I love pickles. I put them in everything from potato salad to grain bowls. I spike my seltzer with pickle juice and rim my dirty pickle martinis with dill pickle seasoning. Vendors at a pickle festival hate to see me coming. So when I heard that Popeyes was debuting a limited-time menu devoted to this briny delight, I jumped on it faster than a cuke goes half-sour in brine.
We’re currently in an era of pickle dominance, which is great news for pickleheads. According to Statista Research, 245.85 million Americans consumed pickles in 2020. This figure was projected to increase to 252.73 million in 2024. Social media has a big hand at driving this uptick. Every week, there seems to be another pickle hack going viral on TikTok, like the Chamoy pickle, “chickle” (pickle wrapped in fried cheese) and Dua Lipa adding pickle juice to Diet Coke, to name a few. Burger King has pickle fries and the fried pickle ranch Whopper. Sonic also has pickle fries, but this is the first time a fast food chain has gone all-in on a pickle menu, though.
Let’s all relish the moment.
Fried Pickles
My pet peeve with most fried pickles is that the coating is too thick and gloppy, or the pickle is fried into limp oblivion. Popeyes managed to nail it on all fronts: Even in my delivery order, the shell of batter on each pickle chip remained remarkably crunchy, and it was the right ratio of coating, which allowed the pickle to maintain its crisp integrity. Good on its own, these fried pickles were even better dipped in ranch to drive home that dilly flavor.
Pickle Glaze Sandwich
It’s the fried chicken sandwich we all know and love, now with a sweet-spicy pickle glaze. The two sandwiches in my order had just a light daub of glaze — all the better for keeping the coating crunchy and the soft toasted brioche bun from sogging out. If I had a tiny quibble, it’s that the two thick-cut pickle slices in each sandwich got hot. I would have preferred the contrast of fridge-cold pickles against the hot chicken, but maybe that’s a restaurant-level desire not attainable in fast food.
Pickle Lemonade
Sweet, savory and puckery-tart, it tastes like a salted lemonade with extra oomph. It’s actually thrilling to get something this complex and tasty from a national fast food chain. I’m completely obsessed with it. The pickle lemonade will definitely be my go-to drink on a hot summer day, or the next time I have a cramp in my leg.
Pickle Glaze Boneless Wings
If the pickle glaze on the sandwich was just a soft whisper, here it was a full-throated roar, and it seemed to say, “I’m spicy! briny! and very sweet!” When it comes to wings, I am pro-bone so the white meat here felt a little dry and shreddy — more like what you'd find in a chicken tender. Both boneless and bone-in wings are available as 6- or 12-pieces.
Pickle Glaze Bone-In Wings
I much preferred the bone-in wings, which had the same sweet-briny glaze as the boneless, but the meat was more luscious and juicy. Fair warning: The heat from the fiery glaze builds against the backdrop of zesty Louisiana spices in the craggy-fried coating. Luckily, you can find creamy, cool relief with a dunk in ranch sauce.
Not only did Popeyes launch this menu, they went full pickle with their flagship restaurant in Times Square. The fast food giant turned it green all over, from the exterior signage down to the entire interior. They also created an ASMR booth so diners can capture the crunch. “What started as a playful social tease has now become a full-fledged culinary reality — a Pickled Popeyes,” said Bart LaCount, Chief Marketing Officer, Popeyes US and Canada.
Verdict and Rankings
Overall, the pickle menu is a fun addition that offers new items for the pickle curious as well as the diehard pickleheads. But there’s one thing in particular that I think everyone should try. Below, are my rankings, ranging from “No big dill” to “Absolutely dill-icious!”
- Pickle Glaze Boneless Wings: 6/10
- Pickle Glaze Bone-In Wings: 7.5/10
- Pickle Glaze Sandwich: 8/10
- Fried Pickles: 8.5/10
- Pickle Lemonade: 9.5/10
Susan (she/her) is the recipe editor at Good Housekeeping, where she pitches ideas, parses words, and produces food content. In the Test Kitchen, she cooks (and samples!) recipes, working with developers to deliver the best written versions possible. A graduate of Brown University and a collaborator on several cookbooks, her previous experience includes stints at Food & Wine, Food Network, three meal kit companies, a wine shop in Brooklyn and Chez Panisse, the pioneering restaurant in Berkeley, California. She enjoys playing tennis, natural wines and reality competition shows.
