Oven "Fried" Pickles with Skinny Herb Buttermilk Ranch Dip

Cornmeal panko herb crusted dill pickles baked in the oven until golden and crisp. Have you ever had fried pickles?

Fried pickles to a New Yorker is quite uncommon, alien actually! But in the South they are wildly popular. The first time I tried fried pickles was at a restaurant in DC, I found myself trying to decide if I liked them, yet oddly reaching for seconds and thirds.

Since then I have had many requests for a make-over and finally tackled the request.

Baking them worked out great, the crumbs stuck perfectly and with a generous amount of oil sprayed on top, they baked to a golden crisp. You can easily make 1/2 batch (1-16 oz jar) for less people. If you are watching your sodium, you may not want to make them unless you can find low sodium dill pickles.

As a base I started with a version Mary from Mary's Bites^[1] shared with me, which I slightly adapted it to suit my taste. Hope you Southerners and even all you Yankees enjoy!!

Oven Fried Pickles with Skinny Herb Buttermilk Ranch Dip
Adapted from Mary's Bites^[2]
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 8 • Serving Size: 6 slices with dip • Old Points: 1 pts • Points+: 3 pts
Calories: 58.6 • Fat: 1.4 g • Protein: 2.4 g • Carb: 9.1 g • Fiber: 0.6 g • Sugar: 0.3 g
Sodium: 1248.8 mg 
 
Ingredients:

• 2 -16 oz jars (48 slices) sliced oval dill hamburger pickles, I used Vlasic
• 1/2 cup of Panko crumbs
• 1/4 cup of cornmeal
• 1/4 cup of flour
• 1/4 tsp of smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp chipotle powder
• 1/4 cup dried parsley
• 1/8th tsp kosher salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white
• olive oil spray (about 1 tsp)

For the Ranch Dip:

• 1/4 cup fat free sour cream
• 1/4 cup fat free Greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp light mayo
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh chives 1/4 tsp salt
• freshly ground pepper to taste 
• 1 tsp white balsamic vinegar 
• 1/3 cup 1% low fat buttermilk

Directions:

Make ranch dip by combining all the dip ingredients and refrigerate until pickles are done.

Place pickles to drain on paper towels.

Mix crumbs and flour together along with paprika, parsley, and half the chipotle powder and salt.

Whisk eggs and egg whites in a bowl and season with remaining chipotle powder.  

Dip pickles in egg mixture and then into the crumb mix, pressing down on the crumbs. 

Heat oven to 450°F along with 2 baking sheets. When the oven reaches 450°, remove baking sheets and spray with olive oil spray; place pickles on the baking sheets and spray the tops of the pickles with the more oil.  Bake 8-10 minutes, turn and spray if needed and cook an additional five minutes. Remove pickles from cooking sheet and serve hot with dip.

References

1. ^{^} Mary's Bites (www.marysbites.com)
2. ^{^} Mary's Bites (www.marysbites.com)

Source : http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/05/oven-fried-pickles-with-skinny-herb.html

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