Bread-and-Butter Pickles — NCHFP
A tested NCHFP boiling-water canning recipe for classic bread-and-butter pickles.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 6 lb pickling cucumbers 4 to 5 inches
- 8 cups onions thinly sliced; about 3 lb
- 1/2 cup canning or pickling salt
- 4 cups vinegar 5% acidity
- 4 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 tbsp mustard seed
- 1 1/2 tbsp celery seed
- 1 tbsp ground turmeric
Equipment
- Boiling-water canner
- Canning jars About eight pint jars
Directions
Instructions
- Wash cucumbers; remove and discard 1/16 inch from each blossom end. Cut into 3/16-inch slices. Combine with onions and salt, cover with 2 inches of ice, refrigerate 3 to 4 hours, and drain well.
- Combine vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, celery seed, and turmeric in a large pot. Boil 10 minutes.
- Add drained cucumbers and onions and slowly reheat to boiling.
- Fill hot pint or quart jars with pickles and syrup, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Remove bubbles, adjust headspace, wipe rims, and apply lids.
- Process pints or quarts for 10 minutes at 0–1,000 ft, 15 minutes at 1,001–6,000 ft, or 20 minutes above 6,000 ft. Cool 12 to 24 hours and check seals.
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Recipe Notes
Safety status: research-tested NCHFP recipe. Use 5% vinegar. Refrigerated ice treatment and exact proportions are part of the tested process. Adapted from USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, revised 2009. Source accessed September 12, 2026.
Exact source: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/pickle/cucumber-pickles/bread-and-butter-pickles/