Dill Pickle Pasta Salad is literally my favorite pasta salad ever! In this creamy pasta salad recipe, dill pickles play a starring role and add tons of flavor and crunch! This recipe is even better when it’s made ahead of time making it the perfect potluck dish!
I have a thing for dill pickles. I always have. My sister and I have exchanged pickle themed gifts for about 20 years now… I’ve received everything from pickle erasers and a case of pickle pops (like freezies.. but pickle juice) and given her everything from a yodeling pickle to pickle soap and jewellery. One thing we haven’t exchanged yet is a dill pickle recipe, so of course I have to dedicate this delicious pasta salad recipe to my sister Candace.
I like pasta salads, I make a ton of them. They’re easy to make and usually better if made ahead of time. They’re the hit of every potluck meal and perfect to pack the next day for lunch. As much as I like pasta salads, this Dill Pickle Pasta salad is honestly one of the best pasta salads I’ve ever had! Pickles (or even dill pickle relish) usually play a supporting role in recipes, especially pasta salad recipes and potato salads.
But not this time… nope, this time the prized dill pickle plays the starring role, front and center.
* cheer * yay * cheer *
There is pickle flavor infused throughout this recipe (in 3 different places) yet it’s just the right amount of pickley (if pickley is even a word!?). Yup, time to get pickled people (in the dill pickle sense of course).
When buying pickles for this recipe, I love baby dills if you can find them because I love the crunch they give and I love how they look in little rounds. I’m a bit freakish about my pickles so I actually pick up all of the pickle jars at the store and try to choose jar with the the smallest pickles. I look like a person trying to choose the perfect produce, only in the pickle aisle. If you only have bigger dill pickles (or homemade pickles), they’ll still be great in this recipe too, just chop them but not too small, you want them to keep that crunch.
If you have (or love) sweet pickles you can also throw a handful of those in here too. I mean, sweet and salty, crunch creamy… perfection right?!
Oh, and when you’re scooping out your pickle juice to add to the dressing in this recipe, try to grab all of those yummy little garlicky bits floating around and put them in the dressing too, they add extra flavor. And one last tip about the white onion… be sure to grab the onions with the white papery skin, the ones with the yellow skin are much stronger and will be a little bit overpowering in this dish.
This dill pickle pasta salad is pretty much guaranteed to be the hit of your next potluck and the best part is that it is awesome made the day before! If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers (which I doubt would happen) they’ll keep several days in the fridge and make the perfect lunch!
Items You’ll Need For This Recipe
* Dill Pickles * Shell Pasta * Cayenne Pepper *
Dill Pickle Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- ½ pound dry shell pasta about 3 cups
- ¾ cup pickles sliced
- ⅔ cup cheddar cheese diced
- 3 tablespoons white onion finely diced
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill
- ½ cup pickle juice
Dressing
- ⅔ cup mayonnaise
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 tablespoons pickle juice
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil pasta al dente according to package directions. Run under cold water to stop cooking.
- Toss cold pasta with about ½ cup of pickle juice and set aside for about 5 minutes. Drain & discard pickle juice.
- Combine all dressing ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.
- Toss all ingredients in a large bowl. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.
Video
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Side Dish
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This was amazing! I’m a huge dill pickle fan and this was a great new recipe to bring to a party or potluck. Also easy and quick to make.
Soooo good! I left out one tablespoon of onions(personal preference) but made the rest exactly as instructed. It was definitely better the next day so perfect for parties and potlucks.
Delicious! You didn’t mention what size shells you used. I grabbed the large size. Is that correct size or do you use medium?
Hi B, we use medium shells in this recipe but any size shells will work great. So excited for you to try it!
Dill pickle pasta salad looks awesome but I don’t like sour cream, any good substitutes?
You can use plain Greek yogurt in place of sour cream if you’d like!
BEST pasta salad in the world. I make this pretty much every family gathering.
Love the recipes. Good old fashion recipes, love the dill pasta salad. The pickles really add a lot of taste to it.
Amazing recipe! I do add 1 tsp. garlic salt and 2 T. of dried onions to the recipe. I substitute dried dill weed for the fresh dill. This recipe is so good!
My families favorite thing I make. I always double it!
If I wanted to make this as more of a main course for a picnic dinner, do you think. I could add shredded chicken?
Absolutely, Ashley! Sounds delish :)
This recipe is absolutely amazing!!! I have made it several times and it’s quite the hit. This is one of many of your delicious recipes I’ve made (loaded mashed potato bombs, meatloaf, crock pot mac and cheese) and have loved all of them. Thank you!!
This dill pickle salad is the best pasta salad I’ve ever had. Last weekend was the first time I made it. I put dried organic dill weed in the dressing but that was the only change. Today I made the same one except instead of shells I used cheese tortellini. The cayenne in the dressing was the bomb. I would never have thought to use it and it was awesome. Pasta salads are a quick and tasty way to prepare a week of office lunches in advance and I want to thank you for making it easy and delicious.
Ooo, cheese tortellini sounds like a delicious option, Anne!