Pro tip: I started freezing leftover pickle juice to stretch a jar of pickles

I was annoyed at how fast we went through a $3 jar of dill pickles. I saved the brine after they were gone, poured it into an ice cube tray, and froze it. Now I drop a cube into a bowl of sliced cucumbers from the garden, and in a day, I have cheap 'quick pickles'. Has anyone else tried this with other leftover brines, like from olives or peppers?

4 comments

4 Comments

aaron3052mo ago

Honestly that's genius, I'm doing this next time. I've used leftover olive brine to marinate chicken before, works great for a quick Greek style dish. Pepperoncini juice is another winner, perfect for tossing with roasted potatoes. It feels less wasteful and adds a punch of flavor for free. Your pickle cube idea is next level though, definitely stealing that.

wadew512mo ago

Right? It's like finding free flavor hiding in your fridge. I felt so smart when I started saving my jalapeno jar juice for making quick nacho cheese sauce. That tangy heat just makes it.

wadew512mo ago

Oh man, this whole thread is making me hungry! I saw a cooking blog talk about using the juice from a jar of kimchi in fried rice, and it was a total game changer. It adds that funky, spicy kick without needing extra sauce. Seriously, saving those leftover brines is the best kitchen hack nobody talks about enough. I'm totally trying the pepperoncini potatoes now.

ellioth3729d ago

I'm gonna push back on that "game changer" stuff. Honestly most of those leftover brines just make everything taste like a salty pickle. I tried the kimchi juice thing once and it threw off the whole texture of my rice, made it all mushy and weird. And pepperoncini potatoes? That sounds like a soggy mess waiting to happen, all that vinegar just steams the potatoes instead of letting them get crispy. Maybe I'm just set in my ways but I'd rather start fresh with actual spices and seasonings instead of fishing around in my fridge for half empty jars of random juice.