Sweet and Spicy Pickles

I came across these pickles under many different names and I was intrigued...I am a pickle fanatic! Mostly dill, but I do like a bread and butter pickle from time to time. I also love pickled hot peppers, beans, onions, garlic... okay anything that's pickled I would be more than happy to eat. So when I saw these sweet and spicy pickles that are made from dill pickles that you can make yourself, I was sold. A combination of every kind of pickle sounds like heaven to me, and you know what THEY TASTE AMAZING! They're addictive, packed with flavour and totally easy to make. 






So when I found these gems I did some research and as I mentioned before I found them under many names such as "Fire and Ice Pickles", "Tabasco Pickles", "Texas Christmas Pickles". Apparently they're a Christmas tradition in the south, but they're an all year round pickle in my house now. 

To start you need a jar of dill pickles. You can either get the regular ones and slice them yourself of get a jar of the sliced ones. I did plenty of research for these pickles and a few things to note is avoid the "dill chips" which are thin sliced pickles, people say they are too thin and shrivel, avoid the pickles you buy in the refrigerated section, they don't work. And some people said to avoid the "Great Value" brand specifically, because they tend to shrivel up. Some other people said to avoid the cheaper brands but I used these ones, the yellow label no name, cheapest you can get pickles and had absolutely no problem with them. I don't love them as dill pickles on their own but after transforming them they're perfect.

You will also need a handful of sliced pickled jalapenos. 

Step 1: Strain all the juice from our pickles. You can save it for other things such as making my Fry Sauce, adding some to a Caesar (or Bloody Mary for the southerners), or you can just drink it when no ones looking...hey there's a lot of health benefits tied to drinking pickle juice. 

Step 2: Add your strained pickles and jalapenos to a bowl that has a lid. 

Step 3: Add 2 cups of white sugar to the bowl. Yes you read that right!

Step 4: Add about 10 dashes of hot sauce. I think the traditional hot sauce for these is Tabasco, hence one of the names being "Tabasco Pickles" but I used Franks Red Hot because i'm obsessed with it and it's what I always have.

Step 5: Toss in about 1 Tbsp of garlic. I previously made these adding whole cloves of garlic but I really didn't love it. The pickles that were close to the whole cloves of garlic were too garlicky, yes that's a thing lol. This time around I did minced and it was perfect, every slice gets a bit of garlicky goodness.

The first time I made these pickles I sat there staring at my bowl full of pickles, sugar, hot sauce and garlic and couldn't help but wonder if I lost my mind. I stuck with it and I am so glad I did. I know the amount of sugar is shocking but you're not going to be eating all that sugar. The sugar dissolves and forms a new sweet pickle juice, so unless you chug the juice and eat all the pickles I think you're fine.





Step 6: Give everything a stir and put the lid on it. You're going to keep this on your counter until most of the sugar has dissolved and there is plenty of juice formed, stirring a few times throughout. I think I left mine out for about 5-6 hours.












This was about 30 minutes of sitting.

















About 4 hours of sitting.
















After about 5-6 hours of sitting.

Once most of the sugar has dissolved you can either keep them in the bowl with a lid and put them in refrigerator, but that takes up a lot of room. You can put them in mason jars or return them to the jar they came in and put them in the fridge.  After 24 hours these are good to eat, but I did practice self control and let them sit for a full week last time I made them and after 24 hours they're delicious but after a week they're perfect. Also, I did find while researching that they are good in your fridge for up to 2 months...I have not yet had these last more than 3 days in my fridge before I ate them all but just in case.


I hope you all love these as much as I do. Here is a printable version of my Sweet and Spicy Pickles.

Sweet and Spicy Pickles

Ingredients: 1 1L jar of dill pickle slices (not too thin, no pickles from the refrigerated section) 1/4 cup pickled sliced jalapenos 2 cups of white sugar 10 dashes of hot sauce 1 tbsp minced garlic Method:  Strain all the juice from the pickles and jalapenos and add to a bowl that has a lid. Add sugar, hot sauce, and garlic on top. Stir and cover the pickles leaving on the counter for about 5-6 hours or until the sugar has mostly dissolved and you have a juice that is almost covering the pickles. Stir the pickles a few times while they're sitting. Move pickles to a jar with a lid (or the pickle jar they originally came in works too) Place your pickles in the fridge. They are good to eat as of 24 hours later, but best after a week. These will stay good in the fridge for up to 2 months.