Fried Pickles
Fried Pickles are one of the best eats at the Minnesota State Fair. And with my fried pickles recipe, you can now enjoy this hot and crispy snack at home, whenever you want!
The Minnesota State Fair opens its gates again in just a few weeks. And you know what that means…
FAIR FOOD!!!!
One of my favorite eats at the fair are the Fried Pickles. You’re going to love my homemade version…I promise they’re just as awesome (and maybe even just a bit better?!) than those you’ll find at the fair!
Be sure to check out the rest of our family’s favorite foods and drinks at the Minnesota State Fair – click here!
Fried Pickles
Our family is completely smitten with the Minnesota State Fair. Blake and I visited for the first time together just a few weeks prior to our getting married. We haven’t missed a year since. And our two daughters have visited every single year of their lives (currently 17 and 12)!
Check out the 5 Best State Fairs in America from Country Living, that cites the Minnesota State Fair “among the most family-friendly of all fairs” with “an astonishing variety of activities sure to delight children”.
Although the food is a major draw for our entire family, there’s really so much more that keeps us coming back. Enough, in fact, that sometimes attending just one day each year doesn’t cut it. Sometimes we spend a full day or two with our girls, and then head back for an evening with friends to snag some additional grown-up browsing and entertainment, plus more eats and drinks.
In order to taste all the different foods we want to, sharing is a necessity. We usually grab a single item, split it, and then move on, fitting in a food booth every now and then throughout the day.
We have quite a list of favorite fair foods after 20+ years!
Cheese curds (the ones from the Food Building) are a must. As well as homemade salted nut rolls dipped in chocolate (here’s my own homemade version), a Dole Whip pineapple float, almost anything at The Blue Barn, Martha’s Cookies, and…
the way-awesome fried pickles!
Although The Perfect Pickle has been serving up fried pickles at the fair since 1997, it took me a number of years to try this southern snack myself.
I think it had something to do with their upgrade to a new dill pickle green trailer, parked at a new location near the Midway’s entrance. I know I’m a very visual kind of person, but how can that giant green trailer not grab your attention? It just begs you to check it out!
The pickles are perfectly dilly, salty, and crunchy.
Just imagine the pickle slices battered, fried to perfection, and then dipped in some ranch dressing…ohhhhhhh my! They’re so good that our daughters – who don’t even like dill pickles – can’t resist a few pieces.
Ever since my first fried pickle eating experience, I had been wanting to try my own hand at frying dills at home. So I dug out the deep fryer wedding gift from its hiding place in the basement many years ago. And the rest is homemade fried pickles history.
Tips for fried pickles recipe
- It’s very important to make sure the pickle slices are dry, to properly adhere the batter and reduce splattering in the hot oil.
- Monitor the temperature of the cooking oil with a thermometer. If the oil is too cool, you’ll have limp, greasy fried pickles. If it’s too hot, the pickles will burn up on the outside without properly cooking on the inside.
- It also helps to have a kitchen spider or a large slatted spatula for removing the finished pickles from the hot oil.
If the thought of deep fried pickles makes you drool, and a trip to the Minnesota State Fair is not on your end-of-summer agenda, I highly recommend frying up some pickles of your own.
They’re a fun, puckery treat, especially when dipped into your favorite ranch dressing. We also recommend a few healthy dashes of hot sauce. Pickles at the fair are not served this way, but we’ve found this to be a fun way to add a little heat.
Like this appetizer recipe? Save it to Pinterest!
Here are a few more dill pickle recipes you might like:
- Dill Pickle Potato Salad is your next best potato salad recipe.
- Dill Pickle Dip is an easy, creamy, crowd-pleasing appetizer.
- Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza Rolls are extra fun with bits of dill pickle!
Fried Pickles
Fried Pickles are one of the best eats at the Minnesota State Fair. And with my fried pickles recipe, you can now enjoy this hot and crispy snack at home, whenever you want!
Ingredients
- canola oil for frying
- 40 dill pickle slices
- 1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour, divided
- 1/4 c. yellow cornmeal
- 1/2 T. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 c. beer
- 1/2 c. fine bread crumbs
recommended dips:
- your favorite ranch dressing
- your favorite hot sauce
Instructions
- Heat oil to 350° F. If using a deep fryer, use the amount of oil specified by the manufacturer. If using a heavy-bottomed pot on the stovetop, fill oil to about 2'' deep. Monitor oil temperature with a cooking thermometer - I use one like this. Line a baking sheet with paper towels and set aside, for your finished fried pickles.
- Line a separate baking sheet with a layer of paper towel. Set pickle chips on paper towel to absorb the pickle juice. Pat the tops of the pickles with another paper towel.
- For Bowl #1: In a cereal-size bowl, place 1/2 cup of the flour.
- For Bowl #2: In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 cup of flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Add the beer and stir until all lumps are gone.
- For Bowl #3: In a cereal-size bowl, place the bread crumbs.
- Add just a few pickles at a time to Bowl #1, tossing to completely coat each pickle with flour. I like to use separate hands for the different coating dips, which helps to keep the multiple dipping process a bit cleaner. So here I use my left hand to coat pickles with flour, and to add them to Bowl #2.
- In Bowl #2, turn floured pickles to completely coat with batter, again using my left hand. This coating will be wet/messy - and then lightly shake off excess batter and transfer pickle to Bowl #3.
- In Bowl #3, lightly coat each pickle with bread crumbs, using a fork to flip the pickle. With your clean right hand, very carefully release the coated pickle into the hot oil. Cook until golden brown on both sides, about 1 to 2 minutes per side. Using a kitchen spider or slatted metal spatula, lift pickle up out of the oil, letting excess oil drain away for a couple seconds, and then remove pickle to prepared paper towel lined pan. I like to do 4 to 5 pickles at a time, rotating them in and out of the fryer.
- Enjoy immediately. Fried food is always best when eaten right away! Serve with your favorite ranch dressing and/or hot sauce.
Notes
Inspired by the fried pickles from The Perfect Pickle at the Minnesota State Fair.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 234Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 732mgCarbohydrates: 37gFiber: 2gSugar: 1gProtein: 5g
This post was originally published August 2012. I updated some of the photographs and text in August 2019.
Can the beer be substituted for anything else? Thank you!
I haven’t experimented with this myself, but I might suggest another carbonated beverage, maybe 7-UP or something like that??
Is something missing from this recipe? I was very excited to make these for our at home State fair party since the original was cancelled this year. When I combined all the ingredients for bowl 2 is was a stiff dough and was not wet at all? I couldn’t get anything to stick to the pickles???
Hi Nikki – The recipe is correct. Did you add 1 cup of beer to bowl 2?
Oh, I can’t wait to make these! I usually have to stay away from things like this because of an egg allergy in our family. I would imagine the type of pickle used is rather important? Did you use pickle slices that already come sliced in the jar, or would you recommend buying a jar of dill pickles and slicing them yourself? Thank you!
I really want to get this right. What type of pickles were used? Can anyone help? I would greatly appreciate it, thank you!
Hi Cyndi – I use ripple-cut dill pickle slices. Whatever brand you like. :)
Thank you so much, Brenda!
Hi, I’ve had the MN State Fair Fried Pickles twice now in the last 2 years, they are absolutely amazing. I thought to myself, “self, you can copycat those” and looked up any other duplicate recipes and yours was the first I saw. Thanks for the inspiration. #mnlove
Awwww, I love to hear this. Isn’t the fair (and those fried pickles!) awesome?!
What can I substitute beer with? Love the fried pickles!
I tried the fried pickles and I would prefer to have mine not fried. The children and grandchildren love them. Will definitely give them a try at a family get-together. Thanks.
Aaaaaaaaand you had me at beer. I adore fried pickles but I don’t think I’ve eaten them with beer in the batter! Have you ever eaten fried avocado? Dude, I could eat fried pickles and fried avocado without gaining 5,000 pounds, I would. This recipe looks so delicious, great job :)
hey girl- these look so yummy!
Love fried pickles! We get them from Buffalo Wild Wings, but I have been wanting to make them at home. What could I substitute for the beer?
I absolutely adore fried pickles! Why have I never thought to try making them at home?? Definitely trying this soon.
Great to hear from you, Russell! These are so much fun, hope you like them!
This was the first year we didn’t make it to our South Dakota State Fair, and I am so sad about that. I love, love, love fair food because calories don’t count there, right? Right??! But I always go back to the homemade lemonade, cotton candy and pork loin sandwiches w lots of BBQ sauce. Mmmmmm Our local restaurant makes these pickles, but I am sure eating them at the Fair is much more fun! :-)
So sorry to hear you couldn’t get the fair. My dad made the trip without Mom this year, due to my grandma being in the hospital. It’s a great childhood memory – we used to camp there every year. Great to hear from you, Lisa!
If this isn’t perfect pregnant food, I’m not sure what is! They look delicious!
Oh, my husband would LOVE these!!