Liven up the cream cheese in your fridge with the tanginess of dill pickles. The light, silky cream cheese spreads perfectly across your bagels or toast in the morning, while the sharp dill pickle flavor adds a delicious, salty and sour kick. Mustard and relish enhance the sharp, sour flavor of the pickles.
Mix it early and store it in the fridge, then break out your favorite spread when it’s breakfast time!
Ingredients
- cream cheese – the brick kind
- pickle juice – from the pickle jar
- pickles
- sweet green relish
- fresh dill
- mustard
- salt
How to Make it
- Combine. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese with the pickle juice, pickles, relish, dill and mustard. Season with salt (if needed), to taste.
- Serve. Serve on bagels, toast or crackers. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Tip: If you would like it to be a thinner consistency to use it as a dip, simply mix in more of the brine or a bit of milk.
Serving Suggestions
Like compound butter, you can mix cream cheese with a variety of herbs, spices and other flavors. This recipe adds a salty crunch with relish and chopped pickles. Once you’ve prepared your dill pickle cream cheese spread, you can spread it on bagels, toast, crackers or dip into it with breadsticks. Slather it on burgers and sandwiches for added flavor, or serve it as an appetizer dip with chips or crackers.
You could even experiment with dinner entrées that need a creamy spread. If you’re looking for a healthier snack, serve your cream cheese with raw vegetables like carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes–or even pickles if you can’t get enough.
Storage
Fridge: Once you’ve mixed the spread, store it in the fridge as soon as possible. Most store brands come with preservatives that slow the growth of bacteria. However, since we’ve added fresh ingredients, your cream cheese will be best if you eat it within one to two weeks. Place it in a sealed container so that it maintains its soft, creamy texture.
Freezer: You can also freeze your cream cheese spread for up to 2 months, but note that the freezing process will change the texture. The cheese might be grainy and crumbly when thawed from the freezer, so we do not recommend it. At that point you would only want to use it for baking, casseroles or in anything that will hide the texture.
Interesting Fact
Here’s a juicy tidbit to leave you with: Cleopatra gave credit to eating pickles for her health and beauty! Her lover, Julius Caesar, also gave pickles to troops, thinking they would make them strong.
What’s your favorite way to serve this dill pickle cream cheese spread? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Dill Pickle Cream Cheese Bagel Spread
Ingredients
- 8 oz. cream cheese (1 block) - softened
- 1 tbsp. pickle juice - from the pickle jar
- 3 tbsp. pickles - diced
- 2 tbsp. sweet green relish
- 1 tbsp. fresh dill - finely chopped
- 2 tsp. mustard
- Salt - to taste
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese with the pickle juice, pickles, relish, dill and mustard. Season with salt (if needed), to taste.
- Serve on bagels, toast or crackers. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
- If you would like it to be a thinner consistency to use it as a dip, simply mix in more of the brine or a bit of milk.
Nutrition
Nutrition information on In the Kitch is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It may not include toppings and/or sauces.
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