Kool-Aid Pickles: The Mississippi Delta Sweet-Sour Snack
Kool-Aid Pickles are a wacky sweet and sour treat made popular in the Mississippi Delta region. Give them a try! Can your tastebuds handle it?
At Farmers’ Almanac, we love digging into regional foods and the stories behind them. Often, it starts with a tip from a social-media follower (“You need to try this”) and runs from there. Kool-Aid pickles sounded like a leg-pull at first. Those two ingredients do not normally show up in the same sentence, never mind the same jar. It turns out the Mississippi Delta has been puckering up with this concoction for decades.
Quick Reference
- Where they come from: the Mississippi Delta, where the snack has been a corner-store fixture since the 1990s.
- What they are: dill pickles soaked in unsweetened cherry Kool-Aid and sugar for 4-7 days, until the brine turns ruby red and the flavor pierces every spear.
- The flavor profile: tart-sweet, like a bread-and-butter pickle crossed with cherry candy.
- Other names: “koolickles” in Mississippi corner stores.
- What to use: unsweetened Kool-Aid only; pre-sweetened mix throws off the ratio and turns out gummy.
- Best pickles: dill spears or thick-cut sandwich slices. Avoid pre-sweetened or bread-and-butter pickles.
How Do You Make Kool-Aid Pickles?
They are easier than they sound. Take a jar of dill pickles, drain off half the brine, dump in a packet of unsweetened Kool-Aid (cherry is the classic; any “red” flavor works), add sugar, top off with the reserved brine if needed, and stash in the fridge for a week. The pickles drink in the Kool-Aid and the brine turns deep, candy-apple red. The result lands somewhere near a bread-and-butter pickle, but with a cherry tang behind every bite.
Where the combination came from is anyone’s guess. A picnic-table accident is the leading theory. The desired result is straightforward: maximum pucker. Older accounts describe Mississippi Delta corner-store regulars dipping dill spears straight into the dry Kool-Aid packet for the bare-minimum version. While the South in general is known for its pickling (everything from okra to peaches), the Mississippi Delta region claims credit for the Kool-Aid version specifically, just as it claims the deep-fried-pickle.
Without further ado, the recipe. We used dill spears, but you can use dill hamburger chips or whole pickles. The only hard rule: make sure they are not already sweetened.
Kool-Aid Pickles Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 32-oz jar dill pickles (spears, chips, or whole)
- 1 packet unsweetened cherry Kool-Aid (or any red flavor)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- Optional: ½ cup water if brine looks low
Instructions:
- Open the jar of pickles and pour off about half the brine into a measuring cup. Set aside.
- Stir the sugar and Kool-Aid powder into the brine left in the jar. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
- Top off the jar with the reserved brine (or water) to cover the pickles fully.
- Seal the jar and shake gently to mix.
- Refrigerate at least 4 days. 7 days delivers the full Delta-style flavor.
- Slice the pickles in half lengthwise before serving to show the dramatic red interior.
The Taste Test: Our Thoughts
We left ours in the fridge for a full seven days, lifted the lid, and braced. The smell is part dill, part cherry candy. The first bite is more confusing than off-putting: a clean dill crunch, then a cherry tartness on the finish that wants to be Sweetarts. After two bites, the brain settles into it. It is not sweet candy on top of pickle; it is two flavor families colliding and somehow making room. Hot summer afternoon, ice-cold from the fridge, eaten over a paper plate on a porch: it works.
We would not put one on a hamburger. We would put a tray of them next to a Friday-night cookout and watch the conversation.
Where to Find Them If You Don’t Want to Make Them
Convenience stores across Mississippi, Arkansas, and parts of Tennessee still stock jars of koolickles at the front counter for a dollar each. Look near the registers in any Delta-area corner store. A few specialty hot-sauce and pickle brands now ship Kool-Aid pickles nationwide, although the homemade version costs less and tastes fresher.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where did Kool-Aid pickles come from?
The Mississippi Delta, where the snack has been a corner-store staple since at least the 1990s. The exact inventor is unknown.
What do Kool-Aid pickles taste like?
Tart and sweet at the same time. Closest comparison: bread-and-butter pickles with a cherry-candy finish.
How long do they take to make?
Soak them at least 4 days in the fridge. A full 7 days gives the deepest color and most pronounced Kool-Aid flavor.
Can I use sweetened Kool-Aid?
No. Pre-sweetened mix throws off the sugar ratio and the pickles turn gummy. Use the unsweetened packets only.
What other Kool-Aid flavors work?
Any of the red family (cherry, strawberry, fruit punch, tropical punch) works. Cherry is the original. Blue raspberry and lemonade have followers too but produce stranger results.
This article was published by the Staff at FarmersAlmanac.com. Any questions? Contact us at questions@farmersalmananac.com.
- Farmers' Almanac Staff
- Farmers' Almanac Staff
- Farmers' Almanac Staff
- Farmers' Almanac Staff
what size pickle jar
I used strawberry Kool-Aid and they were really good. Even my husband and a few neighbors really liked them too.
I am allergic to the red dye in the cherry flavor, but what about lemon? Might be worth a try!
Hi Jennifer – give it a try and tell us your thoughts? We thought about using beets for color.