23 Recipes Where Pickles Are the Point
Real pickle lovers aren’t just into homemade pickles, store-bought sweet pickles, and savory dilly pickles, they’re into all recipes with pickles in them. Tartar sauce. Potato salad. Tuna melts. Pulled pork sliders. Any-pickle dip. We could go on. This even includes pickle juice, which you’ll find in this martini and these ice pops—and yes, the pickle-obsessed will absolutely put pickle brine in their soup. (Heck, they—actress Kristen Bell among them—will make something called dill pickle soup. The pickle brine is the soup.)
Are you one of them? Or, should we say, are you one of us? Then you’ve come to the right place. Here are our favorite easy recipes with pickles.
Photo by Laura Murray, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Sophie Strangio1/23Crunchy Pickle Salad
This crisp, refreshing recipe with pickles makes for a good side dish alongside something like this roast pork shoulder. The vinegar and salt in both the pickles and the dressing help cut through the meat’s fattiness.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Liberty Fennell, prop styling by Gerri Williams2/23Hot Pickle and Cheese Cracker Dip
An appetizer with cream cheese, pickle relish, fresh dill, and Cheez-Its? We’re in. If you like a little more veggies in your pickle dip, though, here’s one with roasted eggplant. And if you prefer veggies that you can dip (in butter), try these Radishes With Ham Butter and Pickled Mustard Seeds.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Taneka Morris, Prop Styling by Gerri K. Williams4/23The Ultimate Tuna Melt
Canned tuna can do a lot, but perhaps its finest move is making possible a creamy tuna salad that can then be topped with melted slices of cheese and stuffed between two slices of crisp fried bread.
Photographs by Mamadi Doumbouya, food styling by Pearl Jones, prop styling by Shannon Maldonado5/23Classic Potato Salad
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Sean Dooley, Prop Styling by JoJo Li6/23Pickled Vegetables
Got white vinegar? Then you can pickle almost any kind of veggie: Italian-American giardiniera, Southern-style pickled okra or green beans, soy sauc-y radishes, zucchini, bell peppers, you name it.
Photo by Alex Lau8/23Hot-Pink Pearl Onion Pickles
These sweet and tangy quick pickles pair best with grilled meats like these fish sauce-lacquered rib eyes or braises like these lamb shanks. And just look at them; they’ll light up a table.
Photography by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Adriana Paschen, Prop Styling by Elizabeth Jamie10/23Skillet Salmon With Pickle-y Salad
Alex Lau11/23BA's Best Fried Chicken Sandwich
No crispy fried chicken sandwich worth talking about is devoid of bread-and-butter pickles. That’s why this one made the list. In fact, the bread-and-butter pickles are so good, you’ll want to eat them on their own as a snack (and we’re certainly not going to stop you.)
Photograph by Isa Zapata. Food Styling Cyd McDowell. Prop Styling by Paige Hicks12/23Mortadella Wedge Salad
Photo by Julian Cousins, food styling by Adriana Paschen, prop styling by Elizabeth Jaime14/23Sesame-Lemon Pickled Cucumbers
Lemon, green chiles, and sesame seeds add intrigue to these snappy cucumber pickles. If you want something more all-American, though, here’s a classic dill pickle recipe.
Alex Lau15/23Pickled Chiles
If you haven’t tried pickled jalapeños or serranos on pizza, please make this pickle recipe your next priority—or these pickled hot red chiles. Either way, you’ll be on the path to finally experiencing true joy.
Photographs by Mamadi Doumbouya, food styling by Pearl Jones, prop styling by Shannon Maldonado16/23Beef Hot Links With Chowchow and Gold Sauce
Chowchow, a sweet and spicy pickle relish from the American South, often contains chopped cauliflower, bell peppers, celery, and carrots. Put it on a cheese plate or use it to garnish a hot dog. Speaking of which, let’s take a moment to shout out the Chicago-style hot dog: a dill pickle spear is its signature accompaniment.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Judy Kim, prop styling by Gerri Williams20/23Pork Adobo Pull-Apart Sliders
The pickle-y mixture of daikon and cucumbers for these football-friendly snacks was inspired by Filipino achara. Speaking of game-day foods, it’s worth noting that a pickle wrapped in cheese is simply a great snack. You might want to add that to the shopping list.
Alex Lau21/23Beet-Pickled Eggs
Instead of starting with raw beets, like we do in this recipe, one of our readers suggested using canned beets if you want to cut down on prep time. Great idea.
Alex Lau22/23Skirt Steak With Pickled Fennel Salad
You don’t see a knife and fork in the photo for this dish because the slices of marinated, grilled steak and crunchy, thinly shaved fennel are so good you’ll just want to go for it with your bare hands.
