I’m fairly certain there is nothing more satisfying to eat than a fried pickle. The sad part is that it took me 29 years to discover this. Last year I tasted my first fried pickle in an Irish pub in California and I was forever transformed. I crossed the threshold into a new phase of life—pre-fried pickle to post-fried pickle. And I’m never looking back. Thank you to TK member Kelly from Live Love Pasta (who in turn sourced the recipe from Elizabeth’s Edible Experience) for reminding me of this glorious food and inspiring me to share it with you today!
The best part? This is all you need: flour, pickle slices (you could also do pickle spears), vegetable oil, 2 eggs, salt, beer, and ranch dressing for dipping.
Get out your trusty skillet and pour in a thick layer of oil. About an inch will do.
Next, combine the eggs and the beer in a bowl.
Whisk them up well and get them nice and frothy.
Sprinkle in the salt…
And then little by little add the flour to the liquid ingredients. You may not need all the flour, so keep whisking and see how thick it gets. You’ll want it to drip with the consistency of a nice thick syrup.
Get your pickle slices close to you while the oil heats up.
Use a pair of tongs or a fork and dip them in the batter one by one.
They should be nicely coated. Shake off the excess and quickly drop them into the hot oil.
The pickles will bubble and pop and after about 2 minutes …
Flip them over so that they brown on the other side.
You also might want to take the temperature of the oil along the way to make sure it doesn’t drop too much. The goal is to keep it hovering around 350 degrees F.
Once they are golden brown, lay them on a wire rack and sprinkle them liberally with salt to help them crisp up.
Then get out a little dipping bowl and pour in some ranch or your other favorite dipping sauce.
Then you will have little golden discs of crispy, crunchy, salty, sour perfection.
I hope you’ll make these as soon as humanly possible! And thanks to Kelly for passing along such a brilliant recipe. Check out her website Live Love Pasta for other brilliant recipes!
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Description
In honor of the Jersey Shore premiere, we decided to make Snooki’s favorite snack: Fried Pickles! They’re fun to snack on and they’re surprisingly tasty. This recipe is pretty basic—only 5 or 6 ingredients.
Ingredients
- 20 ounces, fluid Canola Oil
- 2 whole Dill Pickles, Sliced Into ½ Inch Rounds
- 2 whole Eggs
- ¾ cups Beer, Or More As Needed
- 1 pinch Salt And Pepper, to taste
- 2 cups Flour
- Ranch Dressing, To Serve
Preparation Instructions
Pour enough oil in a large skillet so that the oil is about 1-2 inches up the side of the pan. Or use a deep fryer if you have one. Heat the oil to 350 degrees F.
Slice pickles into ½-inch slices. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and beer. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Whisk in enough flour to form a batter. If the batter is too thick, add up to 1/4 cup additional beer to thin the batter.
Using tongs, dip pickles one at a time into the batter and then place in the heated oil. Fry pickles for about 2 minutes, flipping the pickle after about 1 minute.
Place pickles on a plate lined with paper towels and season with salt. Serve with ranch dressing.
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There’s so much to say about Georgia, we don’t know where to start. Leaving Wall Street for the French Culinary Institute, followed by a stint at the Gramercy Tavern and La Chassagnette in France, her passion for food and food traditions are evident and inspiring. Visit her site at Georgia Pellegrini, where you’ll find more recipes, photos, learn all about her wonderful book Food Heroes, and enjoy her latest adventures.
35 Comments
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Katy on 11.17.2011
I LOVE fried food, especially pickles YUM!
Jessica @ChefHazard.com on 11.13.2011
If I had to pick one thing to eat for the rest of my life it would be fried pickles. Thanks for the recipe!
Sue G. on 11.12.2011
This does sound good. I will try this. I know there are different places that do sale these to eat. I have never tryed them.
Sue G.
Shrazzi on 11.10.2011
Is there anything that doesn’t taste good fried and served with Ranch? Great idea Georgia!
Kendra on 11.10.2011
Fried pickles are great, use Dill pickle spears, fry and try eating them with creamy peanut butter……….OMGoodness, they are awesome. One of our favorite restraunts serves them this way.
Paige on 11.8.2011
Just made these for lunch. So easy and quick! Also, so good! Perfect thing if you’re in for a salty kick!
Ahorsesoul on 11.7.2011
I made these tonight. They are incredible. I used Claussen sandwich slices.
Two Barking Dogs on 11.6.2011
I’m going to have to try this recipe! I have a huge 5 gallon jar of home-made garlic dill pickles in the fridge crying out to battered and fried!
Shelly Boggs on 11.6.2011
I made these this weekend. We love fried pickles and I decided to venture out a little and I used this batter to fry some of my pickled okra and it was a huge success!! Thanks for the recipe~
Allyn on 11.6.2011
Fried pickles are one of my favorite guilty pleasures EVER. Soooooo freakin good.
Becky in Texas on 11.6.2011
Hubby and I have loved fried pickles since we moved south. I’ve always been afraid to try making them myself, but decided to give it a go with this recipe. The result — TOTALLY AWESOME! The beer batter is a perfect consistency! After I added 1 cup of sifted flour, the batter was a bit thick — so I added beer to thin it out. I used hamburger dill slices, and the batter was enough for the whole jar. I also dropped several slices into the batter at a time — I was too impatient with the ‘one at a time’ method. Just be careful they don’t stick together. They didn’t last long — the plate is already empty…thanks for a great recipe!
ryan on 11.6.2011
made about thirty of them 15 minutes ago. they are all gone now. there’s two people here and one doesn’t like pickles. i’m ashamed of myself but delightfully full
Brandy on 11.6.2011
I am trying these tonight!!!!
Sam on 11.6.2011
We have a great ‘chip’ store here and they have these are their menu. Have heard on various trips to get my ‘french fry fix’ that their sold out on their deep fried dill pickles. Haven’t tried yet but I look forward to trying them and thank you for the recipe.
Rebecca P on 11.6.2011
I LOVE fried pickles. And this batter makes them wonderfully crispy. I have tried other batters and this is the best one yet!
Charissa G on 11.5.2011
Thanks for the recipe! I had my first experience with fried pickles a couple years ago when we lived in the South and fell in love. We’re now in the Northwest, so I definitely need to try and make these when I have a fried pickle craving!
micki on 11.5.2011
In northern Michigan we wrap pickle spears with swiss cheese and ham then an egg roll wrapper, then fry them. They are amazing!
Heather (Heather's Dish) on 11.5.2011
i can see this being a really dangerous thing for me to know how to make! fried pickles are seriously one of those things that i can’t stop eating when i start. not til the pickle jar’s empty
The Suzzzz on 11.5.2011
Our local BBQ restaurant makes these and calls them Beer Frickles. They use dill chips and they are really good.
Justnanny on 11.5.2011
I guess if they fry okra to make it taste good, then a pickle would be fine too! I wonder who thinks of these things?
Katrina on 11.5.2011
These sound lovely!
Miss @ Miss in the Kitchen on 11.4.2011
I love fried pickles! Haven’t made them in ages! Thanks for bringing them out today!
Kristin S on 11.4.2011
Oh, this is my favorite treat. Last year I attempted to fry my own and vowed to never try again and stick with restaurants. This recipe is totally different. I think it is time to try again… yum!
DeeDee Hankins on 11.4.2011
I use beer and pancake mix (the just add water kind). It makes a great batter for pickles, zucchini, peppers etc….
Danni on 11.4.2011
I am a fried pickle addict. I’m making these right now, using Fireside Nut Brown in order to get that awesome malty flavor, and I added corn meal for extra body and crunch. This recipe is so simple, fast, and delicious! Thanks!
Jess on 11.4.2011
I’ve never had a fried pickle, but that looks reaaally good. Can anyone tell me if I should use dill or bread and butter pickles?
Wenderly on 11.4.2011
Honestly I am salivating so profusely I can barely type. We LOVE fried pickles. I’ve never made them however…
This could be dangerous. Vewy, vewy dangerous. But delicious.
Lois Schultz on 11.4.2011
Oh My Deep Fried Pickles are WONDERFUL !! and yes do try the spears I make these every summer when my family gets together for our wild camping weekend !
Tiff on 11.4.2011
Some Sonic’s serve Pickle-O’s, which is a fried pickle, but I’ve always been to scared to try them. If I like them I’m afraid there would be no turning back…… and probably another 5 lbs.
Charis K on 11.4.2011
Fried pickles are sooooo good. First had them at a pub on the southern Oregon coast. Now I will have to try this recipe and make them at home.
Mellisa W on 11.4.2011
I am on a Fried Pickle Quest. I cannot get enough of them. Thanks for this recipe.!
Beckie on 11.4.2011
Try cucumber salad dressing with them. Really good. Our favorite place to order them is at a catfish restaurant. Yummy.
Tracee on 11.4.2011
I love these things ! We found a fun little place that we get them at. Thank you for this recipe I will make it this weekend.
Cupcake Activist on 11.4.2011
I’ve always wanted to try fried pickles. Now I can just make my own. I think I would prefer spears too.
Trish on 11.4.2011
We’ve crossed the threshold from pre-fried pickle to post-fried pickle and realized that we prefer the spears to the chips. Would the fry-time be longer?