Photo: Claire Lower
I am a big fan of pairing pickles and dairy.I am a big fan of pairing pickles and dairy.I am a big fan of pairing pickles and dairy.I wouldn’t chase down a garlic pickle with a glass of milk, but I have been known to dip cornichons into crème fraîche and fry pickle slices in piles of shredded cheddar, and I’m not the only one obsessed with the combination. “Pickles in a blanket”—aka “chickles”— are very popular on TikTok right now. The blanket is made with cheese.
It’s a simple two-ingredient snack: A slice of cheese is placed in a nonstick pan and, once it’s all bubbly and lacy and starting to brown on the edges, wrapped around a pickle spear (or small pickle half). From a flavor perspective, this isn’t all that different from our pickle cheese crisps (which also sprang forth from TikTok), but the ratio of pickle to cheese is much more pickle heavy, and you get the same amount of pickle in every bite.
Photo: Claire Lower
The most difficult part of making this snack is knowing when to fold the cheese around the pickle. Do it too soon, and you’ll end up with melted cheese sliding off the pickle and back into the pan. Let the cheese fry in its own grease until it’s golden brown all around the edges, with very few melted looking spots. You want lots of little holes, indicating most of the water has evaporated, allowing the cheese to crisp up once it’s removed from the pan.
Image: Claire Lower
You can use pretty much any cheese you want. Even American, which is designed to melt and stay stretchy, will transform into a cheese crisp with enough time and heat. (In fact, that’s what I used to make the pickle in a blanket you see above.) You don’t even have to use cheese slices; most frico is made with shredded cheese, and a cheese blanket made with shredded cheese folds just as well as a cheese blanket made with slices.
Either way, you’ll get a sour, juicy pickle wrapped up in a crispy layer of salty cheese, and it is delicious. The flavors are lightly remniscent of a diner cheeseburger, only without the burger. It screams “flattop,” but you don’t a need Waffle House-like grilling surface to make one. All you need is a nonstick pan, a slice (or handful) of cheese, and a pickle spear (or small half). Can you add other ingredients, like sliced meats, vegetables, or even chips? Yes, but try this pickle snack in its simplest form first. It deserves to be enjoyed all on its own. (I did finish mine with honey, but sweet honey, salty, crispy cheese, and sour pickles are so good together.)
Pickle in a Blanket (Or “Chickle”)
Ingredients:
1 slice of white American cheese1 pickle spear or small pickle halfHoney for finishing (optional)Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the cheese slice, and let it cook until it is browned on the edges and nearly all of the “melted” looking spots have turned into dryer, lacy looking spots.
Blot the pickle with paper towels and add it to the center of the cheese slice. Gently fold the edges of the cheese over the pickle using a silicone spatula, then remove from the pan, drizzle with honey if using, and enjoy immediately.
