10 Surprisingly Practical Ways to Use Leftover Pickle Juice
You can use it for cocktails, marinades, and more.
Most people don't think twice about pouring leftover pickle brine down the drain. But there are actually a surprising number of ways to use leftover pickle juice. That briny liquid can be used to enhance cocktails, brighten up salad dressings, or marinate protein and vegetables. It's a quick and cost-effective way to punch up the flavor in many recipes.
Pickle brine is generally just water, salt, vinegar, and sugar, which makes it a surprisingly versatile ingredient. Some brines also include different spices and aromatics like dill or red pepper flakes. Don't be afraid to experiment and add your own flavors in! You just might stumble upon a recipe that becomes a new family favorite.
If you're looking to cut down on your food waste, finding ways to use up things like pickle brine and other leftover food scraps can be a fun challenge. Keep reading to see all the creative ways to use leftover pickle juice. If you're looking for more ways to make the most of what you already have, read up on clever ways to reuse pasta sauce (or pickle) jars and how to make leftovers better with this one pantry staple.
Pickle other vegetables
The easiest way to use pickle juice is to remember its original purpose: brining. This means you can add other vegetables to it for instant quick pickles. Simply drop raw veggies into the same container of brine, making sure they’re submerged, then cover and refrigerate. Of course, you can do cucumber spears but this method also works great on the usual pickling suspects: carrot sticks, radishes, cauliflower florets, chiles, okra, sliced onion, and green beans (hello, dilly beans!). You can keep these new pickles up to one week but we found that more delicate vegetables are best after a day or two.
Mix it with drinks
A pickle juice chaser comes with a shot of whiskey in a pickleback but this cocktail chameleon can adapt to almost any libation. Replace olive brine with pickle juice for an epic dirty martini. (You can make it with vodka but we find that gin is a stellar match for the dill in most pickle jars.) Pickle juice gives a new thrill to savory classics, like a Bloody Mary or michelada. Instead of rimming your margarita with salt, add pickle juice to get that salinity with extra flavor benefits. Slip a slug of the brine into a combo of prosecco and dry vermouth over ice for a delightful pickle spritz.
Non-imbibers can also get their gherkin on: Take a cue from Popeyes' pickle menu and stir the brine into lemonade for a sweet-savory refresher. You can also hop on a couple of viral trends and recreate Dua Lipa’s Diet Coke with pickled jalapeños and pickle juice or make a copycat version of Sonic’s Dr. Pepper Pucker by spiking the soda with pickles, brine or both.
RELATED: I Ate Everything on Popeyes' New Pickle Menu, and There's One Item Everyone Has to Try
Marinate proteins
Using pickle juice to marinate chicken, turkey, seafood and other lean proteins is essentially just better brining. It’s a quick way to tenderize poultry and pork while seasoning them through and through. Just be careful not to let them sit too long in the marinade: up to 30 minutes for seafood; at least one hour, up to 24 hours for poultry and pork.
You can also marinate tofu and vegetables in pickle juice to supercharge them with flavor, though it won’t necessarily make them more tender. A similar caveat for marinating time: at least 30 minutes, up to 24 hours for these plant-based ingredients.
Make salad dressings
Punchy and wonderfully tangy, let pickle juice stand-in for the acid in vinaigrettes and dressings and you have an understudy that surpasses the star. Lean into the herbiness of dill pickle juice in dressings like ranch or green goddess. Try bread and butter pickle juice in sweeter dressings, like honey mustard and Thousand Island.
“Pickle-wash” potatoes, pasta and more
The next time you make potato salad, “pickle-wash” those spuds. Simply pour pickle juice over your drained boiled potatoes so they soak up all that delicious flavor. Then you can add even more brine to the dressing and fold chopped pickles into the potato salad. Try this same method with pasta for pasta salad and eggs for egg salad to win the cookout.
Make sauces
Sauces that already have briny ingredients are a natural for adding pickle juice. Think tartar sauce (BFF to fish and chips), remoulade and the “special sauce” spread on burgers.
Spruce up soups and stews
Add a splash to soups or stews for a briny kick that'll make guests sit up and ask, "Ooh, what is that?" It perks up classics like matzo ball, hot and sour, gazpacho and beef and barley stew.
RELATED: Best Soup Recipes
Blanch vegetables
Add pickle juice to simmering water to blanch vegetables for extra zing. It's fantastic with green beans, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower or zucchini.
Flavor rice or grains
Stir pickle juice into cooking water for rice and other grains for a bold, tangy flavor that's never boring.
RELATED: Easy Rice Recipes You'll Want to Make Every Single Day
Steam food
Add pickle juice to the water for steaming vegetables, such as carrots, asparagus or green beans. It can also infuse seafood like shrimp or fish with a welcome brininess.
There are so many tasty ways to use pickle juice so don't ever let it go to waste again!
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