Sunday is National Pickle Day, and, if you've ever been to Lewes Gifts or Bayside Gifts, you know that First Town First State make loving these salty snacks easy. With the perfect crunch and pop of flavor, this all-time favorite condiment could make just about any meal. Pickles are also incredibly versatile, with hot, sweet, and salty varieties all having their time and place. Feel free to get creative with how you use them, and you might just land on a couple of new snack-time staples.
Here are 11 excellent ways to use pickles:
1. Top a Sandwich
Might as well start with the obvious. Pickles can take just about any sandwich to another level. It might even be that your sammy feels unfinished without them. Pickles pair great with ham and turkey, but they can also really lend something any base. The tang of a spicy brown or yellow mustard finishes the meal off right with the ideal amount of acidity.
2. Top a Salad
In reality, a salad is basically a sandwich without the bread, so it's actually quite normal to enjoy the taste of some nice, quality pickles in your bowl. More and more, burger salads are making an appearance which wouldn't be the same without pickles, but some companies are even making pickle salad kits now. If you want to switch things up, pickles also taste fantastic on cobb salads because they balance out the fattiness of the egg and bacon.
3. Make Tuna
Pickles might be the ultimate secret for making the best tuna salad ever. If you ever buy tuna salad from the store, you'll notice that there are chopped up pieces of vegetable in the mix and there's a bit of a zing in the flavor. This could mean that pickles were involved in making the dish. Some of the greatest tuna salad is comprised of tuna, mayo, chopped up celery, and pickle, along with a small splash of pickle brine. This might be a very simple combination of ingredients, but the assortment has the right amount of every taste.
5. Use in Lunchmeat Roll-Ups
Keep things keto with pickles, by enjoying them wrapped in your favorite deli meats. Both long spears and chips can be rolled up into ham, turkey, chicken, or beef along with the cheese of your choosing, to give you a great, healthy snack on the go. You can keep it light, while also feeling perfectly full. Turkey, Swiss, dill pickle, and spicy brown mustard, is just one wonderful option for this use of pickles.
6. Make Relish
Reinvent your pickles by making the perfect relish. Relish is very easy to make, and it all starts with a great jar of pickles. Take your favorite pickles, chop them up, and blend them with brown sugar, ginger, celery seed, garlic, and whatever else you desire. Homemade relish will most likely taste better than a bottle you picked up from the store, and it'll be fresher too.
7. Stuff a Burger
There isn't such a thing as a burger without a pickle, but, traditionally, they fall off when placed on top. To get the most of your pickle flavor experience, try stuffing your burgers with the salty guys. When stuffing a burger with cheese, you can also put some pickle into the center of the meat. The result is a surprise of warm, gooey cheese and saltiness the second you bite into the meal. Talk about satisfying.
8. Add to Potato Salad
Kind of like adding pickle and brine to tuna salad, putting some pickle in your potato salad can bring the extra punch of flavor your side has been missing. Just chop it up, and toss it in.
9. Fry Them
If you've ever been to a carnival or festival, maybe you've seen fried pickles. Frying up pickles brings out a side of the snack you typically don't get to experience. The hot, crispy exterior, along with a soft, warm, salty center is flat-out irresistible. Try frying them up with a fryer or air fryer at your home and serve them as appetizers for your next party. You'll be the talk of the town.
10. Make a Dip
Dips are kind of a free for all, and pickles are a sneaky add-in to provide saltiness and texture. Mix pickles with a sour cream or Greek yogurt base, and then toss in ingredients like dill and garlic powder.
11. Pickle Something Else
Did you know that you can pickle something completely new with the leftover juice of your empty pickle jar? The brine has all of the flavor and the pickling capabilities. Use it to pickle new cucumbers or other vegetables like green beans or cauliflower. No need to waste!
While all of these ideas alone, show the culinary power of pickles, but there really is an infinite number of ways to use them. Enjoy these salty, crunchy cucumbers however you please, and feel free to have some fun with it. First Town First State has Dill Pickles, Spicy Sweet Pickles, and even Spicy Bread & Butter Pickles you can mix into your next meal.
Photo Cred:
Image #5: Delish
Image #9: Wikipedia
