The 7 Best Substitutes for Sweet Pickle Seasoning

Sweet Pickle Seasoning is an easy way to add flavor and texture to plain food. But what if the recipe calls for it and your jar of sweet seasoning is empty?

What are the best substitutes for sweet pickle seasoning?

The best substitutes for sweet gherkin seasoning are chopped gherkins, freeze-dried dill, green olives, and capers. In some recipes, you can also use celery, green bell peppers, and cucumbers. 

In this article, you’ll learn about the best sweet pickle seasoning substitutes and how to use them. Also, we will tell you how to make a quick sweet seasoning in 5 minutes if you have pickles on hand.

Sweet Pickle Seasoning - Uses and Pairings

Sweet pickle relish, one of the most popular relish varieties, is made with cucumbers, bell peppers, onions, sugar, and vinegar.

These are the main ingredients of Sweet Pickle Seasoning. Other ingredients can be added to taste, such as celery seeds, dill seeds, mustard and garlic.

It is usually eaten with normal or dry food. Store-bought pickle seasoning is a quick and easy way to add lots of flavor to your favorite foods.

Although Sweet Pickle Seasoning is primarily used as a condiment for hot dogs, hamburgers, and sandwiches, it has other uses as well. Here’s how you can use sweet pickle seasoning.

• As a tasty addition to salads (potato salad, chicken salad, tuna salad, etc.)
• In sauces and spreads
• As a key ingredient in tartar sauce and other sauces

Sweet Pickle Seasoning has a strong flavor. It is sweet and salty at the same time. Sweet Pickle Seasoning also has a mild acidity that adds richness to this green seasoning.

When combining it with other products, it is important to ensure that the flavors do not clash. That’s why sweet pickle relish is often paired with meat, deviled eggs, cheese, and crackers.

So whenever you add sweet gherkin seasoning to your food, you want to make sure that it enhances the main flavors instead of throwing off the balance of the entire dish.

How to choose a substitute for sweet pickle seasoning?

When looking for a substitute for sweet pickle seasoning, the main question is: what else do you have at home?

If the range of products you can choose from isn’t very wide, you’ll either have to go for something with remotely similar flavor notes or skip the product altogether.

When choosing a substitute for sweet gherkin seasoning, consider what the seasoning’s function is in the dish.

Need the texture of Sweet Pickle Seasoning? Sweet Pickle Seasoning is a fine-textured seasoning that can go a long way on, say, simple hot dogs.

If texture is one of the main reasons you need your pickle seasoning, opt for substitutes that you can chop up and make them look like pickle seasoning.

If you want the tartness of sweet pickle seasoning, use an ingredient with mild tart notes. The sweet-salty flavor of Sweet Pickle Seasoning can be substituted for a number of ingredients if you can find the right balance.

If you use sweet pickle seasoning as a topping on hot dogs and hamburgers, it won’t be hard to find a substitute.

But, as we have said, sweet pickle seasoning can be used to prepare sauces and salads.

If you don’t like sweet pickle seasoning and it’s never in your fridge along with condiments like ketchup and mayonnaise, it might catch you off guard to see sweet pickle seasoning on the ingredient list of a dip or salad you’re planning to make.

This is when it comes in handy to know what you can use in place of the sweet pickle seasoning.

7 Best Substitutes for Sweet Pickle Seasoning

There are many products that you can use as substitutes for sweet pickle seasoning.

Obviously, not all products can provide flavors similar to sweet pickle seasoning. But a well-chosen substitute will undoubtedly add touches of flavor and texture to the salad, sauce or dip you are preparing.

Skipping the sweet pickle seasoning on burgers, hot dogs, or sandwiches will only make them taste bland. On the other hand, if you add another ingredient instead of the seasoning, they will surely taste better.

1. Chopped dill

Chopped or chopped dill gherkins are perhaps the closest substitute for a sweet gherkin relish.

Dill gherkins are pickled cucumbers. What makes them different is the dill. Since dill and dill seeds are a widely used ingredient in Sweet Pickle Seasoning recipes, the flavor of dill pickles will still be reminiscent of Sweet Pickle Seasoning.

The dill pickles are crunchy. They taste sweet and sour, with pronounced notes of dill.

You can use chopped pickles in any recipe that calls for sweet pickle seasoning. You can also add them to your hamburgers and hot dogs. However, you may have to forgo sweetness.

2. Freeze-dried dill

There is no herb fresher than dill. Its citrus notes elevate the rest of the ingredients in the dish and its herbaceous nuances give it a lot of depth.

Freeze-dried dill, compared to fresh, lasts much longer. One tablespoon of freeze-dried dill is equal to one tablespoon of chopped fresh dill.

You can use freeze-dried dill instead of sweet pickle seasoning in dishes that need a burst of flavor and freshness.

Use freeze-dried dill as a substitute for sweet pickle seasoning in sauces and dressings. Dried dill goes well with fish and chicken, vegetables, including potatoes, zucchini and carrots, as well as eggs.

3. Green olives

Green olives have a very unique flavor profile. They have a brighter flavor than normal black olives. Green olives are tart, with mild nutty and sour flavor notes.

Not everyone likes green olives. But if you like them, you can chop some up and use them as a substitute for sweet pickle relish.

Green olives are a wonderful addition to salads and sauces. You can also add them to your sandwiches and wraps to give them more flavor.

4. Capers

Capers have a tangy, lemony flavor. They are also salty and taste somewhat like olives.

If the function of the sweet gherkin seasoning in the dish is to add acidity and balance it, you can substitute capers instead.

Capers can also add the vinegary flavor of sweet pickle seasoning without adding as much texture.

Capers are great for dressing salads and marinades. You can also use them in dishes like pasta salads, which are often enhanced with sweet gherkin seasoning.

5. Green peppers

Sweet Pickle Seasoning is often used to add texture to dishes. If you’re missing sweet pickle seasoning but want to add some crunch and color to your sandwiches, salads, or dips, use chopped green bell peppers.

Green peppers are slightly bitter, with herbaceous undertones. The good ones are also juicy and crunchy.

Lacking acidity and strong flavors, green peppers can help you achieve balance in your dishes.

6. Celery

If you like green smoothies, you probably have a few stalks of celery at home.

Wondering how raw celery stalks can substitute for sweet pickle seasoning? Well this is what you can do. You can make your own quick version of sweet pickle relish, but with celery stalks.

All you have to do is marinate the chopped or sliced celery stalks in wine vinegar and olive oil along with minced garlic and onion. Add capers, herbs and season with salt and pepper.

And now you have a great substitute for sweet pickle seasoning for burgers, hot dogs, and sandwiches!

7. Cucumbers

If you have cucumbers, but don’t have time to make sweet pickle seasoning with them, you can use them as is in some recipes that call for sweet pickle seasoning.

We know that cucumbers do not have such an intense flavor. But they are great for adding crunch and texture.

You can use cucumbers on sandwiches and burgers, add them to salads, dips and sauces. They’ll add a nice note of texture with a hint of that crisp, fresh flavor.

Quick side dish of sweet pickles in 5 minutes

Most people prefer to buy commercially produced sweet pickle seasoning. It’s quick, easy and tastes great. Others, however, prefer homemade sweet pickle seasoning.

Making sweet pickle seasoning at home is easy.

It will only take a few simple ingredients and a lot of chopping work, but the results are worth it. The only downside is that making a true sweet pickle seasoning with cucumbers takes time.

The vegetables need time to absorb all the flavors and “marinate” in vinegar and sugar. This takes at least two hours. Some sweet pickle seasoning recipes call for days.

But if you feel that none of the above alternatives will be a suitable substitute for sweet pickle seasoning, you can try making this quick 5 minute sweet pickle seasoning using already pickled cucumbers.

This is all you have to do

1. Chop a few dill gherkins.
2. Add a tablespoon of pickle brine.
3. Mix 4 tablespoons of mustard for one cup of chopped gherkins.
4. Add chopped fresh dill, mix and serve.

Making this quick and simplified version of Sweet Pickle Seasoning will only take a few minutes.

But it’s certainly one of the best substitutes for store-bought seasoning, as it will have the flavor complexity one expects sweet pickle seasoning to have.