A few months ago, my niece and I were talking about wish lists.
At 8, her most recent birthday and Christmas desires have featured Barbies and their myriad accessories, and she’s also an accomplished artist, loving anything and everything craft-related.
“You know what your mom asked our grandma to get her for her birthday one year?” I asked her.
“What?”
I’m sure she was expecting something brilliant, since my sister is still held in reverence in their house.
“Pickles.”
“Pickles?”
She scrunched up her nose in disgust. The love of dill clearly skipped a generation.
She was even more horrified when I told her our grandma went all out and purchased a big, gallon jar of whole dills and that my sister ate and enjoyed every last one in the weeks following her birthday.
If that story disgusts you, as well, this may not be your favorite week for recipes. However, if you do like dill pickles, this is a great snack for you to make, and it’s a great one for a crowd.
This comes from the influencer “timewithariana.” You can find her on TikTok and on YouTube. I put more cheese in my version and figured out the amounts for all the ingredients.
Pickle Dip
Ingredients
- 2 cups plain Greek yogurt
- 8 ounces whipped cream cheese
- 3 ounces bacon bits
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 ounce Ranch seasoning packet
- 4 to 5 stalks green onion diced
- 32 ounces pickles drained and diced
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl, and stir to combine well. That’s it.
- Serve with crackers or pretzels, and keep any leftovers refrigerated in an airtight container.
I made this for a couple get-togethers at our offices last week, and it went over really well. It’s one of those things that, when you tell people what it is, they look at you really skeptically. But once folks tried a scoop, quite a few came back for another try. It’s a little addictive.
It’s also not as overwhelmingly pickle-y as you kind of expect it to be. The cream cheese, cheddar and bacon really help to balance that out.
I also had a few questions about prepping the pickles from people we shared this with. I didn’t dab them dry, just tapped them on the side of the jar, and it didn’t mess up the consistency of the overall dip at all. Also, if you like heat, I think using spicy pickles would be awesome in this, too.
And it does make plenty, which makes it a great dip for a crowd.
And, in my case, the leftovers are all mine, because Joey happens to be in agreement with my niece on pickles.
The two of them don’t know what they’re missing.
This piece first appeared in print Feb. 5, 2026.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.
