Carrageenan Free Bread and Butter Pickles
Sweet, tangy, and just a little bit spicy if you want them to be, these bread and butter pickles are the kind of condiment that makes everything it touches better — burgers, sandwiches, cheese boards, you name it. Store-bought pickles are a surprisingly common source of carrageenan, which is often used as a thickener or stabilizer in commercial brines, so making your own is genuinely the cleanest way to go. Here, the brine is built entirely from white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, sugar, and a warm lineup of mustard seeds, celery seeds, and turmeric — nothing hidden, nothing unnecessary. Salting the cucumbers first draws out excess moisture so they stay crisp and soak up all that golden brine beautifully. The whole process is straightforward enough for a weeknight, and within a couple of hours you'll have two jars of glossy, jewel-toned pickles chilling in the fridge. Once you taste how good homemade really is, the store-bought jar is going to feel like a distant memory.
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Learn more →Ingredients
8 servings
- 1 ½ lbs english cucumbers (about 2 medium), sliced ¼-inch thick
- 1 small yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
For the brine
- 1 cup white wine vinegar
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- ½ tsp celery seeds
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Combine the sliced cucumbers and onion in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the kosher salt, toss to coat, and let stand for 1 hour at room temperature until the cucumbers have released their liquid and softened slightly.
- 2
Drain the cucumbers and onion in a colander, rinse briefly under cold water, and pat dry with paper towels. Pack them tightly into two clean pint-sized mason jars.
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