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This Is The Easiest Pickle Recipe You’ll Ever Make

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Fresh cucumbers and onions that are tightly packed into a mason jar and then topped with a sweet homemade brine. The thinly sliced cucumbers and onions only take a couple of hours in the refrigerator to absorb all of the sweet goodness. Serve at your next barbecue or eat straight out of the jar for a healthy and refreshing snack.

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Caramel Sauce, a super simple, thick, yet smooth, sweet topping that tastes amazing with apples, ice cream, or many of your favorite fall desserts.

Prep Time: 5 minutes    Cook Time: 10 minutes     Total Time: 15 minutes

Growing up, we always had a bucket of refrigerator pickles hanging out in the refrigerator. My mom would fill one of those plastic gallon-sized ice cream buckets with cucumbers, onions, and sometimes bell (green) peppers, then she would serve them with lunch, dinner, snacks, or any barbecues that we attended. They were always a hit, and the longer that they sat in the refrigerator the better they would taste, not that I can remember them everlasting that long.

To this day they are one of my favorite ways to eat cucumbers, especially if they are picked from our own garden. I don’t keep a gallon-sized container of them, but through the summer months, you’ll definitely find a jar or two hanging out in my refrigerator.

INGREDIENTS

This is one of the easiest pickle recipes you’ll ever find. If you’re a novice cook or you’ve never made pickles before, you’ve got this one.

▪ Cucumbers: You don’t need any special type of cucumber for this recipe. I use the same ones that I use for my salads, they’re easy to find, inexpensive, slice up nicely and absorb the flavor well.
▪ Onion: Sweet onions are the best for this. I like to use Vidalia Onions when possible, they have such a sweet flavor of their own that when added to the sweet brine they create the most awesome flavor. I actually like eating the onions as much as I do the cucumbers, they are that good.
▪ Vinegar: You don’t need any fancy vinegar for this recipe, plain ole’ white vinegar will do the job.
▪ Sugar: Straight-up granulated sugar is all that you need.

HOW TO MAKE BREAD & BUTTER REFRIGERATOR PICKLES

  1. Pack sliced cucumbers and onions in a clean, quart-size mason jar. Set aside.
  2. In a medium saucepan, combine vinegar and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
  3. Spoon hot liquid into the jar to a half inch from the rim. Place lid on the jar and allow to cool to room temperature.
  4. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

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HOW TO SERVE

My favorite way to eat them is right out of the jar. However, if you have to share them it’s best that you spoon them out onto a plate first, for sanitary reasons. Besides them being a delicious snack, they also make a nice, refreshing summer side dish for both lunch and dinner and if you’re barbecuing, it’s always a good idea to have a bowl of them close at hand.

They also make a good add-in for some of your favorite recipes, like potato salad, tuna salad, deviled eggs. They also taste great served on top of hot dogs and hamburgers.

HOW TO STORE

Store the pickles in an airtight container, like a mason jar or Tupperware container. They will keep in the refrigerator until you eat them all or 2 months, whichever comes first.

ADD-INS (OPTIONAL)

If you would like to kick up the flavor here are some things you can try:

  • Add 1 teaspoon of celery seed, mustard seed, and/or turmeric to the brine.
  • Add thinly sliced bell peppers or sweet peppers to the jar.
  • Add thinly sliced apples or pears to the jar.
  • Use apple cider vinegar.
  • Use Splenda instead of sugar.

MEAL PLAN IDEA

Meal planning saves time and money, improves nutrition, makes cooking more manageable, and gives you more control over what you put on the table.

Entrée: Baked BBQ Ribs 
Side Dish #1: Corn Salad
Side Dish #2: Chips and/or Baked Beans
Drink: Ginger Lemonade
Dessert: Lemon Fluff

Do you like this recipe? Please leave us a star rating in the comments below, and share it on social media. We would really appreciate it!

Print Recipe
5 from 3 votes

Bread & Butter Refrigerator Pickles

Fresh cucumbers and onions that are tightly packed into a mason jar and then topped with a sweet homemade brine. The thinly sliced cucumbers and onions only take a couple of hours in the refrigerator to absorb all of the sweet goodness.
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time10 mins
Total Time20 mins
Course: Condiment, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Bread & Butter, Pickles, Refrigerator Pickles, Sweet Pickles
Servings: 12
Calories: 70kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 cup cucumbers thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup sweet onions thinly sliced
  • 1 cup white vinegar
  • 1 cup granulated sugar

Instructions

  • Pack sliced cucumbers and onions in a clean, quart size mason jar. Set aside.
  • In a medium sauce pan, combine vinegar and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
  • Spoon hot liquid into the jar to a half-inch from the rim. Place lid on jar and allow to cool to room temperature.
  • Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Notes

ADD-INS (OPTIONAL)

  • Add 1 teaspoon of celery seed, mustard seed, and/or turmeric to the brine.
  • Add thinly sliced bell peppers or sweet peppers to the jar.
  • Add thinly sliced apples or pears to the jar.
  • Use apple cider vinegar.
  • Use Splenda instead of sugar.
  • Add a pinch of salt to the brine, it will live’n up the sweetness a bit.

We’d love to see how your pickles turned out. Snap a pic & tag it on Instagram with @FlusterBuster #breadandbutter #refrigerator #pickles

COOKING TIPS

  • Use a mandolin slicer, it’s quick and will create the same size slices. Uniform slices not only look nice, but they also absorb the brine equally.
  • Use a funnel when spooning the brine into the jar. The funnel will help keep the sticky brine off the rim of the jar so that your jar will open and close easily.
  • Add a pinch of salt to the brine, it will live’n up the sweetness a bit.

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Comments

  4. Great recipe!
    I make a similar refrigerator pickle recipe using lemon juice instead of vinegar in the dill pickles. We really enjoy it!

    Thanks for the reminder! I’d love to make some refrigerator pickles. They are so much crunchier than canned pickles!

    Blessings, Laurie

    Reply

  7. Congratulations your post was featured on Full Plate Thursday, 439! Thanks so much for sharing with us and hope you will come back again!
    Miz Helen

    Reply

  8. 5 stars
    Your post excites me to cook. I really liked it. Thank you for the recipe, hope I’ll be able to cook something like this again. I can’t wait until the weekend. Looking forward to more great stuff here.

    Reply

    • These are some amazing pickles! I’m always surprised that they only take 10 minutes and taste as good as they do. I am so thrilled that you enjoyed them as much as we do.

      Reply

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