If you’ve seen any food media lately, you know that pickles are trending—hard. From Top Chef to TikTok, regional food festivals to grocery store aisles, and cocktails to dessert, you can barely turn around without bumping into one. Once just a largely ignored garnish, pickles are now a full-blown fixation—tapping into the foodie zeitgeist the way avocado did a decade ago as it was propelled to icon status.
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It’s a moment that feels both unexpected and inevitable. On restaurant menus, pickles are getting star treatment. In grocery stores, they’re driving new product lines. On social media, they’re sparking debates, challenges, and a flood of content with millions of views. All signs point to a trend that’s sticking around, one crunchy, briny bite at a time.
A star turn
When Top Chef aired its sixth episode of Season 22 in April, no one—especially the cheftestants—expected pickles to take center stage. But in a curveball elimination challenge dubbed “Pickle Me This,” cheftestants were divided into two teams and each tasked with creating a 5-course menu in which every dish featured pickles.
The results included a dill pickle beurre blanc, pickle chimichurri, and a pickle jus finish for braised short ribs. There was even a pickle-infused dessert—featuring pickle curd and dill ice cream—that blew the judges’ minds. A pickle cannolo with a brine-infused shell and a beef tartare filling took the win.
“I love a pickle,” judge Gail Simmons said during the tasting. “But it’s hard to make one the heart of the dish. That’s what made this challenge so good.”
The segment was fun and mouthwatering, but it also captured something bigger: Pickles aren’t destined to be just wallflowers on the plate. They can be star ingredients—acid-forward centerpieces that surprise and delight diners.
The food of the moment
Rebecca Jennings at Vox recently called pickles “Gen Z’s avocado”—a viral food that people genuinely enjoy. They “pair well with other contemporary food trends like dirty martinis and canned cocktails, and fit right in with aesthetically pleasing butter boards and ‘girl dinner’ spreads,” Jennings wrote. But, she added, “people are also consuming pickles for the meme of it all.”
That dual appeal—earnest and ironic, nostalgic, and novel—is driving the surge. There are pickle chips, pickle popcorn, pickle ranch, and Flamin’ Hot Dill Pickle Cheetos. Popeyes recently launched a full-on pickle menu, complete with pickle lemonade. Sweetgreen has tested a pickle-flavored ketchup, and Molly Baz debuted a dill pickle mayo. There’s even a spicy pickle martini recipe pushed by tequila brand 21Seeds, not to mention the viral trend of dropping pickles into cans of Diet Coke or Sprite.
The TikTok effect
Pickle content thrives on social media. On TikTok, the #pickle hashtag has over 5 billion views and climbing. Viral trends like the chamoy pickle challenge—where people stuff oversized pickles with candy, sauces, and chips—have helped transform pickles into a Gen Z cultural marker. Recipes for homemade Kool-Aid pickles, pickle sushi, and pickle pizza rack up millions of views.
These digital moments are translating to real-world demand. TikTok’s influence helped propel pickles from quirky snack to must-stock item at big box retailers, pop-up food stands, and gourmet grocers. And like any food trend that’s truly taken hold, the pickle has moved beyond the plate and into merch. You can now buy pickle-themed candles, t-shirts, kitchen towels, and even earrings.
Brine is big business
Pickles have been a steady presence in global cuisines for centuries, but their recent rise in the U.S. market is measurable. According to IMARC Group, the U.S. pickles market was valued at $3.1 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow steadily over the next five years.
Part of that growth is driven by innovation. CPG brands are riding the wave with products like Cheetos Flamin’ Hot Dill Pickle, Lay’s Dill Pickle chips, and the viral Grillo’s x Hippeas Dill Pickle Puffs, which, according to rumors, sold out within hours of launch.
Pickle-flavored ranch, popcorn, sunflower seeds, and even seltzers are now standard in snack aisles. “We’re seeing this huge boom because the flavor hits that perfect mix of nostalgia and novelty,” said Melanie Zanoza Bartelme, a global food analyst at Mintel, in an interview with The Takeout.
Chefs are in on it
The restaurant world isn’t ignoring the trend. Chef Paul Virant, known for his preservation-forward approach at restaurants like Vie and Gaijin, is a pickle devotee. “They’re not just for contrast anymore,” he told Eater Chicago. “They can carry the dish.”
In Baltimore, Little Donna’s dedicates an entire section of its menu to house pickles, from mustard-seed brined cucumbers to fermented turnips. “It’s a way to play with texture and brightness while keeping costs down,” chef Robbie Tutlewski told Baltimore Magazine.
Pickles also lend themselves to creative reinterpretation. In New York, Superiority Burger’s famous burnt broccoli salad with candied lemon and pickled garlic has become a quiet cult classic.
America’s festivals go all-in
Pickles aren’t just popular in kitchens and TikTok feeds—they’re showing up in the streets, too. Picklesburgh, Pittsburgh’s annual pickle festival, drew over 250,000 attendees in 2024. Organizers extended the event to four days and added pickle cocktails, branded swag, and competitive pickle juice drinking contests.
Out west, the Stockton Pickle Fest in California featured pickle ice cream, pickle tacos and even a local pickle mascot. Mississippi’s Pickle Fest, hosted by the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum, has doubled in size since 2022.
More than a trend
Pickles may be trending, but their staying power comes from more than just flash. As Americans continue to crave bold, sour, umami-rich flavors, pickles hit the mark. They also align with broader interests in fermentation, gut health, and nostalgic comfort food.
“There’s a reason this trend has traction,” said Bartelme. “It’s not just novelty—it’s about flavor intensity and flexibility. You can pickle anything. And you can do it anywhere.”
From primetime cooking shows and pop-up tasting menus to the snack aisles of your neighborhood supermarket, pickles have secured their spot in the cultural mainstream. They’ve become more than just a tart palate cleanser—they’re now a symbol of what American diners want on their plates: Boldness, tang, and the unexpected. The question on everyone’s lips is what gets pickled next?
Robin Donovan is an AP syndicated writer, recipe developer, food photographer, and author of more than 40 cookbooks including the bestsellers Ramen Obsession and Ramen for Beginners. Her work is featured by major media outlets including Huffington Post, MSN, Chicago Sun-Times, Orlando Sentinel, Buzzfeed, Cooking Light, Mercury News, Seattle Times, Pop Sugar, and many others. More about Robin