from the USDA Complete Guide or the National Center for Home Food Preservation and follow its processing times exactly for your altitude. Do not adapt this refrigerator recipe for canning.
Salting first is what keeps the chips crisp
Cucumbers are full of water, and unsalted cucumber slices dilute the brine and go soft within days. An hour under salt and ice pulls a surprising amount of liquid out of the slices before they ever meet the brine, so the finished chips stay snappy and the brine stays at full strength. Rinse the salt off well and drain thoroughly — a salty, wet batch going into the jar undoes the whole exercise. Small pickling cucumbers hold up best; big slicing cucumbers work if you scoop out the seedy centers.
Ingredients
- 2 lb pickling cucumbers (900 g), about 6 to 7 small cucumbers
- 1 medium sweet onion (about 150 g), thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt (36 g), for drawing out liquid
- 2 cups ice cubes (about 240 g)
- 1 1/4 cups apple cider vinegar (300 ml)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 g)
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds (11 g)
- 1 teaspoon celery seeds (3 g)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric (1.5 g)
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (0.5 g), optional
- 1/2 cup water (120 ml)
Amounts are for the yield below. US customary measures first, grams in brackets for scale users.
Step-by-step instructions
- Slice the vegetables. Scrub the cucumbers and trim off both ends — the blossom end in particular can carry enzymes that soften pickles. Slice the cucumbers into rounds about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick; a crinkle cutter makes the classic chip if you have one. Slice the onion as thinly as you can. Put both in a large non-reactive bowl.
- Salt and chill. Toss the cucumber and onion with the kosher salt until evenly coated, cover with the ice cubes, and refrigerate for 1 hour. The salt draws out liquid and the ice keeps everything cold and crisp while it works. You will pour off a good amount of liquid at the end of the hour.
- Rinse and drain well. Tip the mixture into a colander, discard the liquid, and rinse the slices thoroughly under cold water to remove the surface salt. Drain for a full 5 minutes, shaking the colander a few times. The drier the slices going into the jar, the crisper the finished pickles.
- Make the brine. Combine the vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds, turmeric, red pepper flakes (if using) and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves completely, then boil for 1 minute. The brine will be a deep golden yellow — that is the turmeric, and it stains, so mind your tea towels.
- Pack and pour. Pack the cucumber and onion slices into 2 clean pint jars (500 ml each) or 1 quart jar (1 L), pressing them down gently so they sit snugly without being crushed. Pour the hot brine over the slices to cover them completely, leaving about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) of space at the top. Tap the jars gently on the counter to release air bubbles and top up with brine if needed.
- Chill for 24 hours. Let the jars cool to room temperature, then seal and refrigerate. The pickles are edible after a few hours but genuinely good after 24 hours, when the brine has seasoned them all the way through. They keep improving for the first week.
Nutrition estimate
| Nutrient | Per serving |
|---|---|
| Calories | 45 kcal |
| Protein | 0 g |
| Carbohydrates | 11 g |
| Fat | 0 g |
| Saturated fat | 0 g |
| Sodium | 290 mg |
| Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 10 g |
Nutrition figures are estimates calculated from standard ingredient data for the yield stated. Your actual values will vary with brands, substitutions and portion sizes — treat them as a guide, not a guarantee.
Storage & reheating
Store the jars in the refrigerator at all times and eat the pickles within 1 month. Always lift pickles out with a clean fork rather than fingers, which keeps the brine cleaner for longer. These pickles must never be stored at room temperature and must not be water-bath canned from this recipe — for shelf-stable pickles, follow a tested USDA or National Center for Home Food Preservation recipe with its stated processing times for your altitude. Do not freeze; the cucumber chips go limp. Nutrition figures are estimates from standard ingredient data for about 1/4 cup (60 g) of drained pickles and vary with brands and how much brine clings to each serving.
Canning safety — read first
Home canning must follow tested processes exactly. The times on this page follow the structure of current USDA guidance for the stated jar size at 0-1,000 feet elevation; always confirm processing times and altitude adjustments in the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning or the National Center for Home Food Preservation before you start. Never taste food from a jar with a failed seal, bulging lid or off odor — discard it.
Easy Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles
Sweet, tangy cucumber chips in 24 hours — no canner, no processing, all crunch.
Ingredients
Tick ingredients off as you prep, and tap a step below to mark it done as you cook. Scaling adjusts the listed amounts - seasoning to taste stays your call.
Instructions
- Slice the vegetables. Scrub the cucumbers and trim off both ends — the blossom end in particular can carry enzymes that soften pickles. Slice the cucumbers into rounds about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick; a crinkle cutter makes the classic chip if you have one. Slice the onion as thinly as you can. Put both in a large non-reactive bowl.
- Salt and chill. Toss the cucumber and onion with the kosher salt until evenly coated, cover with the ice cubes, and refrigerate for 1 hour. The salt draws out liquid and the ice keeps everything cold and crisp while it works. You will pour off a good amount of liquid at the end of the hour.
- Rinse and drain well. Tip the mixture into a colander, discard the liquid, and rinse the slices thoroughly under cold water to remove the surface salt. Drain for a full 5 minutes, shaking the colander a few times. The drier the slices going into the jar, the crisper the finished pickles.
- Make the brine. Combine the vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds, turmeric, red pepper flakes (if using) and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves completely, then boil for 1 minute. The brine will be a deep golden yellow — that is the turmeric, and it stains, so mind your tea towels.
- Pack and pour. Pack the cucumber and onion slices into 2 clean pint jars (500 ml each) or 1 quart jar (1 L), pressing them down gently so they sit snugly without being crushed. Pour the hot brine over the slices to cover them completely, leaving about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) of space at the top. Tap the jars gently on the counter to release air bubbles and top up with brine if needed.
- Chill for 24 hours. Let the jars cool to room temperature, then seal and refrigerate. The pickles are edible after a few hours but genuinely good after 24 hours, when the brine has seasoned them all the way through. They keep improving for the first week.
Recipe by Shahid Imran · FryDaily. Printing? This card is designed to print cleanly on its own.
