15 Creative Ways to Add Pickles to Your Breakfast

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Someone wise once said that breakfast was the most important meal of the day — and we’re so glad they did. From fiber-packed oatmeal to crave-worthy breakfast sandwiches, there’s no wrong way to enjoy breakfast food. But there is one better way: by elevating it with pickles. 

You may be scratching your head at that statement a little bit, especially if you’re only thinking about the sorry excuse for pickles that lurk between your McDonald’s burger patty and bun. But in reality, pickled foods cast a wide net and include everything from pickled cucumbers to pickled alliums, sauces, condiments, and even fish. By mixing and matching these pickled items with your breakfast favorites, you can unlock the potential for unique and tantalizing flavor combinations that put the pickles’ natural tanginess — and often saltiness — to good use. Here are some fun, creative ways to enjoy pickles for your favorite meal of the day. 

Deviled eggs are a food that knows no such thing as time. While they’re most often enjoyed as appetizers, since they are made of eggs, it seems logical to indulge in them before the clock strikes noon, too. There are tons of ingredients you can add to your deviled eggs to spruce them up, including both pickle brine and pickle relish. 

You’ll only really like the latter if you don’t mind a filling with little chunks and pieces in it. The relish will impart a beautiful tart flavor and subtle sourness that contrasts with the richness of the eggs. That being said, if you don’t like pieces of relish disrupting the smooth creaminess of the filling, you can add just the brine instead. You don’t want to add so much that it becomes soupy. Instead, add a teaspoon or so and mix well to ensure its tangy, salty flavor is well distributed. 

Do deviled eggs need a garnish? Probably not, but that’s not to say you can’t make them a little more breakfasty by adding one. A small sliver of crispy bacon would offer the perfect salty and crunchy contrast to the tanginess of the pickle filling and creamy mayonnaise. 

It’s rare in the U.S. to see someone eating pickled fish, let alone for breakfast. But if you travel to Denmark, you’ll find open-faced sandwiches galore. Smørrebrød, as they’re otherwise known, are little pieces of rye bread traditionally topped with butter and a vast array of toppings, including the popular pickled herring, onion, capers, and dill combo. 

Pickled herring, for the uninitiated, has a savory and salty flavor, though its exact profile will vary based on the type you buy. It might come packaged in wine sauce, dill sauce, cream sauce, or just plain oil. The fact that this fish is pickled hides some of its, well, fishiness, which can make it a more approachable breakfast food even for people who aren’t the biggest fans of fish. The wine sauce version is a favorite among many, seeing as how the wine flavor imparts a subtle sweetness to the fish and the crispbread as a whole. Add some pickled red onions to the top of your sandwich to drive home that pickled flavor even more.

Breakfast sandwiches are incredibly versatile and easy to whip up at home. Whether you’re after a classic meat-forward one with sausage or bacon, or prefer something with more vegetables and egg whites, there’s a breakfast sandwich out there with your name on it. 

If you’re looking to give your breakfast sandwich a tasty reprieve from greasiness and heavy flavors, turn to pickles. You can easily tuck a couple of slices of your favorite type of pickled food into your sandwich to give it a burst of acidic flavor and an inviting crunch. Bread-and-butter pickles are a great place to start, as they will introduce a subtle sweetness to your sandwich, helping contrast a salty protein. Dill pickles are sharper and crunchier, and you can even use hot dill pickles to add a little bit of spice. Regardless of how you build your sandwich, you’re going to want to use thinly-sliced or small pickles, as you don’t want the flavor to interfere too much with the essence of the sandwich. If you’re after something spicy, you may also want to try some pickled jalapeños. 

Another underrated way to add pickled ingredients to your breakfast sandwich is to grab a pickled hot sauce. This tangy addition is easy to make and will add a warm mouthfeel to every bite without the potentially disruptive crunch of the pickle pieces. 

If you have a little more time to make your breakfast, or are looking for a fantastic item to serve with your other favorite brunch staples, look to chicken and waffles. This savory-sweet mashup will satisfy that itch for Southern fare and elevate your entire breakfast experience. 

While you can just add some chopped pickles to the top of your chicken and waffles as a condiment, the smarter way to infuse this dish with a pickled flavor is to use the brine instead. The brine’s flavor will infuse into the chicken, and it will also keep it juicy and moist as it cooks — which is a must-have for fried chicken. There are several different types of pickle brine that could be used for this recipe, whether you’re after something hot or more herbaceous. You can also add other ingredients like buttermilk to your brine, or even a dose of hot sauce if you want to kick the heat up a notch. 

Let the chicken sit in the brine for several hours — though no more than a day, as you don’t want to make it too tender. Once the meat is ready to go, you can run it through your dredge, pop it in your skillet, and fire up the waffle iron. 

Avocado toast might have a reputation for being a little too cool for school, but that doesn’t make it any less of an effective breakfast. Not only do you have the perfect balance of carbs and fat to keep you fueled, but this hipster morning staple is also incredibly versatile. Want more protein? Add a poached or fried egg on top. More greens? Go for sprouts or chopped veggies. Craving a pickle twist? Add some pickled red onions to the top. 

Red onions are a sandwich staple, but their flavor is too biting and strong to be paired with the neutral-tasting avocado. Pickled red onions will offer a salty and puckery twist without the tear-inducing experience of biting into a hunk of red onion. Their bright, magenta color is just another reason to pair them with a green, avocado-covered slice of bread.

Pickled red onions are easy to make at home in a flash. Macerate your thinly sliced onion pieces in salt and sugar before dropping them into hot brine. Or, take a page out of our playbook and store your red onion slices in a jar in the fridge with apple cider vinegar, water, salt, and sugar, taking the slices out when you need them.

We’re big bagel fans, and although we can certainly appreciate a breakfast sandwich atop one of them from time to time, we can also admit that there’s also something magical about the simplicity of a bagel and cream cheese. Though it’s good to know that you have options if the standard plain cream cheese isn’t quite cutting it for you.

For one, try making a pickle cream cheese with your favorite pickles, cream cheese, and basic seasonings like salt and pepper. You’ll want to use crispy pickles for this recipe, as using ones that are too wet and mushy may yield a watery cream cheese that’s tough to spread on your bagels. You’ll also want to add about a tablespoon of pickle brine to your cream cheese mixture, as it offers a tasty and salty flavor that will elevate even the most basic of cream cheeses. 

This cream cheese would be an excellent base for a standard bagel, though it would also elevate a bagel and lox sandwich, as the salty pickles would be in good company with the red onions, capers, and fish. You could also repurpose the cream cheese for something new entirely, like dipping chips into it (bonus points if they’re bagel chips) or serving alongside crudités. 

Breakfast hash is a delectably savory and salty side dish that can be dressed up and made into a main dish. Potatoes are a core ingredient of hash, but beyond that, you can use your own imagination to whip up a plate that satisfies all of your senses. Pickled ingredients can add a tangy bite to cut through the richness of the hash and complement some of its savory components. 

There are many ways to make a tasty potato hash. While many recipes suggest par-cooking the potatoes before adding them to the hash, you may want to try par-cooking them in the pickle brine itself, as the vinegar will help soften the potatoes without making them mushy. Crisp up your protein of choice (or add canned salmon to amp up the umami notes), mix in your potatoes, and cook the mixture until it’s fragrant. The pickles will act as a great garnish for your dish, as their acidity will mesh well with the starchy potatoes.

If you want to make more of a side dish, you could also try adding pickles to your hash browns. Squeeze out all the excess water from your shredded pickles and add them to the hash brown mixture with the grated potatoes, onions, and spices. 

Pickled red onions are one of our favorite pickle products, and for good reason. While red onions can be biting and unpleasant to eat, pickled red onions have a much milder flavor, making them a better fit for almost any sandwich. Instead of adding regular red onions to your bagel and lox sandwich, consider layering on the pickled red onions instead. 

The pickled red onions offer a softer bite, and one that will complement the salty capers and briny fish. You don’t need a ton of these pickled veggies either. A little sprinkle will add a subtle sweetness and piquant bite to every mouthful. You can even flavor your pickled red onion brine to better match the components of your sandwich. Add peppercorns if you want to highlight a spicy bagel, or some chili powder if you want to take the heat level up a notch. 

Kimchi is a condiment you may have forgotten is pickled — until now. Classic napa cabbage kimchi is made with salted cabbage, a spicy flavoring paste, crunchy cabbage, carrots, and the like. Once it’s allowed to sit and ferment, it starts to develop a delectably tangy and pickled flavor. You can also, of course, buy a container from your local supermarket — and now you’ll have one more use for it: breakfast. 

You can add kimchi to an array of savory breakfast foods, from a plate of basic scrambled eggs to a breakfast hash. But one of the most underrated ways to enjoy kimchi for breakfast is to use it as a topping on a breakfast bowl. We like to think of a breakfast bowl as a deconstructed breakfast sandwich. You typically have some sort of starchy base, like potatoes or rice, topped with eggs and cheese. The kimchi is a great condiment here, as it can break through the richness and greasiness of the components. It will also add an unexpected crunchiness and saltiness to the dish. If you like spicy breakfast foods, you’re in luck because the kimchi delivers on this fiery promise. 

Pickled mushrooms are a food that we forget about until we see a recipe for them. While it might not be your go-to produce to pickle — as you may think of pickles as being crunchy, like a cucumber — the pickling process will bring out the earthy notes of the mushrooms and add a salty flavor to complement their innate umami profile. You can also pickle your ‘shrooms with some herbs, like rosemary and thyme, to make their flavor all the more savory and complex. 

Since pickled mushrooms are very complex, they’re best paired with a simple base, as you want those earthy notes to really shine. Grab a high-quality piece of toast and slather it with cream cheese, yogurt, or our personal favorite, toum, and add your pickled mushrooms to the top of it. You could also garnish it with some greens, though this toast is flavorful enough on its own. It’s a great breakfast for when plain ol’ avocado toast or scrambled eggs get boring. Even if you’re not a fan of mushrooms normally, you may be smitten with this pickled variation. 

Did you know that you could pickle peaches? If you grew up or spent any amount of time in the South, chances are that you’re familiar with this unique, sweet pickled fruit. While they still retain their juiciness and sweetness, you also get a balanced tang from the vinegar and flavor notes from whatever spices you include in the brine (often cinnamon). 

One easy way to enjoy pickled peaches — long after the growing season for this summer favorite has wrapped up — is to eat them on a piece of toast. Pick a hearty slice to start — like a multi-grain, baguette, or ciabatta — and layer on a schmear of your favorite creamy cheese. You can go with ricotta if you want something cost-effective, or splurge for burrata or mascarpone for something more flavorful. Add on your slivered peaches, a drizzle of honey, and some pecans for a slightly sweet and rich breakfast that feels like summer with every bite. 

Sauerkraut is a food you either love … or don’t love. While eating a bowl of it might not be your idea of a fun time, you might not mind it as much if it’s made into a fritter. You can make the entire base of your fritters out of sauerkraut, or consider adding it to a potato-based recipe to give them a subtle tang and extra crunch. If you’re going the solo-sauerkraut direction, simply mix together your shaved cabbage with a little bit of binder, like eggs and flour, until it resembles a patty. Fry them up in a skillet just as you would with latkes. 

You can enjoy these fritters as is or consider stuffing one inside your breakfast sandwich for some added crunch. They’re excellent with a sour cream dipping sauce, and you may not even be able to tell that they’re made from this divisive pickled and fermented veggie. 

Pickle juice is an incredibly versatile and useful ingredient to have on hand. Once you figure out some ways to put it to use, you may never think about pouring the liquid down the sink ever again.

For one, you can use the pickle brine to elevate your fried eggs. You’ll want to hold off on adding the juice until after your eggs have fully cooked. After all, oil and water don’t mix — and you don’t want to have to worry about splattering oil everywhere as you’re trying to get your egg to molten yolk perfection. Instead, you’ll want to use the brine as a flavoring agent. As such, depending on the type of pickles that you use, you may want to refrain from adding any extra salt to your eggs until after you taste them to prevent making your dish too salty.

Good news for pickle lovers: Pickle-flavored donuts are actually a thing. If you’re not a pickle lover, you may feel a little bit squeamish about trying this unconventional combination. But, after you see how the salty, briny, and zesty flavor of the pickle contrasts with a sugary-sweet donut, you may think a little differently. 

While a pickle-flavored donut might seem more like an impulse buy than an everyday thing, it turns out that you can give your homemade or store-bought donut a pickle twist, too. You can keep the base of the donut normal, but add a pickle twist by adding pickle salt or a splash of pickle brine to your icing. That way, you’ll get the perfect balance of sweet and savory in every bite. 

While Americans may not think too hard about ordering a baconeggandcheese (not a typo) from their favorite local spot, not every country around the world enjoys breakfast the same way. A typical Japanese breakfast, for example, includes soy-based items, like miso soup and natto, seafood like mackerel and sardines, and plenty of rice. One item that you may notice on breakfast tables in Japan that you don’t see often in the U.S. is pickled daikon. This vegetable is the perfect complement to the savory seafood and natto in terms of both flavor and texture. It’s beautifully snappy (which is why it’s often used on banh mì sandwiches too), and it soaks up the flavor of the vinegar like a sponge. 

You can prepare a traditional Japanese breakfast for yourself or just make a batch of pickled daikon (and its partner in crime, pickled carrots) to spruce up your favorite breakfast dishes. It would be a great topping for savory oatmeal, a pickled fish sandwich, or crispbread.