Description
Southern cooks adore kool-aid pickles, a zesty Southern snack that blends tangy dill cucumbers with sweet cherry punch. Crimson-colored and surprisingly addictive, these pickles offer a quirky twist you’ll crave again and again.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 (32 oz / 907 g) jar dill pickle spears or whole pickles
- 2 cups water
- 1 (0.13 oz / 3.7 g) packet Kool-Aid (cherry, tropical punch, or favorite flavor)
- ½ to 1 cup granulated sugar (adjust to taste)
Instructions
- Juice Preparation: Pour pickle jar contents into a mixing bowl, carefully separating pickles from original brine while retaining both liquid components.
- Flavor Transformation: Whisk powdered drink mix and sweetener into reserved pickle juice until crystals completely dissolve, creating a vibrant crimson marinade with smooth, consistent texture.
- Pickling Process: Submerge pickles entirely in the newly crafted ruby-colored liquid within the original jar or a clean glass container, ensuring complete coverage for optimal flavor absorption.
- Marination Stage: Securely seal the container and refrigerate in the coolest section, allowing pickles to steep and develop intense color and taste for 5-7 days, gently rotating the jar once daily to promote even flavor distribution.
- Serving Presentation: Remove pickles from refrigeration, revealing their transformed crimson exterior, and serve thoroughly chilled to showcase the unique sweet-tart flavor profile that has developed during the infusion period.
Notes
- Pickle Quality Matters: Choose crisp, fresh cucumbers or high-quality dill pickles for the best texture and absorption of Kool-Aid flavors.
- Color Customization: Experiment with different Kool-Aid flavors to create unique color variations and taste profiles for your pickles.
- Sweetness Control: Adjust sugar quantity to balance sweetness based on personal preference or dietary needs – less sugar creates a tangier result.
- Storage Strategy: Keep pickles refrigerated and consume within 2-3 weeks for optimal flavor and food safety, checking for any signs of spoilage before serving.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5-7 days
- Category: Snacks, Appetizer
- Method: Mixing
- Cuisine: Southern American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 13
- Calories: 30
- Sugar: 15 g
- Sodium: 500 mg
- Fat: 0 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 7 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg