Pickle Juice Uses

What is Pickle Juice?

Pickle juice, or technically pickle brine, is a very misunderstood solution. Most people just eat the pickles and then dump the juice down the drain. But wait… you can drink pickle juice! You can, but then the question arises as to if you want to drink pickle juice. Here’s a look at what pickle juice is, a quick look at the health benefits of pickle juice, and some practical uses for this interesting liquid.

Pickles are cucumbers that are cured (or “cooked”) in a vinegar brine. Fermentation is a specific pickling method that uses fermented lactic acid to produce probiotics. Pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, yogurt, kefir and other fermented foods therefore encourage the growth of good bacteria in a digestive system and are good for the gut. Most store bought pickles are not fermented, so watch the labels on pickle jars in order to get the most benefit from pickle juice.

Fermented foods are cured in salt, so they become high in sodium. Drinking fermented pickle juice can can good-for-your-gut live bacteria, but dinking the juice also provides quite a bit of salt. When you do strenuous physical activity, you sweat and therefore the body looses salt. Pickle juice (whether fermented or not) can replace those lost salts and is actually better as a post-workout drink than many prepared sports drinks which usually also add sugar along with the salt to their solution.

Is Pickle Juice Healthy?

Besides saving this juice from adding to the food waste situation, why save the pickle juice? The liquid contains vinegar, which has proven health benefits relating to lowering cholesterol and blood sugar levels. The plus here is that the cucumbers improve the taste of the liquid, making it much easier to swallow.

Post exercise, pickle juice has been shown to inhibit muscle cramps. [1].

But, also beware that consuming pickle juice may put people over the proper salt level recommendations (which is why it is usually only consumed straight post exercise when salts have been lost in sweat). [2].

Uses for Pickle Juice

Once you’ve finished off a jar of pickles, a jar of peppers, or a jar of pickled peppers consider making use of that sweet/tart brine in another way instead of heading to the kitchen sink.

Here are some options to consider trying:

Add it to a Bloody Mary mixture.

Swap it for the vinegar in a salad dressing mixture.

Marinate raw chicken in pickle juice overnight before frying for the moistest fried chicken ever.

Just drink it (after exercising).

Add a splash of pickle juice to a poured beer. Sour beers are popular, so a splash of dill pickle juice and the resulting sour power brew could make for some interesting beer tasting. Add a skewer of tiny pickles over the top of the glass and create a tasty combo for any gathering. Doesn’t this picture from Food Network Magazine look refreshing?