Bread and Butter Pickle Recipe for Canning

This bread and butter pickle recipe is easy to make. Great for topping sandwiches or just munching. A great sweet pickle to add to potato salad recipes too. The recipe on this page makes about 7 pints.

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Bread and Butter Pickles are one of the easiest and most popular pickles to can. Sweet, tangy, and just a little crisp — they’re a great way to use up a big batch of garden cucumbers. You can also make them with zucchini if your plants are producing faster than you can eat them!

Bread and Butter Pickle Recipe: Extended, Step-By-Step Instructions

Gather your canning supplies

• water bath canner
• canning jars
• canning seals and rings
• jar lifter
• canning funnel
• large pot
• bowls
• large spoons
• sharp knife
• towels and dish cloths
• ladle
• Crinkle cutter or mandolin slicer – optional

Ingredients

• 6 lbs of small pickling cucumbers
• 8 cups thinly sliced onions (about 3 pounds)
• 1/2 cup canning or pickling salt
• 4 cups vinegar (5 percent) white (ACV can be substituted)
• 4-1/2 cups sugar
• 2 tbsp mustard seed
• 1-1/2 tbsp celery seed
• 1 tbsp ground turmeric

Seasonings are to taste. Other optional seasonings could be…

• 1 tsp. ginger
• 1 tsp. peppercorns

Variation:
You can substitute zucchini or yellow summer squash (1 to 1½ inches in diameter) for cucumbers. Slice them the same way.

How to Make Bread & Butter Pickle Slices

1. Prepare the vegetables

Wash cucumbers. Thinly slice both cucumbers and onions.

I like to use my Pampered Chef crinkle cutter for making crinkle slices.

I also have a mandolin slicer that is great for making thin, even slices. It comes with a straight edge too, but for this purpose, I like the crinkly cuts. It made it easy, but it also made the slices thinner than I like. The cucumber slices ended up pretty soft and super thin after
the pickles were processed. Still tasty, but thicker slices were a better quality.

2. Salt and Chill

In a large bowl, layer cucumbers and onions with the canning salt. Cover the mixture with ice cubes and let it sit for 1–2 hours. Drape a clean towel over the bowl while it rests.

3. Prepare supplies

While the vegetables are soaking, get your jars, lids, and rings ready. (See Water Bath Canning for full directions.) Fill your canner with water and begin heating it. The goal is to have hot (not boiling yet) water in the canner when your jars are filled and ready to process. Place your jars right in the canner to keep warm up as well.

4. Make the pickling brine and combine

Place vinegar, sugar, and seasonings in a large pot and bring to a boil. Drain and rinse cucumber and onion. Add to hot vinegar mixture and return to a boil.

5. Pack the jars

Fill hot jars with the cucumber mixture, leaving ¼ inch headspace.
Remove air bubbles by gently running a bubble tool down into the jars moving things around to release any air bubbles. (I use a plastic knife or even an orange peeler for this).

Wipe the rims clean and add lids and rings and place jars in your water bath canner for processing. If you are not familiar how to process in a water bath. Check this page for more details.

6. Canning bread and butter pickles

1. Place the filled jars into the warm water in your canner. Make sure the jars are covered by at least 1 inch of water.
2. Bring the canner to a full rolling boil. Start your time.
3. Process for the time listed in the chart below, adjusting for your altitude.
4. When the time is complete, turn off the heat and remove the canner lid.
5. Let the jars rest in the hot water for 5 minutes before lifting them out.
6. Raise the rack and let the jars rest above the water for another 5 minutes before removing.
7. Place jars on a thick towel, spacing them a few inches apart. Let them cool, undisturbed, for about 12 hours.
8. Once cooled, remove the metal bands, check the seals, label, and store in a cool, dark place.

Processing time is the same for pints or quarts: 10 minutes (adjust for altitude in the chart below) For more information, see this altitude adjustments page.

Tips for Crisp Bread and Butter Pickles

• Start with firm, fresh produce. Use small freshly picked cucumbers or young zucchini—no soft spots or overripe veggies. The fresher they are, the crisper the pickles.
• Slice off the blossom end. Take a small slice of the blossom end off your cucumbers. There is an enzyme that immediately starts softening the cucumber as soon as it is picked.
• Use pickling varieties. Small pickling cucumbers (1 to 1½ inches in diameter) hold texture better than large slicing types.
• Cut thicker slices. Overly thin slices soften more easily during processing. A slightly thicker cut helps maintain crunch.
• Try low-temperature pasteurization. Holding jars between 180º–185ºF for 30 minutes can help retain crispness (links to details).
• Avoid over-processing. Don’t exceed the recommended temperature or time, or the pickles can soften.

Bread & Butter Pickle Recipes

This Bread & Butter Pickle Recipe makes great sweet pickles for topping sandwiches or just munching. Yum!

Print Recipe

Prep Time:2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Processing Quarts (adjust for altitude):10 minutes mins

Total Time:2 hours hrs 25 minutes mins

Equipment

• Crinkle Cutter
• Water Bath Canner
• Canning Jars
• Canning Lids and Rings
• Large Pot
• Funnel, Jar Lifter, Lid Lifter, Bubble Tool
• Ladle

Ingredients

• 6 lbs Pickling Cucumbers
• 8 cups Peeled Sliced Onions about 3 pounds
• ½ cup Canning Salt
• 4 cups Vinegar 5 percent white (ACV can be substituted)
• 4-1/2 cups Sugar
• 2 tbsp Mustard Seed
• 1-1/2 tbsp Celery Seed
• 1 tbsp Turmeric

Instructions

• Start by preparing jars and getting water in the canner heating. You want the canner hot, but not boiling, when the jars are ready to be processed.

  See full water bath canning instructions here.  

Preparing Cucumbers 

• Wash cucumbers. 
• Slice cucumbers and onions. 
• Layer cucumbers, onions, and salt in large bowl.  
• Cover with ice cubes and let sit 1–2 hours. Add ice as needed (Cover with a towel.) 
• Drain and rinse cucumbers/onions. Drain well.   

Canning Procedure (Hot Pack)

• Combine vinegar, sugar, and seasonings in a large pot. Bring to a boil. 
• Add cucumbers and onions to vinegar mixture. 
• Return to a boil. 
• Pack into hot jar, leaving 1/4” headspace.  
• Remove air bubbles, wipe the rim clean, and place on seal and ring. Place the jar in the warm canner. Proceed to fill all jars. Process according to chart below.   

Notes

Processing with a Water Bath Canner

Place the jar in the warm canner. Proceed to fill all jars placing them in the canner.

When all the jars are filled, bring the water in the canner to a boil.  When a boil is reached that is when you’ll start your timing.   Process for the length of time on the chart below.  Adjust for your altitude. 

 After your time is over, turn the heat off remove the lid and allow the canner to rest for about 5 minutes. Then bring your jars up out of the water.  Allow them to rest for another 5 minutes. Then remove the jars and place them a few inches apart on a thick towel to cool completely.  Leave them alone for about 12 hours.  

When they are cooled remove the metal bands, check the seals, label the jars and store them away! 

Processing Times for Water Bath Canner (Hot Pack) 

Altitude – Pints and Quarts are Processed the Same 

• 0-1,000 ft – 10 minutes 
• 1,001-3,000 ft – 15 minutes 
• 3,001-6,000 ft – 20 minutes 
• 6,001–8,000 ft – 25 minutes 
• 8,001-10,000 ft – 30 minutes 

Adapted from: National Center for Home Food Preservation

Servings: 7 pints

Author: Sharon Peterson

Bread & Butter Pickles FAQs & Tips

Tips for Bread & Butter Pickle Flavorings

Remember, you can adjust the dry spices if you have a different flavor that you are looking for. Note: Turmeric is very yellow and it stains. I’d suggest having a towel down that you won’t mind staining if spills happen. I’ve done this recipe and ended up with yellow splotches on my counter. If it happens to you, clean it up best you can, and then have patience. It wears off eventually.

Do home canned pickles Need to Be Refrigerated?

This recipe is safe for canning and once processed, the sealed jars are safe for shelf storage. Store the jar in the fridge once you open it though.

Why Do They Call Them Bread & Butter Pickles?

Do you know why these are called “bread and butter pickles”? Apparently, back in the Great Depression years, inexpensive pickle sandwiches were common. These pickles on bread with butter made an afternoon meal!