Smashed Pickle Salad

By Ali Slagle

Updated June 6, 2022

Smashed Pickle Salad
Chris Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Frances Boswell.
Total Time
10 minutes
Rating
4(873)
Comments
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Many cucumber salads are dressed with some combination of salt, acidity (such as vinegar or lemon juice) and something tangy and creamy. (Sour cream is commonly used in Germany, Scandinavia and the Midwest; buttermilk in the South; and yogurt in the Mediterranean, Southwest Asia and South Asia.) This recipe skips the first step of salting by instead substituting pickles — cucumbers fermented in salt and vinegar — in place of raw cucumbers. They’re still crunchy, but also pack a fierce punch. Eat this salad alongside something rich, like grilled meats or schnitzel, or in a sandwich with deli meats, tinned fish or boiled eggs. While most pickles work, half-sour pickles are especially refreshing. (Avoid bread and butter pickles, which are too sweet.) Smashing the pickles opens them up to absorb dressing, and the act of doing so is just plain fun.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • ½medium red onion, thinly sliced
  • 4whole pickles (or 16 spears), plus 1 tablespoon brine
  • 2celery stalks, thinly sliced
  • ¼cup sour cream
  • ¼cup chopped dill fronds and stems
  • 1tablespoon mayonnaise
Ingredient Substitution Guide
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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a medium bowl, stir together the red onion and pickle brine.

  2. Step 2

    On your cutting board, whack the pickles with a meat mallet or the back of a wooden spoon, then rip into ½-inch pieces. (If using spears, simply rip them into ½-inch pieces.)

  3. Step 3

    Add the smashed pickles to the bowl, along with the celery, sour cream, dill and mayonnaise. Stir vigorously until creamy and combined. This salad is best eaten right away. (It can be refrigerated up to one day, but the dressing will start to get watery.)

Ratings

4 out of 5
873 user ratings
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Comments

Bob

Although I have not tried this, it looks good, and seems to cry out for boiled red potatoes.

Christine

I ve just prepared this salad but added small cooked potatoes, unpeeled and cut and mixed the sour cream with yoghurt. We had it with matjes herring - it was wonderful and reminded me of Finland and the Baltics ( where you often add beetroot ) Thank you!

Stewart

Made strictly to order, it was delicious. Next time, I would up the dill to Alison Romanesque proportions, and I also like the idea others have proposed to add beetroot and/or wee little boiled potatoes. Also, given that the onion doesn't really have enough time to pickle in the brine, I would just mix the brine, mayo, sour cream and dill as a dressing and mix the veggies and the dressing at service This would be great with cold roast chicken.

jolee

My husband loved this. And leftovers make a great tartar sauce. Chop fine. Drain as much as possible and add mayo and a big squeeze of lemon. Yum

Julia

Was a big hit! I used refrigerated pickle spears and declined to smash. I blotted dry then chopped in small pieces. Also used dried dill. Per recipe, it is better to serve right away because the pickles sweat out- it was fine next day but a little soupy.

Salz

Great recipe! As I really enjoy pickled onion, I made a point to pickle the onion several hours ahead of time. I also felt it cried out for something like small potatoes. I added boiled and peeled baby Dutch potatoes cut in half or thirds, otherwise it was too pickle-y. I also subbed NF Greek yogurt for the sour cream. We had leftovers so I drained it as best I could and kept the liquid separate overnight and then added it back in with some extra yogurt and dill. Great result!

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