Frugal Food: Pickle Juice (60+ uses in food & drinks!)

Most refrigerators in the US contain at least one jar of pickles, but that jar also holds pickle juice. What do you do with the juice when then pickles are all gone?

Jars of pickles with juice are a frugal food item that have many varied uses. In a recent poll of over 1000 people, we found that about 38% of people throw out the juice! This flavorful liquid has so many uses and can save money by using the pickle juice in many forms. We have gathered the best and most unique ways to use pickle juice.

Pickle Juice	Number of people	Percentage
Toss the pickle juice	410	37.75%
Drink it or use it in recipes	656	60.41%
Don’t like or buy pickles	20	1.84%
Totals:	1086	100%

Benefits of Pickle Juice

Pickle juice has long been regarded as a magical liquid that cures so many troubles and ailments. Science is torn on it’s impact on some of these conditions, and some people believe it really helps, while others say it didn’t do much for them. I will let you decide if it is helpful for your own health issues.

Possible benefits of pickle juice:

• muscle cramps
• menstrual cramps
• headaches or migraines
• help lose weight/ curb appetite
• cramps from rheumatoid arthritis or fibromyalgia
• heartburn and acid reflux
• soothes sore throats
• stomach aches (especially for children)
• bloating & gas
• hydrates
• hangovers
• gut health
• gets rid of hiccups
• for skin and sun burns

Does pickle juice go bad?

Pickle juice can go bad with time and when not refrigerated. Most commercially made pickles are pasteurized so they have a very long shelf life, this is mainly due to the main ingredient of vinegar in the pickle juice.

Vinegar has a nearly indefinite shelf life which means it is perfect for pickling and making pickles last. Homemade pickles and juice can last for few weeks unopened, and commerically made pickles in juice can last for a year unopened.

Once you open those pickles, they need to be stored in the refrigerator. Even though pickles have a high acidity, they can still go bad or rancid.

The best way to tell if pickles or pickle juice has gone bad is to smell it, it will definitely smell bad. Another warning sign is if the pickle juice looks cloudy. Pickles and pickle juice can grow mold as well, so be on the lookout for signs of mold.

Can you freeze pickle juice?

Yes! Pickle juice can be frozen. If you notice that you have a large amount of pickle juice left over and are not planning on using it soon, you can freeze the juice to be used at a later date.

Depending on how you plan on using the pickle juice, smaller batches of juice will probably work better. Take a reusable plastic ice cube tray and fill it with pickle juice. Once it is fully frozen, you can remove the cubes and store them in a freezer ziploc style bag.

Other interesting ways to freeze pickle juice include:

• mix with fruits like berries or mango and make popsicles for summer
• others like just straight pickle juice popsicles (lots of pregnant women swear by pickle pops!)
• Pickle Juice Sno-Cones (yup just pour pickle juice over shaved ice)
• Pickle Juice Slushies (take those frozen pickle ice cubes and throw them in the blender with some more water or sprite soda, and you can make a copycat Sonic Pickle Slushie)

Is pickle juice a laxative?

Some people have claimed that drinking pickle juice was an excellent laxative instead of taking medications. This makes sense because vinegar has been used as a natural laxative and to improve digestion for years.

If you have the tendency to not respond to traditional laxatives, or want a non-medicinal option, pickle juice can be an easy, quick, and cheap solution for constipation.

Pickle juice for nausea?

The old jokes about pregnant women and pickles are true for some many reasons. The combination of sweet and sour, plus the vinegar has been known to help with morning sickness for a lot of people.

I never really made this connection until I realized I felt so much better after eating American Cheese and Pickle sandwiches when I was pregnant with my first child. I also craved sour foods while I was pregnant, and I don’t even like sour tastes.

These cravings could be a way for your body to tell you that you need certain things. I am so glad I caved into my cravings because it definitely helped!

Pickle juice has also been touted as a cure for other gastrointestinal issues like bloating, gas, indigestion, heartburn, and sour stomach or stomach aches.

Is pickle juice bad for you?

Pickle juice is very high in sodium so some people should avoid drinking or using it frequently. According to WebMD, those that suffer from high blood pressure or stomach ulcers will probably want to skip the pickles and the juice.

Can I reuse pickle juice?

Yes! You can re-use pickle juice to make more pickles! The great part is you don’t have to just make traditional pickles, there are so many other options as well.

Other pickle options:

• carrots
• jalapenos
• onion slices or pearl onions
• hard boiled eggs
• green beans
• beets
• banana peppers
• okra
• garlic
• asparagus
• zucchini
• yellow squash
• bell peppers (green, yellow, and red)
• radishes

Many people told us that they like to just submerge cleaned and sliced vegetables directly to the jar. Others said that they also like to add extra seasonings like a pack of ranch dressing powder for more flavor!

Homemade pickle juice

So what is pickle juice exactly, and how can we recreate it? Pickle juice is primarily water, vinegar, salt, herbs and spices.

If you are not sure what herbs and spices to add except for dill, there are pickling herb spice packs that you can buy. There are also a zillion varieties of pickles, so places like Pinterest have tons of different recipes.

Pickle juice drinks (non-alcoholic)

The most obvious non-alcoholic drink involving pickle juice is just straight pickle juice, and some even drink it straight from the jar! (Don’t drink juice from the jar because it can actually make it spoil quicker by spreading germs from your mouth.)

Some other cool options that I have heard of are mixing pickle juice, lemon juice, sugar and water to make Pickle Lemonade. Similar to this would be a mix of pickle juice and jalapeno juice to make a jalapeno pickle lemonade.

Of course, the most popular drinks with pickle juice have got to be pickle juice cocktails and mocktails!

Pickle juice cocktails

• instead of olive juice, use pickle juice in martinis
• add to bloody mary’s for dill flavor
• swap out lime juice with pickle juice for pickle margaritas
• swap out sour mix for pickle juice in a whiskey sour
• make pickle favored vodka
• pickle juice chaser (pickleback) after tequila, irish whiskey, or vodka
• pickle juice flavored moonshine
• add a splash of pickle juice to beer for a tasty twist
• add pickle juice to a gin & tonic for extra flavor
• pickle juice jello shots

Pickle juice in salad dressing & for mixed salads

Even if you love the flavor of pickles, it is sometimes hard to get that flavor without the pickles themselves, right? If you cut pickles up into minced pickle relish it still adds chunks. This is where pickle juice really starts to get handy! Get the pickle flavor without the extra texture.

• use as a dressing on mixed greens salads
• mix with oil for a dill flavored oil and vinegar mix for sandwiches
• add to egg salad
• add to tuna salad
• add to chicken salad
• add to ham salad
• add to mixed beans salad (3 bean, 5 bean, 15 bean, etc)
• mix into baked beans for extra flavor
• add into potato salad instead of cutting up pickles for the flavor
• add juice to the water to steam vegetables like Brussel Sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower
• add to cold pasta salads for tangy flavor
• add to homemade barbeque sauce instead of vinegar
• make your own dill Caesar dressing
• add juice instead of pickles to mayonnaise for smooth tartar sauce
• mix with yogurt and ranch powder mix to make your salad dressing (aka Pickle Ranch)
• mix with mayonnaise and Dijon mustard for a tangy salad dressing
• add the juice instead of diced pickles for a smooth filing in deviled eggs
• add to homemade coleslaw for some added tangy taste
• make your own hot sauce with pickle juice instead of vinegar

Pickle juice as a marinade, a brine, and added flavor

Pickle juice is primarily vinegar so it makes perfect sense that pickle juice can replace vinegar in a ton a recipe as well. Here is a list of really good ideas of swapping out vinegar and using pickle juice instead:

• add pickle juice to marinades for fish, turkey, tempeh, chicken, or vegetables
• use as a brine for steaks and any tough cut of meat you want to tenderize
• use the juice to gently poach fish, vegetable, or even eggs
• add to meatloaf for taste similar to a Hamburger!
• make copycat Chik-Fil-A chicken by adding pickle juice to your batter
• soak chicken in pickle juice for fried chicken
• add pickle juice and BBQ sauce to a beef roast in a crockpot for amazing BBQ sandwiches
• mix in with your ground meat for hamburgers
• brine meat for smoking
• instead of vinegar use pickle juice for making corned beef
• brine chicken wings for hot wings
• add it to your chili for a zingy flavor

Pickle juice in bread & other uses

Just like pickle juice is a good swap for vinegar, pickle juice is also a good swap for fresh or dried dill. If you love the dill flavor, it is very easy to replace a few tablespoons of water with pickle juice to add some tangy dill flavor. If you want just a mild dill taste only use 1 teaspoon, if you want a stronger dill taste use a couple tablespoons.

Every Thanksgiving we make a dinner roll called Cottage Dill Rolls, and one year I just could not find any fresh dill to make them with. Instead of skipping my favorite part of Thanksgiving, I used 3 tablespoons of the pickle juice to get the flavor that normally comes from fresh dill.

This same flavor enhancer can be used for other bread products like cornbread for extra tangy flavor. I’ve also seen that you can make dill pickle soup! This may seem like some super weird concoction, but it’s really a mix of a potato soup with extra dill flavor. Potatoes and Dill go very well together so this soup could be a big hit!

Pickle juice in hummus & dips & snacks

We all expect pickles in our sandwiches or a charcuterie board, but what about other snacks and easy to eat items? Here are some really nice options to use pickle juice in the snack category:

• mix with unflavored kefir, plain yogurt, cream cheese, or sour cream to make a dip for veggies!
• add to store bought or homemade hummus for an added dill flavor
• top your favorite potato chips, kale chips, or French fries
• cut potatoes for French fries and soak them in pickle juice for an hour, then air fry them for crisp dill French fries

Pickle Juice Replacement (how to get pickle juice without buying a new jar of pickles)

Have you ever found yourself with a jar of pickles with no juice? Apparently, there are even people out there that throw out the pickles because they dried out due to lack of juice!

A few years ago, there was a pickle flavor craze where everything new had a pickle flavor, I even think I saw pickle ice cream once. Due to this increased demand of pickle flavor, companies started bottling just the pickle juice.

It is available mostly online at retailers like Amazon, but you can buy even gallon jugs of just pickle juice!

Why is pickle juice a frugal food?

I would think that most people have a jar of pickles in their fridge to use for burgers or sandwiches on a regular basis. Now the reason pickle juice is a frugal food, is because I never knew that I was throwing money down the sink by throwing it away.

Pickle juice can literally replace other products, add flavorings to dishes, and can be used in a wide variety of cocktails. All those things individually cost money, and I could have been using pickle juice for free for all of it. Instead, I just threw this flavorful liquid out and didn’t think twice about it.

Alton Brown is one of my favorite cooking show hosts, and he is a huge fan of multitaskers in the kitchen. Basically, everything in his kitchen has to serve more than one function. So now pickle juice is going to be my new multitasker!

Just for fun, check out “Is Being Frugal Attractive?” for more information on being more frugal in your life!

Also check out other fun ways to food in “What happens if you eat expired Greek Yogurt?“. We offer easy and fun ways to use Greek Yogurt that you may have never thought of before!