Tasty Tuna Noodle Salad

How to Pick Pickles

If you’ve ever stood in the pickle aisle, staring at the 20 options on the shelves while feeling very confused, you’re not alone. 

When you think of pickles, the classic dills come to mine. This is the kind my mom made using fresh dill and mini cucumbers from our garden, along with mustard seeds, peppercorns, salt and vinegar.

Then there’s Kosher dills, prepared in the style of New York Jewish delis—meaning they’re garlicky, crunchy and fermented in a salty brine.

Prefer sweet pickles? As their name implies, they’re sweet, tangy and usually include pickling spice in the recipe. 

Yum Yum pickles are twice as sweet as regular sweet pickles and, just to confuse matters, Bread and Butter pickles contain no bread and no butter, but are yet another type of sweet pickle. 

And sweet mother of gherkins—I just about forgot The Gerkin! These are the cute little guys made from the tiniest cucumbers and are mostly used for charcuterie boards and relish trays...but I just stand with the fridge open and pop them straight from the jar into my mouth. 

And if you want all the flavor but less salt, check the label—I’ve seen brands with 50% less sodium. Take a peek at the ingredient list, too—some pickles get their bright green color from fake dyes like Tartrazine, also known as Yellow #5.  

For this recipe, I’d suggest good ol’ classic dill pickles, since they add just the right pop of flavor and crunch to tuna salad. 

But whichever kind you choose, don’t let your next trip down the pickle aisle be a jarring experience.