Dill Pickle Pasta Salad
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Dill Pickle Pasta Salad is a delicious pasta salad recipe that leans heavily on the flavor of dill pickles and fresh dill. This recipe is being shared from Holly Nilsson’s cookbook: Everyday Comfort.
November 14th is National Pickle Appreciation Day! You can eat pickles to your heart’s content! You may also wish to make a recipe using pickles, like sweet pickle potato salad or this dill pickle pasta salad!
Be sure to share the pickle love on social media today using the hashtags #NationalPickleAppreciationDay, #PickleAppreciationDay and #RecipesForHolidays.
“Good ideas, like good pickles, are crisp, enduring and devilishly hard to make.”
-Rushworth Kidder
A Brief History of Pickles from ChatGPT:
Pickles have a history that spans thousands of years and were first used for food preservation. The earliest evidence of pickling dates back to around 2400 BCE in ancient Mesopotamia, where cucumbers were preserved in brine. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans also used pickling, with cucumbers, olives, and other vegetables being stored in vinegar or brine.
In India, pickling has ancient roots as well, with a rich tradition of spiced and fermented pickles (achar) made from fruits like mango and lime. During the Age of Exploration, pickles were crucial for sailors to prevent scurvy due to their vitamin C content.
In the 19th century, pickling became more commercialized with advancements in canning and glass jar technology, particularly in the U.S., where dill pickles became a staple, influenced by Eastern European immigrants. Pickles, such as dill and bread-and-butter varieties, became popular in American cuisine, and fermented foods like kimchi and sauerkraut found their way into various cultures.
Today, pickles are enjoyed worldwide, both for their taste and potential health benefits, as part of a rich culinary tradition that continues to evolve.
Ingredients Needed:
- medium shell pasta
- dill pickle juice and sliced dill pickles
- cheddar cheese
- white onion
- fresh dill
- mayonnaise
- sour cream
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ground cayenne pepper
How to make Dill Pickle Pasta Salad:
The complete, printable recipe is at the end of this post.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook al dente according to package directions. Drain well, and run under cold water to stop cooking.
- In a medium bowl, toss the drained pasta with ½ cup pickle juice and set aside for 5 minutes. Drain and discard the pickle juice.
- To make the dressing, in a large bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, ¼ cup pickle juice, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.
- Add the drained pasta, dill pickles, cheese, onion and dill to the dressing. Toss well to combine and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
Recipe Tips and Substitutions:
- Use sweet pickles in place of dill! Leave the fresh dill out of the recipe.
- Cubes of Swiss cheese, Havarti or Gruyere would be a good substitution for the cheddar.
- Use Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream.
What I Love About This Recipe:
- It’s a great salad for pickle lovers!
- This is a fun salad to serve on a burger night.
- It’s super flavorful!
Here are a few more pickle-themed recipes you might like to try:
Fun Facts About Pickles:
- Drinking pickle juice is supposed to help with muscle cramps, improve digestion, and even soothe a sore throat. Some athletes even drink it after workouts to replenish electrolytes.
- Dill, a small town in Kansas, is often referred to as the “Pickle Capital of the World.”
- McDonald’s serves over 1 billion pickles every year on its burgers.
- While cucumbers are the most common vegetable used for pickles, nearly any fruit or vegetable can be pickled. Popular alternatives include peppers, onions, carrots, beans, and even fruits like mangoes and peaches.
- The “pickle jar challenge” and “pickleback” cocktails (whiskey followed by pickle juice) have both gained popularity in recent years.
Dill Pickle Pasta Salad
Ingredients
SALAD:
- 8 ounces (3 cups) medium shell pasta
- ½ cup dill pickle juice
- ¾ cup sliced dill pickles
- ⅔ cup diced cheddar cheese
- 3 tablespoons finely diced white onion
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
DRESSING:
- ⅔ cup mayonnaise
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup dill pickle juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook al dente according to package directions. Drain well, and run under cold water to stop cooking.
- In a medium bowl, toss the drained pasta with ½ cup pickle juice and set aside for 5 minutes. Drain and discard the pickle juice.
- To make the dressing, in a large bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, ¼ cup pickle juice, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.
- Add the drained pasta, dill pickles, cheese, onion and dill to the dressing. Toss well to combine and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
Notes
- The dressing will thicken as it rests, so don’t worry if it looks runny.
