Deep Fried Pickles

Every year I host a Deep Fry Party at my house.

The premise is always simple enough: I set up a huge turkey fryer and mix up a bunch of different batters. People arrive with whatever they want to toss in the fryer and we go to town frying stuff!

People get pretty creative, but I especially love it because I always find something new that is good enough (and easy enough) to put in my regular appetizer arsenal.

Last year that thing was deep fried pickles! Some restaurants are starting to serve these and they’ve been popular in the south for a while now, but for some people they will probably be completely new. And, if you’re anything like me, you’ll wonder how they could ever be a good thing.

Just trust me on this one, people!

For this appetizer, try to find really crunchy pickles. I like the ones in the refrigerated section of the store. They tend to be a bit crunchier, I think. I always assume a pickle per person, but there’s enough batter in this recipe to make probably 8-10 pickles.

Step one in getting this recipe ready is to prepare your pickles. Slice them as thinly as possible. I like to slice mine lengthwise. It just makes it easier to dip them.

Lay them out on a paper towel to let them dry a bit.

While the pickles are drying, mix up the batter. I like to use beer for my batter, but I’ve used milk also. Both are good, but beer ends up being a lot crispier.

Stir all of your ingredients together. Feel free to adjust the flour or liquid if you want the batter to be thinner or thicker than my version. It’s pretty flexible.

Then just lightly coat your pickles in flour. This will dry them off completely and make sure that the batter sticks nicely to them.

Then toss a handful of pickles into the batter!

Fry these guys at 350 degrees for 5-6 minutes until they are a beautiful golden brown. You probably will have to work in batches depending on the size of your pan. I did four pickles in two frying batches.

At your convenience, I also recommend mixing up a dip for these guys. I just processed a few chipotles with some mayonnaise for a spicy dipping sauce. It paired perfectly with the pickles.

It goes without saying, but serve these guys when they are nice and hot!

These might not make sense to you, but trust me. They are really addictive!

Nick picked a peck of pickles and fried the heck out of them. Check out his blog Macheesmo and his Tablespoon Profile.