This small batch refrigerator bread and butter pickles recipe is easy to make — no canning required — and serves up a sweet and tangy flavor.
Like easy? Try these pickled refrigerator green beans, too!
Reading: make small batch bread and butter pickles
Pickles come in a variety of flavors, ingredients often varying depending on what’s in season. When cucumbers are abundant in the garden or at the farmers market, this recipe is a perfect way to use some.
Bread and butter pickles
It’s a funny name for a pickle, isn’t it? As the story goes, Omar and Cora Fanning farmed cucumbers and used them to make a family favorite pickle recipe. One hard season, Mrs. Fanning utilized the “cull” cukes to make jars of pickles to barter with.
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They bartered for basics like (wait for it) bread and butter. The name stuck.
Making refrigerator bread and butter pickles
Refrigerator pickles don’t require any sort of processing since they’re not shelf stable. They are stored in the refrigerator (surprise!) and making them couldn’t be easier.
This recipe begins with sliced cucumbers and onions. You’ll soak them in salt water for 1-3 hours in the fridge. This pulls some of the moisture out of the cukes, allowing them to more readily absorb the flavors of the pickle brine.
The pickle brine is simple, just sugar, apple cider vinegar, mustard seed, and turmeric powder.
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I’ve seen recipes that don’t include the turmeric, so I suppose you could consider that an optional ingredient, but I’m partial to the flavor it adds. It also adds a lovely color to the pickles.
The brine is poured over the sliced onions and cucumbers while it’s still hot, then cooled and refrigerated. You’ll get the best flavor if you can wait at least a week before tasting them.
Since you won’t be processing these jars of pickles to make them shelf stable, it’s a perfect opportunity to re-use glass jars from the store. You can also reuse canning jar lids (which is not safe for canned items).
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