Refrigerator sweet pickles combine the goodness of crisp garden-fresh cucumbers with the zing of vinegars, the sweetness of sugars, and a touch of spice from crushed pepper.  The best part? This recipe lets your refrigerator do most of the work!

Well, in all honesty…these are better than the state fair bread and butter pickles that I have adequately taste-tested before.  They are fresh and still have a crispiness to them.  

You pull these pickles straight out of the fridge, with that chilled jar with the metal top that still as condensation on it, and you just know that these pickles are gonna be great and THAT much more refreshing than the pickles from the store.  

Fresh is best, am I right?!?

Then there’s the little bit of spicy factor.  I put in a smidge of crushed red pepper flakes into these jars of pickles for a refreshing little zing.  It’s nothing over-the-top spicy or anything like that.  Just a little extra zip every once in a while never hurt anybody.

I was lucky enough to have a bazillion fresh cucumbers that came freshly plucked from my garden for this recipe.  If you don’t have fresh cucumbers from your garden, the grocery store variety will do just fine.  They will still be delicious!

I cut the cucumbers up with this handy dandy hand crimper from Pampered Chef.  

I let them marinate with salt for an hour in the fridge, rinse them quick, and then let them sit in the pickling mixture with the onion at room temp for another hour.

I then placed them in jars and let them really marinate for 24 hours before eating them… (…all in one sitting.  I kid you not.)

Print Recipe

Refrigerator Sweet Pickles: Bread And Butter Pickles

Refrigerator sweet pickles combine the goodness of crisp garden-fresh cucumbers with the zing of vinegars, the sweetness of sugars, and a touch of spice from crushed pepper.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time2 hrs

Total Time2 hrs 10 mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: All-American

Servings: 12

Calories: 88kcal

Author: Jess

Ingredients

• 6 cups cucumbers sliced into 1/4 inch rounds (I did not use the pickling cukes, but these would be perfect to use here)
• 1 1/2 TBSP salt
• 1 sweet onion thinly sliced
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 11/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp celery seeds
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/8 tsp ground turmeric

Instructions

• Combine the cucumbers and salt in a large bowl. Refrigerate the cukes for 1 hour.
  
• Rinse the cucumbers in a colander with cold water to rinse off the salt. Add the onions and set aside.
• Combine the vinegars, sugars, the mustard seeds, celery seeds, turmeric, and the crushed red pepper flakes in a medium sauce pan. Allow to simmer over medium heat until the sugars have dissolved.
• Toss the pickling mixture over top the cucumbers and onions and allow to sit at room temperature for one hour. Cover and place the pickles back in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Enjoy them messy!
  

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 88kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 878mg | Potassium: 143mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 1% | Vitamin C: 4.2% | Calcium: 2.4% | Iron: 2.2%

You can also can these bad boys by sanitizing air-tight containers and sealing them properly after adding all the ingredients together.  I haven’t tried this yet because these pickles don’t last that long in my house.  They are eaten up quickly!  But I do hear that properly canned pickles can last up to a year in the pantry.  If ya do decide to eat them up right away like we do, they last a good 2 weeks in the fridge.

I will be topping everything this summer with these better-than state fair pickles.  I mean, with barbecue, with hamburgers, with my sandwiches….EVERYTHING!