How to Deep Fry Pickles – The Guide to Making Deep Fried Pickles

The recipe uses a standard wet/dry/fry technique that you can quickly master.

The first major component of the dish is the wet mix. A wet mix typically does not contain more than a few components; usually dairy, egg and seasoning. For this recipe, you will need:

Step 1: Wet Mix Ingredients

• 3 cups buttermilk

• 1 large egg

• Siracha to taste

Combine the ingredients in a medium-sized bowl, taking care to thoroughly break up the egg to distribute it throughout the mix evenly. Sriracha, if you were not aware, is an Asian hot sauce made from chili paste with strong acidity and quite a bit of spice. It is a versatile sauce that will feel right at home on chicken wings, eggs, tacos, french fries or pretty much anything that could use a good kick of flavor. But be careful. This stuff definitely is not for the faint of heart. Too much can easily overwhelm even a seasoned seasoner and send you running for the water tap.

The next thing you will need is your dry mix. Now, brace yourself, because this is going to look a little complicated at first glance, but I promise you that it is every bit as easy as the wet mix that you just made so well. For the dry mix you will need:

Step 2: Dry Mix Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/3 cup white corn meal

• 1 tsp. salt

• 1 Tbsp. pepper

• 2 Tbsp. paprika

• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper

• 1 Tbsp. chili powder

• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

• 1 tsp. season salt

Okay, are you still with me? Good. Let’s talk about these ingredients really quickly, because this is where most of the flavor for your fried pickles will come from. The flour is kind of a no-brainer and the base for most dry mixes. The corn meal will add a nice crunch to the final product. You won’t need too much salt in this case since the pickles are already soaking in a salty vinegar-based brine.

The paprika is arguably the fried pickle MVP

combine them all in a large bowl and mix them up

• And I do mean a large bowl *

A brown paper bag will serve the same purpose

Step 3: Start Heating the Oil

At this point, it would be a good idea to start heating your oil. You can use pretty much any kind of oil for this, but I prefer peanut. It has a nice flavor and won’t leave your pickles too greasy.

Just set it to 365°F and wait.

You can use a standard oil thermometer which has a simple probe and either a digital or analogue display

• You can use a standard oil thermometer which has a simple probe and either a digital or analogue display *

you’re going to want to put down about 2” of oil in your pan

Just don’t add so much oil that it will boil over when you drop your pickles in. If you start your kitchen on fire, you’ll have a much harder time with all of this.

Step 4: Add the Pickles

You can either buy them as pre-sliced chips or ovals, but I prefer to buy whole dill pickles and slice them myself, since I like them a little bit thicker than I can find in the store

• You can either buy them as pre-sliced chips or ovals, but I prefer to buy whole dill pickles and slice them myself, since I like them a little bit thicker than I can find in the store *

You do need to take some care to ensure that each pickle got an even coating all around, but I’m confident that you’ll get it on the first try. This is the messy part of the recipe, so it might be a good idea to lay some paper or something similar down on your work surface before you begin. I also like to work close to the sink so I can quickly wash my hands without tracking flour and buttermilk all over the kitchen.

You can drop your pickles straight into the hot oil, but you’ll quickly see why this is not the best idea when your fingertips build up a thick layer of batter and you start to feel like the Hulk making a paper crane.

BE CAREFUL WHEN DROPPING ANYTHING INTO HOT OIL

Step 5: Bringing it Home!

It should never take more than a couple of minutes

• It should never take more than a couple of minutes *

If you want to get fancy, you can move them into a basket or dish for serving, but they likely won’t be around for anyone to really appreciate the effort. Just put them on the table with some ranch and they’ll be gone in no time.

Video Version: Deep Frying Pickles

For a live action overview of these steps, see the following for a video tutorial version:

So there you have it, friend. You are now qualified to call yourself an expert on fried pickles. But you don’t have to stop here. Try playing with the recipe to put your own twist on it. Maybe you’d like to try a beer batter instead. Just don’t blame me when all of your friends love them so much that you’re forced to fry pickles for all of your waking hours just to keep them happy.