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Dill pickle Salad is an ode to summer. Bursting with a creamy dill pickle dressing, pickles, cheese in every bite. Topped with crispy salty bacon, a pickle lovers dream dish. Best part? This comes together with 10 minutes of prep!
Why Make This Dill Pickle Salad
This pasta salad is a HUGE hit at barbecues and parties. My family loves it as a side dish with Pulled Chicken Burgers, Crispy Chicken Burgers and more.
- Versatile. You can easily use this recipe to make dill pickle coleslaw, just sub the pasta or cabbage!
- Great Texture. The crunchy bacon really ties things together, not to mention the cheddar throughout each bite.
- This salad is also great for meal prep or to make ahead, it keeps really well.
Ingredients Needed
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
- Rotini. Any pasta shape will work, I love rotini because it holds up well and it has a lot of crevasses to hold the dressing making it more tasty in every bite.
- Bacon. I love bacon and pickles together so naturally, I had to add chopped bacon to this dish. It adds a salty crunch to the salad. Use turkey bacon or you can also skip it if needed for dietary reasons.
- Mayonnaise. You can use any mayo of choice. You can also use plain Greek yogurt, but it won’t have the same “tang”.
- Sour Cream. You can use dairy free sound cream or low fat sour cream. This levels out the mayo and gives it a great taste.
- Pickles. I used about 8 spears. You can use any shape or flavor of pickles however I recommend dill pickles. You will also need pickle juice from the jar.
- Seasoning. Dried dill, pepper, onion and garlic powder. This is to flavor the dressing.
- Dill. Fresh dill is a must! This gives the recipe some extra color and elevates the flavor in the dressing for the salad.
- Cheddar Cheese. You can cut it into cubes or use thick shreds of cheddar. I have tried both and I like the thick shreds best, it tends to spread throughout the salad and end up in every bite.
Recipe Variations
Make It Low Carb. Use any shape you love, I prefer rotini because it holds the most sauce. You can also use shredded cabbage in place of the pasta for a lower carb version.
Make It healthier. You can use turkey bacon or skip the bacon if you’d like. Sub greek yogurt for the mayonnaise and add chopped hard boiled eggs are also a fun add in to this salad.
How To Make Dill Pickle Salad
- Step One. Start the bacon, cook however you prefer. I cook in the oven on 350º for about 20-25 minutes but pan fried is great too!
- Step Two. Cook pasta according to package (al dente). While everything is cooking, shred your cheese, chop the dill and pickles. Set aside, and in a medium size bowl, mix together mayo, sour cream, all seasonings, pickle juice, dill. Set aside.
- Step Three. Chop the cooked bacon. Once the pasta is done, drain and rinse under ice cold water to get the heat out. In a large serving bowl, add pasta, cheese, bacon and dressing (reserve 1/4 cup of dressing for serving) and toss together well. Serve and add extra dressing if needed or save for later if pasta salad soaks up all the dressing.
What To Serve With Dill Pickle Salad
This salad is a huge bbq party hit. I suggest Shredded BBQ Chicken Sliders, Hot Honey Chicken Tenders, BBQ Chicken Thighs, or Bang Bang Chicken Skewers. There are so many fun ways to serve this salad.
Recipe Tips
- Save some dressing for serving. You can also double the dressing if you like it really saucy, I do this when I am making the salad ahead of time.
- Add what you like. Feel free to customize how you like. Use any cheese you like.
- If meal prepping this, keep the dressing to the side until you are ready to serve.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, this pasta salad keeps really well, just keep a little 1/4 cup of the dressing or extra dressing to the side for when you serve it again, sometimes the pasta can soak up the dressing.
No big dill! just skip it, you can use dried parsley and fresh parsley in place.
Recipe Pairings
If you want to serve this with something special, I recommend my Pulled Chicken Burgers or Crispy Chicken Burgers (so so good) or my Teriyaki Chicken Kabobs.
Other Pasta Salads To Try
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Dill Pickle Salad
Equipment
- frying pan for bacon
- Large pot to boil pasta
Ingredients
- .75 -1 lb rotini pasta, *about 4 cups
- 8 oz bacon, *see notes
- ½ cup cheddar cheese , shredded or cubed
- 2 cups dill pickles, chopped, *about 7 whole pickles
Ranch Style Dressing
- ⅓ cup Mayonnaise
- ⅓ cup pickle juice
- ⅓ cup sour cream , *see notes
- 2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
- 2 tsp dried dill
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Start the bacon, cook however you prefer. I cook in the oven on 350º for about 20-25 minutes but pan fried is great too! In a large salad bowl add the cooled pasta, dill pickles, cheese, fresh dill, and dressing.
- Cook pasta according to package (al dente). While everything is cooking, shred your cheese, chop the dill and pickles. Set aside, and in a medium size bowl, mix together mayo, sour cream, seasonings, pickle juice, dill. Set aside.
- Chop the cooked bacon. Once the pasta is done, drain and rinse under ice cold water to get the heat out. In a large serving bowl, add pasta, cheese, bacon and dressing (reserve 1/4 cup of dressing for serving) and toss together well. Serve and add extra dressing if needed or save for later if pasta salad soaks up all the dressing, you may need to just add a little more sour cream mixed with a Tbsp or two of extra pickle juice to re hydrate the salad. Pasta brands will vary on absorption!!!
Notes
- Save some dressing for serving. You can also double the dressing if you like it really saucy, I do this when I am making the salad ahead of time or expecting leftovers, the noodles will soak it up.
- Add what you like. Feel free to customize how you like. Use any cheese you like.
- If meal prepping this, keep the dressing to the side until you are ready to serve.
- You can make this recipe healthier by omitting the bacon and cheese or cutting the amount in half and sprinkling a little on top. This would cut 200 cal per serving. You can swap sour cream for plain Greek yogurt to add more protein to this dish.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love this. So good and great with shrimp added also!! Mmmmmmm!
So easy to make. We smoked the bacon and it brought so much flavor to the dish! My husband said, it was the best pasta salad we’ve ever made!
I am so happy to hear! Thanks so much for making it and for the great feedback. xoxo
This is one of the best pasta salads I have ever had. Hands down. I literally make it every weekend. I could easily say it has become one of my favorite foods. Sometimes I cut the pickle juice and pickle chunk portion in half and supplement with pickled jalapeños (and juice) and it is amazing. Adds a little kick. Thank you for this recipe. It has literally changed my life haha
oh yay! I am so happy to hear this, thanks for the great feedback.