Sweet Pickles Vs Bread And Butter: What's The Difference?

You know the drill. You're perusing the pickle aisle, looking for your regular brand amid a sea of all different cuts and flavors. Or, perhaps you're there looking for something new to try, but with so many choices, you're just not sure which jar to pick. You may find yourself wondering, what's the difference between bread and butter pickles and sweet pickles? If you've had both, then you know they're each sweet, but where do the similarities end and the differences begin?

One way to think about it is that all bread and butter pickles are sweet, but not all sweet pickles are bread and butter. In other words, bread and butter pickles are a kind of sweet pickle, but they're not the only type. As far as sweet pickles go, the bread and butter variety offers both sweet and savory flavors, which is why they make for great burger toppings.

Bread and butter pickles are almost exclusively sold in the sliced form — whether that's as chips or, less often, in long slices. Bread and butter chips are also generally cut in the crinkle-cut design, and tend to be pretty thinly sliced. On the other hand, other types of sweet pickles are often available for purchase as spears, chips, long slices, and even whole.

In addition to being sweet, bread and butter pickles are also made with a combination of ingredients that typically meld with sugar and vinegar to create the pickles' distinct flavor. This generally includes onion and bell pepper, as well as numerous spices such as cloves, turmeric, chili flakes, celery seed, and mustard seeds. While sweet pickles often include seasonings as well, they don't generally have as many or all of them. Overall, they rely more on their sweetness and offer a less balanced flavor profile than bread and butter pickles.

Aside from bread and butter pickles, there are plenty of other varieties of sweet pickles to munch on. These include the better-known baby sweet pickles, sweet cornichons, and sweet gherkins, as well as most pickle relishes. There are also newer varieties that are gaining popularity, such as candied pickles and sweet and spicy pickles. There are also a growing number of fun, imaginative sweet pickles that can be bought online or made at home, such as Kool-Aid pickles.

In general, sweet pickles are smaller cucumbers that are soaked in a vinegar brine sweetened with a good amount of sugar. Additional herbs, spices, and other ingredients are used to create the different varieties. Some sweet pickles actually start out as dill pickles. Candied pickles — which are made by soaking dill pickles in a thick, syrupy vinegar brine that is super heavy on the sugar — are a good example of this. Another example is Chamoy pickles, which are dill pickles that are marinated in a concoction of Chamoy sauce, Tajin seasoning, candy powders, and hot sauce.

While the thought of sweet pickles might conjure up one particular image, as you can see, there are actually quite a few different types. Bread and butter pickles are just the beginning of the vast spectrum of options.