Pickle Pancakes
Hot and crispy with a perfect pickle crunch – these pickle pancakes are everything you want in an appetizer or snack! Do you love fried pickles? So do I! Is it a pain to fry food at home? Yes it is! Pickle pancakes to the rescue! These pickle pancakes use a Korean technique for making kimchi pancakes, but with pickle swapped out for kimchi. The large amount of cornstarch in the recipe and super hot pan with lots of oil creates a crispy pancake that will not only satisfy your craving for fried pickles, but create new future cravings for more pickle pancakes!
If you love pickles, check out my pickle bagels! If you love kimchi pancakes, try my recipe that uses them for burger buns!
Inspiration for pickle pancakes
I made a kimchi pancake the other day for a client and was thinking about how easy it was and how it is a great pantry recipe-if you have kimchi on hand. I ALWAYS have kimchi on hand, but I know most Americans maybe do not. But they do have another sour and tart item in their fridge – pickles! I immediately made these pickle pancakes and they came out awesome! When I say immediately, I mean that I had the idea while writing at my computer and instantly stood up and walked over to the fridge! I have been obsessed ever since! They taste kind of like fried pickles but are easier to make and eat.
If you are looking for a traditional kimchi pancake recipe, Maangchi has a great one!
Mixing up the simple batter
Pickles and scallions to start. Adding the scallions along with the pickles really helps add a sharpness to the pancakes that I love, but you can leave them out if you don’t like them or have them on hand.
Then flour and cornstarch. Adding about half as much cornstarch as flour is what helps make kimchi pancakes so crispy, and it works in these pickle pancakes too! If you are keeping track so far, this recipe only has 6 ingredients.
- pickles
- pickle juice
- rice vinegar
- scallions
- flour
- cornstarch
Fry up the pickle pancakes
I said it is messy to fry pickle so why are we frying these? Well deep frying is what is messy but pan frying isnt nearly as bad. Get your pan nice and hot and add about a quarter inch of oil to the pan. Then add the batter and press it down a bit.
Let it cook for about 3-5 minutes. You can peek if you are unsure, just be gentle!
Next, give it a nice flip. The top will still be a little wet when it is time to flip, but don’t worry! The bottom will be sold and you can get under there and flip it with ease.
Dipping sauce
For the dipping sauce I was inspired by what you might get served along side fried pickles, and what you might get served alongside a kimchi pancake. Then I mixed them together! A kimchi pancake usually has a soy sauce mixture, while fried pickles might have a spicy mayo. These are the ingredients I used in my dipping sauce.
- mayo
- soy sauce
- sambol chili paste
- sesame oil
- rice vinegar
- scallions and sesame seeds garnished on top
Plate the pickle pancake
I like to cut it on a cutting board and then fan it out nicely on a plate like you see below. Don’t forget the dipping sauce!
Crispy pickle goodness! If you serve these at your next tailgate or watching the game party it will be a real winner! The creamy spicy dipping sauce is the perfect compliment to the pancakes!
Variations on the pickle pancake
I have made these before with 50/50 pickles and kimchi and they came out awesome. I have also made them with a bunch of other veggies, like pickled cauliflower and they have always been awesome.
You could also make them with a different sauce. You could do a horseradish sauce, or a soy sauce mixture to be more true to the fried pickle or kimchi pancake dips.
Pickle Pancakes
Equipment
Ingredients
Pancakes
- 1 cup diced pickles
- 2 scallions chopped
- 1/2 cup pickle juice
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
Sauce
- 1/4 cup mayo
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sambol chili paste
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- scallions and sesame seeds
Instructions
- Mix together the pickles and scallions in a bowl. Add in the pickle juice and vinegar. Stir to combine.
- Add the flour and cornstarch and stir. Add a splash of water if it seems too tight, it needs to be pancake batter texture.
- Preheat a frying pan with a little vegetable oil. Add the batter and spread it out into a round pancake. Cook on high for about 3 minutes to brown.
- Carefully flip the pancake and cook the other side. Turn the heat to medium to allow the inside to cook through before the outside gets burnt.
- Meanwhile, make the sauce by mixing all the sauce ingredients.
- Remove the pancake from the pan and cut it into wedges like a pizza. Serve with the sauce and garnish with scallions and sesame seeds.
Just made these. They were incredibly good, especially considering how quick and easy they were to make. My only regret is that we didn’t double the recipe. My wife and I devoured them in 5 minutes.
These look awesome man! On my list to try!
Simple and effective ! 😀
It’s dangerous how easy and delicious these are
Wonder if I could make with almond flour as I’m trying to watch my carbs
I had a little bit of giardiniera in the bottom of a jar so that got included. These were super simple to make and really good, but you’ve gotta like pickles!
For my sauce, I used a “lime crema” that I got from Target and some hot cherry pepper relish with the rice vinegar, soy, and sesame oil.
I added some hot pickled Jalapeños! Oh man was that good! For the dipping sauce to cool it off try some Greek Tzatziki sauce! My daughter suggested adding mushrooms. I will try try that on a second batch. But I liked the sour spice of this one I made.
LOVE the idea of pickled jalapenos in this! I was also thinking of doing a giardiniera one!
I never thought I’d see the day when pickle pancakes became a thing! I’m really curious to try this unique combination. Pickles and pancakes sound like a fun flavor adventure. Thanks for sharing the recipe!