Regular dill pickles rank fairly low among my taste preferences. I much prefer sweet pickles. I do enjoy Fire and Ice Pickles which start out as store bought dill pickle chips and wind up being sweet and sour with a little bit of a kick. Another good way to eat dill pickle chips is to coat them in a seasoned flour blend, fry them crisp and serve with a dipping sauce. I use disposable bags for both steps of the breading process making clean up a breeze.
If you’re interested in an air fryer version, check out this recipe for Air Fryer Fried Pickles .
Fried Dill Pickles are well recognized as an appetizer but they make a suitable side dish, also. Think of them as an alternative to french fries or chips with sandwiches. Serve with a dipping sauce such as Ranch dressing or Comeback Sauce.
Fried Dill Pickles
yield: 4 side servings
Soak in buttermilk to help the breading cling. The dill chips fry up quickly, only takes a couple of minutes. Don’t get distracted while you’re cooking them. You’ll wind up with burned pickles and hurt feelings.
1 (16 ounce) jar dill pickle chips
1/2 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal (not cornbread mix)
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (you may substitute your favorite store brand for homemade)
cooking oil for frying
Drain pickles. Add them to a quart size freezer bag along with buttermilk. Shake well.
In a separate quart size freezer bag, add flour, cornmeal and seasoning. Shake to mix.
Heat 2 inches of cooking oil to 350 degrees.
Remove half the pickles from the buttermilk soak and add them to the flour mixture. Shake well to coat.
When the oil is heated, add the breaded pickles and fry 2 minutes , stirring occasionally, until the coating is golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack to drain.
Taste for seasoning and sprinkle with kosher salt if desired. Repeat with remaining pickles.
Serve with Ranch dressing or Comeback Sauce. Ranch dressing is shown in the photo below.
Fried Dill Pickles
Ingredients
- 1 16 ounce jar dill pickle chips
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornmeal not cornbread mix
- 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning you may substitute your favorite store brand for homemade
- cooking oil for frying
Instructions
- Drain pickles. Add them to a quart size freezer bag along with buttermilk. Shake well.
- In a separate quart size freezer bag, add flour, cornmeal and seasoning. Shake to mix.
- Heat 2 inches of cooking oil to 350 degrees.
- Remove half the pickles from the buttermilk soak and add them to the flour mixture. Shake well to coat.
- When the oil is heated, add the breaded pickles and fry 2 minutes , stirring occasionally, until the coating is golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack to drain.
- Taste for seasonings and sprinkle with kosher salt, if desired.
janetfctc says
We must be “Pickle Twins” lol. I also don’t care for regular dill, prefer sweet pickles or bread and butter, but have been known to eat wayyyyy too many fire and ice ones when I make them. I recently tried Sonics fried pickles on a whim and loved them but couldn’t find a recipe that I liked the sound of to recreate them. Yours sounds about perfect. 🙂
Jackie Garvin says
Oh, Janet! I hope they are just what you’re looking for! I haven’t had Sonic’s but I do believe the secret to good fried pickles is the right flour/cornmeal balance. Too much cornmeal is too gritty for this application but all flour isn’t right, either. It’s interesting how that whole thing works out. I meal my okra for frying with cornmeal only but that’s not the right texture for fried pickles. More flour than cornmeal is the right balance.
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef says
I’ve been practicing saying fried dill pickles with a pronounced Southern accent and people here are laughing at me. 🙂
I’ve never tried these but I’m going to!
Jackie Garvin says
I find it amazing that Australians would laugh at anybody’s accent. 🙂
Tina says
Frad deeel peeekools!! I live in NC and this is how some say it here!
Jackie Garvin says
You got the phonetics just right!
Janet E says
I had my first intro to fried dill pickles at a place on Hwy 65 in AR, called Pickles Gap. Oh so good, but they were spears. Will def try these out!!!!!!
Jackie Garvin says
Janet,
I don’t care for the fried spears. They’re too “dill pickly” for my liking. Please try the chips and tell me what you think.
Jill says
Thank you! Thank you!
Jackie Garvin says
You’re welcome! You’re welcome! Enjoy. 🙂
grace says
my boyfriend (who grew up in nj, of all places!) introduced me fried pickles and i’ll never look back–so good!
Jackie Garvin says
Grace,
Sometimes knowledge comes from unexpected places. 🙂
Alison says
I found your site through pinterest. Went to print out above recipe. I love the cut/edit function on your print page, never saw it before, so cool 🙂
Jackie Garvin says
Alison,
Welcome to Syrup and Biscuits! We’re sure glad you found us. Thank you for your comments on the PrintFriendly feature. It’s the best print plugin I’ve found.
I hope you visit us again. We love company.
Sylvia Sellers says
I really enjoy your Syrup and Biscuits! It is second best to my Grandmother’s Syrup and Biscuits that I grew up eating daily. We had Blackburn’s syrup on the table and some Cane Patch Syrup also, I enjoyed poking a hole in my biscuit and pouring Blackburn’s syrup in it and eating it for a snack. I would sopp Cane Patch with my biscuit and eat good ‘ole smoked
sausages with it. Oh, those were the days! I didn’t want for nothing more, I had the best there was to eat. I enjoy your stories and your recipes.
Jackie Garvin says
Hi Sylvia! Welcome to Syrup and Biscuits. We sure proud you found us tucked away in our little section of the world. I hope you visit us often. Thank you for your comment. I loved reading it.
Liz smith says
If you can find them try Wickles Pickles. Use your recipe to fry them. . They take fried pickles to another level of goodness!
Jackie Garvin says
Liz,
Oh, I know all about Wickles Pickles. I’m addicted to their pickled okra. 🙂
Lisa says
Love fried dill pickles! Best with Comeback Sauce, though! 😉 Love your recipes!
Jackie Garvin says
Lisa,
Comeback Sauce goes with EVERYTHING……except Cheerios. 🙂
paulette says
Ok, I’am from S California and I’ve never heard of Comeback sauce? Please tell me!
paulette says
OOOPS, I saw the recipe for Comeback sauce after I wrote the last comment. Is it kind of like a thousand island dressing?
Jackie Garvin says
Paulette,
It’s similar to Thousand Island without pickle relish. It’s a little like the onion dipping sauce at Outback Steakhouse.
Pam Davis says
I think I’m going to try this with hot sweet pickle chips, just to see. This looks just right, regardless!
Jackie Garvin says
Pam,
That sounds delicious! You can use your favorite dill pickle in this recipe.
Bev Hurta says
I had my first deep fried pickles last month & the dipping sauce was some kind of a dill sauce. It was out standing. It was at a Restarant called the winking lizard in mentor, Ohio. If you ever get a chance to go there, Please give them a try.
Brenda says
The way we always made them at Sonic was: dill pickles in their own juice, dip in cracker meal then into the deep fryer and cook until golden brown. Sprinkle with salt and serve with ranch dressing or your choice of dipping sauce. Easy peasy!
mikelle says
wow, can’t wait to try homemade fried pickles…. i have scrolled to the bottom of your site and i cant stop drooling….. #AmazingChoices
Jackie Garvin says
You’re so sweet. Thank you so much. ❤️