Bread and Butter Pickles

By Christie Vanover | Published June 28, 2020 | Last Updated June 13, 2022

Bread and butter pickles are my absolute favorite pickles because they add the perfect touch of acid and sweetness to sandwiches and burgers.

The key to making pickles is creating a luscious brine while still saving the integrity of the cucumber, so it’s nice an crunchy. I accomplish this in two ways. 

The first is by slicing the pickles with a crinkle slicer. This creates fancy ridges that provide added texture. The second step involves pouring the brine on the cucumbers, instead of placing the cucumbers in the pot of brine. 

For color and flavor, my bread and butter pickles include a Fresno pepper and two garlic cloves. If you can’t find Fresno peppers, you can use any other red pepper. Bell peppers would be more mild, while a Serrano pepper will give you more heat. 

For the brine, I use a blend of white vinegar and apple cider vinegar. I like the sweetness you get from the ACV. I also use both white and brown sugar, again because I like the molasses sweetness the brown sugar delivers. 

For pickling spice, I always use the blend from Spiceology. It includes a blend of cinnamon, bay leaves, chili flake, peppercorn, mustard seed, fennel, allspice berries, whole clove, whole coriander and dill seed.

After slicing the cucumbers and dicing the pepper and garlic, place them in a bowl together. 

Then in a pot, bring the vinegars, sugars and spices to a boil. Pour the brine over the bowl of cucumbers and allow them to cool for 30 minutes on the counter. You may want to strain the brine before adding it to the cucumbers. This way, you don’t accidentally bite down on a whole clove or allspice berry. 

But personally, I leave them. The spices will continue to flavor the pickles over time. I also like the way it looks.  

When serving, just be careful not to add a whole clove to your sandwich. They’ll soften over time, but they’re still hard to chew. 

After they’ve had a chance to absorb the brine, you can enjoy them right away. Or pour them into a jar and refrigerate for a few weeks. 

These bread and butter pickles go great on burgers, with Nashville Hot Chicken and on a Nashville Hot Honey Chicken and Biscuit Sandwich.