You’re tossing the best part of the pickles

Our favorite ways to use pickle brine that, yes, includes making more pickles

Hey peeps, and welcome back to Cool Beans, your one-stop shop for learning how to cook sustainably—and deliciously! Months back, in one of our very first newsletters, I showed y’all the basics of quick pickling fruits and veggies. This week it’s the pickle brine’s time to shine. I bet you’ve got at least one pickley thing (dill spears, olives, roasted red peppers) in your fridge right now hanging out in a scrumptious acid bath. Maybe, like me, you even have a habit of eating the last pickle and leaving the jar in the fridge. If you do, you’ve probably got the best of intentions: Rather than dumping the brine down the drain, you hope to use it in some dish or another. Perhaps a salad, soup, fried tofu, or even a cocktail. 

A splash of brine comes in handy if you need to add acid to a dish but don’t have any vinegar or citrus on hand. Today’s recipes and tips will help you think beyond the jar and put that pickle juice to good use. First up, a Polish comfort food for pickle lovers that’ll use up any root veggies that have been riding out winter in your pantry. Then, I’m making a creamy, tangy salad you can pile on toast or crackers for a quick and protein-packed lunch. It’s a soup-and-sandwich special for all the pickle lovers in your life.

The review: This jar-to-table soup is a dumping ground for extra pickles (and brine!)

In a dinner pickle? Try this soup. Credit: Gabriella Vigoreaux

Plenty of dishes can benefit from a splash of pickle brine (we’ll get to that in a sec), but I was determined to find a recipe that could swallow up a whole jar’s worth. My acid-loving lips puckered with glee when I landed on a Polish soup called Ogórkowa Zupa (pickle soup) that not only called for 1 1/2 cups of brine, but seven whole pickles. It’s a brothy soup that’s loaded with root veggies, aromatics, and grated pickles, giving the dish a characteristic tang. 

If there was ever a soup to get you through the last chilly weeks of winter and bridge you to the first blossoms of spring produce, let this root-cellar cleanout be it. A medley of carrots, potatoes, celery root, and parsnips simmer in a pot of broth until tender. Meanwhile, that pile of pickles get grated and sautéed with (plant) butter, garlic, and bay leaves. The pickles then join the brothy bath along with a cup of brine. If you want more zing (🙋🏽), an extra 1/2 cup ups the acid. A dollop of sour cream (plant-based in our case) and a scattering of dill, and the soup is done.

Check out the full recipe for pickle soup at The New York Times.

Does the soup pack a punch? You betcha. But it’s a perfect food for these between-season weeks in March. It’s also totally customizable to your pickle preference, and you should give it a minute to mellow before declaring it too tangy. As the sour cream melts into the soup, the dish becomes richer and creamier. The brine cuts the fat and creates a balanced broth that’s not too heavy or too…well, pickley. The grated pickles mellow out in flavor after sautéing but still add a lot of texture to the soup. Overall, it’s a hearty, complex, and cozy meatless bowl. Plus, it practically uses a whole jar’s worth of brine. 

Still have some to spare? 

• Re-pickle using whatever extra raw veggies you have lying around. 

• Brine some tofu in it before frying for a Southern-style sandwich.

• Boil your spuds in it for an extra dilly potato salad.

• Add it to a vinaigrette.

• Marinate feta or mozzarella in it.

• Shake up a pickle martini or add a splash to your Bloody Mary.

• Bake up a loaf of pickle bread.

Pickle brine, though, doesn’t need to be the star of the dish. In some of my favorite preparations it plays a small-but-important supporting role, brightening up quick weekday meals.   

The recipe: A protein-packed lunch in less than 10 minutes

If pickle soup doesn’t have you reaching for a hunk of crusty bread, this recipe will. It’s an addictive lunchtime not-tuna salad made from shelled edamame beans, our legume crush of the week. Edamame are immature soybeans, which make them a complete protein (18+ grams per cup!). You can buy them frozen and shelled, so all they need is a quick thaw in some boiling water or a zap in the microwave (check your package instructions!) and they’re ready to go. 

This plant-based stand-in for tuna salad smashes those beans with mayo, herbs, and pickle juice. I also add furikake, a Japanese seasoning made of seaweed and sesame seeds, to amp up the oceanic flavor and add more crunch. I buy mine at Trader Joe’s, but if you can’t hunt any down, crumbled up seaweed snacks, which come in a variety of flavors, can swap in. 

All the tuna salad vibes, none of the tuna. Credit: Gabriella Vigoreaux

Edamame of the Sea Salad

Yield: 4 servings