Pickle Pasta Salad
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Calling all pickle lovers, this delicious Pickle Pasta Salad recipe is for you! Made with 8 simple ingredients, this pasta salad is creamy, flavorful and easy to make. If you love the flavor of dill pickles, you’re going to love this salad!
Table of contents
For my annual Super Bowl party this year, I made this Pickle Dip, and it was a huge hit, both at the party and on the blog! So when it came to making a new pasta salad recipe for this summer, I had to turn this delicious dip into a creamy pasta salad.
And oh my gosh, am I glad I did! This salad is creamy, tangy, salty and full of bright pickle flavor. If you love the taste of of pickles, you’ll definitely want to save this recipe to make over and over again!
It’s perfect for taking to picnics, potlucks, or parties! And you only need 8 simple ingredients and 20 minutes to toss it together.
Ingredients
- Pasta – for this recipe you can use any small noodle, like shells, farfalle, rotini, cavatappi, penne, fusilli, bowtie pasta, or elbow macaroni noodles.
- Mayonnaise – a rich, creamy base for the dressing on this salad.
- Sour cream – combined with the mayo, these two ingredients make a perfectly creamy base for the salad dressing.
- Ranch seasoning – this seasoning pairs perfectly with the flavor of dill in this dip. You can make my homemade ranch seasoning mix, or purchase a packet of ranch seasoning dressing mix, usually found on the salad dressing aisle, at the grocery store.
- Dill pickle spears – for this recipe, you’ll want 2 cups of chopped dill pickles, which should be about 10-12 spears, depending on their size. You’ll also want ¼ cup of the pickle brine from the jar of pickles. This really gives the salad that delicious dill pickle flavor! I used my homemade pickles for this recipe, but you can also make it with a jar of store-bought dill pickles.
- Onion – for this recipe, you’ll want to mince up a yellow or white onion into very small pieces so it easily blends into the salad.
- Worcestershire sauce – this amazing condiment adds so much flavor to the creamy dressing. It’s sweet, salty, tangy and even adds an umami flavor to the pickle dip. If you don’t have any Worcestershire sauce in the kitchen, you can use soy sauce instead.
- Fresh dill – while I prefer the flavor of fresh dill in this recipe, you can also use dried dill. When using dried dill, I like to use Litehouse freeze-dried dill for the closest-to-fresh flavor.
I’ve included step by step photos below to make this dill pickle pasta salad recipe easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Instructions
- Boil the pasta noodles according to the package directions. Drain the noodles and rinse with cold water to cool down the pasta and stop the cooking process. Transfer the pasta to a large bowl.
- Add the minced dill pickles, onions, sour cream, mayonnaise, ranch seasoning, dill pickle juice, worcestershire sauce and fresh dill to the bowl with the cooked pasta.
- Toss to combine everything, then cover the salad and place it in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes, or up to 24 hours. This will allow the flavors of the salad to develop.
Easy as that, in three simple steps, you have a pasta salad that every pickle fan will love!
Make ahead and storage tips
This recipe can be made ahead of time. In fact, the pasta salad gets even better as it sits and soaks in the flavors of the dressing. If you’re making the salad 24 hours in advance, or more, be sure to cover it before placing it in the fridge.
Leftover pickle pasta salad can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I always recommend eating the salad cold, and storing it in an airtight container to preserve the fresh flavors.
Optional additions
Stir in any of these additions to mix up the flavor of this pickle pasta salad!
- ½ cup cooked, crumbled bacon
- ½ cup diced sharp cheddar cheese or colby jack cheese
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (for heat)
- ½ cup minced green or red bell pepper
- ½ cup diced tomato or cherry tomatoes (quartered)
- 2 diced hard boiled eggs
Or swap the minced onion with minced pickled onions for even more pickling flavor!
How to make it gluten free
To make this recipe gluten free, use gluten-free pasta noodles. My homemade ranch seasoning, linked above, is gluten free. The Hidden Valley ranch seasoning, pictured above, is also gluten free. Always check the label on the Worcestershire sauce to make sure that it’s gluten free.
What to serve it with
This pickle pasta salad is the quintessential summer side dish. It’s light and refreshing, but also creamy and flavorful.
You can’t go wrong serving this salad with an easy weeknight meal, or at a 4th of July party, with any of these delicious main dishes!
More pickle recipes
If you’re a pickle lover, or have one in your family, be sure to save all of these delicious pickle recipes for your next party or meal!
Pickle Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound uncooked small shells, or rotini pasta
- 2 cups minced dill pickles, about 10-12 spears
- ¼ cup minced onion
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 ounce ranch seasoning packet, or 2 tablespoons homemade seasoning
- ¼ cup pickle juice, from the jar of pickles
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- ¼ cup fresh dill, chopped
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil on the stove.
- Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions.
- Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water to cool down the pasta and stop the cooking process. Transfer the pasta to a large mixing bowl.
- Add the minced dill pickles, onions, sour cream, mayonnaise, ranch seasoning, pickle juice, Worcestershire sauce and fresh dill to the bowl with the pasta.
- Toss all of the ingredients together.
- Cover and place the salad in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes, up to 24 hours. This will allow the flavors of the salad to develop.
Notes
- This recipe can be made ahead of time. In fact, the pasta salad gets even better as it sits and soaks in the flavors of the dressing. If you’re making the salad 24 hours in advance, or more, be sure to cover it before placing it in the fridge.
- Leftover pickle pasta salad can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I always recommend eating the salad cold, and storing it in an airtight container to preserve the fresh flavors.
- To make this recipe gluten free, use gluten-free pasta noodles. My homemade ranch seasoning, linked above, is gluten free. The Hidden Valley ranch seasoning, pictured above in the blog post, is also gluten free. Always check the label on the Worcestershire sauce to make sure that it’s gluten free.
Nutrition Facts
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