After you’ve enjoyed the last pickle in the jar, what else can you do but mourn the fact that you’re out of pickles? Faced with half a jar of chartreuse, tangy brine, I wondered if it could be repurposed. It’s just too flavorful to waste!
Gordy’s Fine Brine, a pickle company based in Washington DC must feel the same way. They sell their pickle brine in sleek 4-packs, marketing them as a trendy cocktail mixer. Whether you want to purchase it for easy use or experiment with different brines of your own, pickle brine is officially trending, and there are a number of things you can do with it. Here are 12 of our favorite ways to re-purpose this sour, fermenty juice:
Simple Hummus: use brine in place of water or chickpea brine.
Tabbouleh: use brine in place of lemon juice.
Salad dressing: swap brine for vinegar.
Brined Vegetables: you can toss soft veggies, like onions, garlic or canned artichokes, olives or even hard boiled eggs right into the jar, refrigerate, and a few days later they’ll be flavorful and pickled.
Potato salad: add pickle brine for a special zing (in place of vinegar)
Deviled Eggs: add a few teaspoons into the whipped egg yolk filling
Bloody mary or michelada (Serious Eats and Food 52)
Pickle Infused Vodka (Foodie Crush).
Pickle Back Coleslaw (New York Times)
Pickleback (Food 52): a shot of whisky chased with pickle juice
Dill Pickle Roast Beef (Simply Stacy)
Pickle Brined Chicken (Food and Wine)
Polish Sour Pickle Soup (Polskafoods.com)
Dill Pickle Salsa (Food.com)