Dill Pickle Pasta Salad is both creamy and crunchy

If you love the flavor of dill pickles, you need to give this creamy, crunchy dill pickle pasta salad recipe from Spend With Pennies a try.

A word of warning: The dill pickle flavor is strong with this one, so if you’re not yet a convert, it may be a bit much for you. However, Holly, the blogger behind the site, notes that you could also add sweet pickles to the recipe, which I’m guessing would balance out the flavor a bit.

One more tip — be sure to use white onions, not yellow, to avoid an overpowering onion taste.

This simple recipe takes just 20 minutes to put together and is sure to be a crowd pleaser. And it’s even better when made ahead of time, making it an ideal option if you’re trying to prep in advance for a potluck or barbecue.

You’ll only need a few ingredients, including dry shell pasta, sliced pickles, diced cheddar, cheese, diced white onion, fresh dill and pickle juice. In addition to the pickle juice you’ve already picked up, the dressing will require a few extra items, including mayonnaise, sour cream and cayenne pepper.

And the best part? The whole process only requires a handful of steps: After cooking your pasta and letting it cool, toss the cold pasta with about 1/2 cup of pickle juice and let it sit for about five minutes. While that’s sitting, you can mix up your dressing by tossing all the ingredient together and stirring well. Then drain the pickle juice from the pasta, toss the dressing on top and let the whole thing refrigerate in a large bowl for about an hour. That’s it! Simple enough, right?

Of course, pasta salad is not the only dish in which dill pickle is popping up. Devotees to the humble pickle have been incorporating it in all kinds of unexpected ways. Take, for example, this dill pickle bacon grilled cheese sandwich from the Spend With Pennies blog. It’s salty, tangy, crunchy, cheesy and just downright delicious.

People have even found a way to get dill into desserts, like with these sweet and salty dill pickle cupcakes.

If you feel like the world has gone completely pickle-crazy, it turns out that may be a good thing. Our obsession with pickles and everything pickle-flavored actually comes with some health benefits. Pickles are packed with vitamin K, which aids in maintaining strong bones and also helps your body stop bleeding after an injury. They’re also a fermented food, which means they contain beneficial probiotics that are essential for gut health.

The high amount of sodium in pickles, however, is a double-edged sword. While they can help restore balance if you’re dehydrated and can even help relieve muscle cramps, too much salt can make you bloated and harm your heart health.

Everything in moderation!

Which of these pickle recipes would you want to try first?