Mom's Bread and Butter Pickles: The Perfect Pickle for Everything
Bread and Butter Pickles may not be a rare find—you can easily grab a jar off a grocery store shelf—but there’s something deeply satisfying about growing your own pickling cucumbers and preserving them yourself. Not only do you get the joy of creating something homemade, but you also know exactly what goes into each jar.
These pickles were a staple in my childhood. I remember them as the perfect condiment alongside my mom’s Shepherd’s Pie, which she made using leftover roast beef (back when roast beef didn’t break the bank!). Today, I still make Shepherd’s Pie, sometimes with ground beef, sometimes with lentils for my vegan friends, and these pickles are still the best thing to serve with it.
But leave it to my husband to show me a whole new way to enjoy them—on top of a plain cracker. Simple, crunchy, and absolutely delicious. And sometimes, let’s be honest, they’re so good they never make it that far. Straight out of the jar works just fine!
Whether you pair them with a hearty meal, stack them on a cracker, or sneak a few right from the fridge, these Bread and Butter Pickles are always a hit. They’re crunchy, sweet, tangy, and a little nostalgic. And while they might not be as rare as Mom’s Sweet Mustard Pickles, they’re every bit as special.
In whatever form you enjoy them, these pickles are the bomb. ❤️
Bread and Butter Pickles
Special Note:
Ingredients:
Equipment: 12 qt roasting pan
10 pt canning jars
4 qts (16c) sliced pickling cucumbers (approx 32 pickling cucumbers)
1.5 qt sliced sweet yellow onion
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
3 cloves garlic
4 trays ice cubes
1/3c pickling salt
5c white sugar
3c white vinegar
1 1/2tsp turmeric
1 1/2 tsp celery seed
2tbsp mustard seed
Canning Equipment:
Large canning kettle and lid (jars need to be covered with at least 1” of water during boiling water bath)
Canning kettle insert - (jars sitting directly on bottom of pot can crack during canning process)
Hand-held tool for moving jars around
A canning funnel to ease placement of ingredients in jar without spilling
Pot, with lid, to sterilize canning lids
Instructions for Bread and Butter Pickles:
Wash and slice cucumbers.
Add peeled and slice onions and peppers.
Add finely chopped garlic.
Sprinkle all with pickling salt.
mix 3 trays of ice cubes into veges and place one tray on top.
Let stand 3 hours.
Drain and rinse veges.
Combine sugar, white vinegar, turmeric, celery seed and mustard seed in a large roasting pan.
Add the rinsed veges and over med-high heat, bring to a boil but DO NOT BOIL.
Can - makes about 10 pints.
Instructions for Canning:
Before starting the sauce, wash jars and add to canning kettle filled with water.
Bring to a boil.
To sterilize, boil for 10 minutes right before canning.
Just before removing jars from the boiling water, boil snap lids for 5 minutes to soften sealing compound.
Dip clean funnel in boiling water to quickly blanche for sterilization. Now fill hot sterilized jars, using funnel, with sweet mustard pickles.
Leave 1/2” headspace (space between top of sauce and jar rim).
if needed, dip a corner of folded paper towel in boiled water and use the corner to wipe any rims that may have any sauce drips on them. This is to ensure a clean rim for a solid seal.
Remove snap lids one at a time from boiled water. I move quickly at this point. I drain the water off the lids and then immediately place on jars, only to ‘finger tip’ tight. This allows rising steam, created inside the jar during processing, to be exhausted.
Place jars carefully back into the canning kettle.
Cover with at least 1” to 2” of water over top of jars.
Put the lid back on the canning kettle and bring to a boil.
Once boiling, process (leave in boiling water) for 12 minutes.
Remove carefully from canning kettle. DO NOT TOUCH THE LIDS.
You will hear some ‘pops’. This is good. This is the seal ‘popping’ into place.
Do not touch for at least 24 hours to allow complete cooling and setting of the lids.
Label, date and store jars in a cool dark place.
