It’s not as bad as you think!
Okay, so, it’s no secret that I get a lot of ideas of recipes to explore from whatever happens to be trending, or comes across my news feed. A lot of times it’s something I’ve made before, or something I have no interest in, or something that doesn’t suit this blog. Other times it’s a rabbit hole I go down, figuring out why a recipe works and how to make it the best I can.
So when I saw pickle lemonade on my news feed, I was more confused than anything. And it was from the New York Times? What a wild, weird thing.
I wasn’t even originally intending to make it. I just brought it up to chuckle over how ridiculous it was, but my partner pointed out that we do dill-lemon on our salmon all the time, and that both vinegar and lemon juice are acids with similar pH levels. It might not be bad? So, he convinced me to make it.
I have since learned that not only is this going viral as a limited-time menu item at Popeye’s of all places, it’s also something of a simple riff on a lot of fermented lemonade-like beverages that have roots all around the world.
For this recipe, I recommend a fairly basic dill pickle for the brine. I use Vlasic kosher dills, because that’s our basic pickle. Something with more robust flavors like a Claussen pickle would bring in too much in the way of garlic and other spices, at least in my view. I figured I wanted something simple. Maybe the more complex version would be good, but I’m not jumping out to try it.
Truth be told, I thought this was a novelty, but not a bad one. It’s tasty enough. A lot of people say it goes good with some kind of booze, but since I can’t have alcohol, I’m not about to try that. If you do, feel free to let me know! What it does remind me of it almost something like Gatorade. A little bit of salt in an otherwise sweet-tangy beverage basically turns it into a sports drink, right?
Dill Pickle Lemonade
Equipment
- Strainer
- Lemon Juicer
- Pitcher
- Mixing Spoon
Ingredients
- 7 Lemons
- ⅔ Cup White Sugar
- 1 Cup Dill Pickle Juice Strain if needed
- 3 Cups Water
Instructions
- Juice the lemons. You want about a cup of fresh lemon juice, strained to remove seeds and pulp.
- Add the sugar and lemon juice to your pitcher and stir to dissolve the sugar.
- Add in the water and pickle juice and mix. You can add less or more pickle juice to balance the flavors to your liking.
- Chill before serving, or serve over ice.
I’m going to have to try this. Straight dill pickle juice is a staple for my long bike rides (like tours or century ride events.) I’ve also read recently that a great hydration technique is fresh home-made lemonade because of the electrolytes, Vitamin C and antioxidants in lemons so that is a benefit for exercise. After I try it, I’ll come back to give a rating.