The Perfect Pairing For Roasted Potatoes Is Sitting In Your Fridge Right Now

Potatoes are culinary blank canvases which can be punched up in flavor depending on how we cook them. For example, think of how butter and cream can transform bland boiled spuds into rich, creamy mashed potatoes. Roasted potatoes pick up toasty flavor from browning, but can be improved with garlic, herbs, and cheese. With all this in mind, there's something unexpected you likely have in your refrigerator which pairs perfectly with roasted potatoes. Of course, it won't be a surprise to anyone who's ever scarfed down a bag of dill pickle potato chips.

Pickle juice brings zippy tang to roasted potatoes, waking them up with bright, briny flavor. It's yet another way pickles prove they can do more than top a burger. We already love them for being the tart ingredient your coleslaw has been missing and the tangy addition you need to be including with pot roast. We're not mad at discovering yet another pickle juice power play.

When it comes to marrying roasted potatoes and pickle juice, there's more than one way to do it. The easiest is roasting the spuds normally with olive oil and any other usual ingredients, then tossing the cooked potatoes with pickle juice and fresh herbs or a pickle juice vinaigrette. Two other methods infuse pickle flavor into the potatoes. One does this by marinating cut-up potatoes in pickle juice for a couple of hours, draining them, patting them dry, and roasting with the usual oil and accompaniments. The other involves bringing potato wedges to a boil in pickle juice, reducing the heat, simmering until tender, and again draining and roasting normally.

If you do have pickles in your fridge, odds are they're dill pickles; which are an excellent match for roasted potatoes, but you're not limited to them. You can also try this with juice from other pickles, like garlicky Kosher dills, sour pickles (or half-sours), cornichons, or sweet bread-and-butter pickles. Keep in mind that even though pickles are refrigerated, they have a shelf life once the jar is opened. So, try this another time if the near-empty jar in the fridge has been sitting there for months.

You can double up on pickle flavor and add extra crunch by chopping up some of the pickles and tossing them with the cooked potatoes. Amplify the briny flavor by garnishing with matching herbs like chopped fresh dill, fresh tarragon, or cornichon juice. Finish the dish with a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese or a splash of lemon juice. You can also make a dip for the potatoes with a simple mix of pickle juice and sour cream or Greek yogurt with chopped herbs and chopped pickles blended in.

As good as pickle juice roasted potatoes are on their own, you can also use them to bring fresh interest back to a backyard barbecue staple. Cut the cooked potatoes into chunks and make a potato salad. Mix in some chopped pickles here too, because you can never get enough pickle flavor.