When you’ve finished your jar of pickles, don’t dump the leftover brine down the drain. Pickle brine is one of those perfect culinary shortcuts, like reusing your leftover curry sauce from takeout to make a whole new meal. It’s like having a sous chef right in the fridge. Most of the work is already done for you, and you don’t need to bother sourcing the dill, garlic, or coriander seeds. It’s all mixed up and ready to be of service. Pickle juice is great in cocktails, like a pickle brine bloody mary or a pickleback bourbon cocktail. It makes a great marinade for fried chicken. But what’s the best way to use your leftover pickle juice? Well, more pickling, of course.
Save your pickle brine and make some new pickles. You can use cucumbers or almost any vegetable you may have in the fridge. It’s a no-brainer and only takes a few minutes to prep. You’ll have pickles just how you want them: Add a little extra spice, mix and match your veggies, make them sweet or sour, and you can even reuse the jar they came in. Your new pickles will make a great snack or sandwich topper, and they’ll last in the fridge for about a week. Just don’t save your un-reused brine for too long because it will go bad after a month or so. Here’s how you can reuse your pickle brine for pickling.
How to make pickles from leftover pickle brine
Start with your veggies. Almost anything will work — cucumbers, carrots, onions, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes. Cut them so they’ll fit back in the jar. You can boil the jar and lid to sterilize them, but a good scrub should be plenty safe if it’s going back in the fridge (and you’ll use them in the next few days). You’ll want to heat the brine on the stove and get it to a nice simmer, which will both sterilize the liquid and heat up the veggies, so they’ll more easily absorb the flavors. Add some chili flakes or dried Italian herbs if you want an extra kick. Then just pour the liquid over the veggies in the jar. You can leave it to cool on the countertop or put it right in the fridge.
After just a few hours, you’ll have a decent light pickle, but you can leave them in the fridge for a couple of days for a more tangy flavor. Heavy vinegar and spicy brine can go with just about anything, but if you’re working with a sweeter juice, like bread and butter pickle brine, you might be best choosing sliced cucumbers and onions.
To fully transform your brine, you can use sliced hot peppers, oil, celery, carrot, cauliflower, and bell peppers to make an impromptu giardiniera — the famed topping for the iconic Chicago Italian beef. Depending on your brine, it may end up a bit more on the dill end of the spectrum, as giardiniera goes. But that may make it perform even better as the tangy topping you need on your next sub sandwich. Regardless of your flavor preference, save your pickle brine and give it new life with a quick simmer on the stove and a quick re-pickle.
