Wondering what to do with pickles, gherkins? This guide covers how to pick them, cook them, store them, and swap them, plus 16 recipes to put them to work.

What are pickles, gherkins?

Gherkins are small pickled cucumbers, the bite-sized end of the pickle world. The name covers both the tiny tart cornichons served with pate and the crinkle-cut sweet pickles that come in a jar, all grown from small, knobby cucumber varieties picked young before the seeds develop.

Their size is the whole point. A gherkin is firm and crunchy all the way through, with no soft seedy core, so it holds its snap whether you eat it whole or chop it into something.

That texture is why it shows up on relish trays and gets minced into sauces.

The two camps are sweet and sour. Sweet gherkins are brined with sugar and spices for a candied tang, while sour or dill gherkins lean on vinegar and salt for a sharp, savory bite. Which one you reach for depends entirely on the dish.

How to Use Gherkins

Whole, gherkins are a finishing touch. They round out a charcuterie or cheese board, and their acidity cuts the richness of a coarse terrine like Country Pate or Awesome Pate Maison, where a sour cornichon is the traditional partner. On a relish tray they sit alongside olives and pickled onions.

Chopped, they become a building block. Mince them into Mirabelle Tartar Sauce, where they add the crunch and tang that makes the sauce work against fried fish.

They do the same job in egg salad or tuna salad, and they fold into potato salad for sharp little pops, as in Grandma's Potato Salad and Deluxe Potato Salad.

Sweet gherkins also bake and braise into savory dishes for a sweet-sour note. The Beef Casserole with Edam uses them that way. And of course you can make your own from scratch, the way Sweet Gherkins and Spiced Pickles do, turning fresh small cucumbers into a put-up jar.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

Gherkins were made for fatty, salty, fried food. They cut through pork, ham, rich pate, and anything deep-fried, which is why a burger or a fried-fish plate feels unbalanced without them.

The first mistake is grabbing the wrong jar. Sweet and sour gherkins are not interchangeable: drop sweet pickles into a savory tartar sauce and it turns cloying, while a sour cornichon thrown into a sweet relish fights the dish. Read the label before you chop.

The second is throwing away the brine. That liquid is seasoned vinegar; splash a spoonful into potato salad or a salad dressing for free acidity, or use it to quick-pickle thin onions.

Finally, drain and pat chopped gherkins dry before folding them into a mayonnaise-based salad, or the extra brine thins the dressing and makes it weep.

Substitutes

For whole gherkins on a board, full-size dill or sour pickles cut into spears or coins give the same flavor with a softer, seedier center; they just lack the cute one-bite size. Cornichons and gherkins are close enough to swap freely.

For chopped gherkins in a sauce or salad, sweet pickle relish stands in for sweet gherkins almost exactly, and dill relish for sour ones. Capers bring the briny pop without the sweetness, useful in tartar sauce.

Chopped pickled green tomatoes or pickled cauliflower work in a relish tray if that is all you have.

Buying and Storing Gherkins

The big choice at the shelf is sweet versus sour, so match it to your plan rather than habit. For boards and pate, look for cornichons, the small French sour kind. For sandwiches and snacking, sweet gherkins or bread-and-butter chips suit most palates.

Check the jar for firm, evenly sized pickles and a clear brine.

An unopened jar keeps in the pantry for a year or more, well past its best-by date, since the vinegar brine is a preservative. Store it somewhere cool and dark.

Once opened, keep the jar in the refrigerator with the pickles fully submerged in their brine, and they stay crisp for one to two months. Always use a clean fork, never fingers, since stray crumbs and bacteria are what cloud the brine and turn the pickles soft.

Quick facts

In Chinese

泡菜，黄瓜

British (UK) term

Pickles, gherkins

en français

marinades, les cornichons

en español

encurtidos, pepinillos

Recipes using pickles, gherkins

There are 16 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 16 recipes