12 Uniquely Delicious Ways To Celebrate National Pickle Day

National Pickle Day will be celebrated on November 14. From pickle cocktails to pickle pizzas, there’s a whole lot of tasty options for celebrating briny and savory deliciousness.

Ida Claire’s Pepino Del Diablo

At Ida Claire in Addison and San Antonio, Texas, Pepina Del Diablo is an electrifying cocktail that blends the fiery notes of Ghost Tequila and the approachable charm of Lalo Blanco Tequila. Its secret weapon is Ida Claire’s house-made pickle juice, delivering a savory kick that’s perfectly balanced by zesty lime and agave. Keena Hanson, Training & Development Manager at Ida Claire says: “At Ida Claire, we’ve dedicated countless hours perfecting our house-made pickles, and the rich juice is the heart of our savory pickle cocktail. With Pepina Del Diablo, we’re celebrating our love of our pickles, creating a spicy libation that’s a perfect tribute to National Pickle Day.”

Pickle-ada

At Lefty’s Brick Bar in Austin, Texas, Lefty’s homemade Michelada with a Best Maid pickle sour beer. It’s a spin on the michelada, a Mexican drink traditionally made with beer, lime juice, chili spices & peppers. “Lefty’s Brick Bar’s ‘Pickle-ada’ is the ultimate libation to toast National Pickle Day, infusing the classic michelada with a tangy twist of Best Maid’s Pickle Sour, delivering a briny burst of flavor that perfectly complements the zesty mix of beer, lime juice, and chili spices,” said Adam Nystrom, Director of Restaurants at ARRIVE Hotels.

Cubano Pizza

At Mariel, in Boston, part of COJE Management, this pizza is made with roast pork, sweet ham, pickles, gruyere, scallion, and cilantro. “Mariel is a Cuban-inspired restaurant, so we decided to serve up a selection of Cuban-style ‘peso pizzas’ which are a common street food there. These pizzas commonly have thicker dough and sweeter tomato sauce than other pizza varieties. Our version upgrades the pizzas with high-quality, creative offerings, like the Cubano Pizza, which is basically a Cuban Sandwich on a pizza with all ingredients made in house, including the pickles. Everyone loves pizza and Cubano’s so why not combine the two? It’s one of our most popular menu items,” said COJE Management’s Culinary Director, Tom Berry.

Pickle Pizza

At Myles’ Pizza Pub in Greenville, South Carolina, this gorgeous pizza is made with ground beef, tomato, pickles and special sauce. “Pickles are like pineapple when it comes to pizza toppings – people either love it or hate it and there’s not much in between. We’ve been known to pile on the toppings here at Myles’ Pizza Pub, so we add a few other ingredients to our Pickle Pizza (also known as The McChipper, a nod to our owner, Chip, who’s been making pizza magic for nearly 45 years!) – including ground beef, tomatoes, and our housemade special sauce – so it tastes like a Big Mac. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!” said Meredith Myles, co-owner of Myles’ Pizza Pub.

Pineapple Pickleback

At Puesto in San Diego, Orange County and Santa Clara, California, Puesto’s Pineapple Pickleback is an update to the lovable classic pickleback (traditionally served with a shot of Old Crow and a chaser of McClure’s pickle brine). Puesto’s Pineapple Pickleback is served with a shot of Pueblo Viejo Blanco Tequila and a housemade pickle brine made from pineapple and poblano peppers. This version, created by Beau du Bois, offers a balanced salty, savory, and sweet accompaniment to the tequila. “We live in the time of brine and why shouldn’t tequila be included? Rather than the dill pickle juice erasing the flavor of the alcohol, making a shot easier to drink; our pickleback is made to compliment the flavor of a blanco tequila and still give you that briny zip,” said Beau du Bois, Vice President of Bar & Spirits at Puesto.

Chicago-Style Pizza with Beef and Giardiniera

“Being that we have a lot of customers from Chicago, I created a personal pizza with Chicago-style pickled Giardiniera vegetables and Chicago-style beef. The vegetables are brined for a day and then we pickle them for 3 days in vinegar and oil. The idea for this pizza came from our bar manager’s husband who is from Chicago,” said Jude Sheehan, chef and owner of Bar 135 in New York City.

Pickleback Mignonette for Oyster on the Half Shell

At Prohibition in Charleston, mignonette is the go-to accoutrement for oysters on the half shell and Chef Greg Garrison serves a twist on a classic mignotte using pickle brine. Early in his career, Garrison lived in New York and would stop by his friend’s bar in Brooklyn on his way home. “Not wanting to drink all night, I sometimes sipped on the pickleback. This mignonette was inspired by those nights in Brooklyn.” It’s made with cucumbers, habaneros, lemongrass, and ginger, so it’s light and refreshing, but some good heat.

Pepperoncini Martini

At Bad Roman in New York City, this cocktail is made with Grey Goose, pepperoncini brine, lemon zest. Bryan Schneider, Creative Director, says: “The Martini pepperoncini is our signature Dirty Martini at Bad Roman. We blend olive brine with the brine from pickled pepperoncini peppers, and stir with premium vodka for a spicy take on the classic.”

Chicken Fried Pickles

At Zingerman’s Roadhouse in Ann Arbor, sliced dill pickles tossed in seasoned flour and fried. Served with housemade ranch dressing. “I love almost anything chicken fried from steak, to mushrooms, and of course chicken. So pickles seemed like our logical next step, served with some of our house made ranch. It’s pretty awesome!” said Bob Bennett, Head Chef.

The Dirty South Martini

At Hen Quarter in Alexandria, Virginia, this cocktail is made with Tito’s handmade vodka, a tiny bit of dry vermouth, pickled okra garnish, side of cold homemade pickle brine to get dirty. “Everyone “gets dirty” with olives when it comes to Dirty Martinis, but why be everyone when you can be awesome instead? Pickle brine adds a delicious twist to a classic dirty vodka martini to put some “South In Your Mouth” this National Pickle Day!” said Jennifer Jackson, Beverage Manager of Thompson Restaurants.

Hot Fried Pickles

At Black Tap Nashville and Black Tap Dallas, hot fried pickles made with hot chili oil, black garlic & chili seasoning, parsley, spiced buttermilk-dill. “At Black Tap, all of our Fried Pickles are completely gluten free but that does not mean they compromise on crunch! The buttermilk and rice flour coating is delicious on its own, but for National Pickle Day we are dressing them up with some chili oil and Black Tap hot seasoning and the result: Hot Fried Pickles. We pair them with Spiced Buttermilk Dill dipping sauce for the ultimate, Southern experience at Black Tap’s Nashville and Dallas locations,” said Black Tap’s Corporate Executive Chef, Stephen Parker.

Pickle Hummus

At Pita Jungle in Scottsdale, as well as additional Arizona locations – this dill-licious recipe started out as a joke on April Fool’s Day a few years back. Pita Jungle’s Pickle Hummus takes their house-made original hummus made with chickpeas, tahini, fresh garlic, EVOO, lemon juice and garbanzo confit and adds the most important ingredient – pickles! “The Pickle Hummus idea started out as an April Fool’s joke on our social media pages. We were astonished at how many people came into our restaurants on this day requesting to get the Pita Jungle Pickle Hummus. Seeing how many people requested the dish, one of our managers then made pickle hummus for his customers. We then developed a recipe, and the Pita Jungle Pickle Hummus was featured on one of our Seasonal Kitchen Crafts Menus. To celebrate National Pickle Day, we will offer our Pickle Hummus from November 13 through November 19,” said Bassel Osmani, Co-Founder of Pita Jungle.