Instantly Upgrade A Basic Salad Kit With This Flavorful Pantry Item

For us, the best salads are all about contrast, with different textures and flavors playing off each other. Without that balance, a salad can quickly start to feel a little one-note. If you're looking to add brightness, tang, and, most importantly, a satisfying crunch, the solution might already be sitting in your pantry: pickled vegetables. Pickles are preserved in a tangy salt- or vinegar-based brine, which gives them their sharp flavor and helps them stay firm. You can just about pickle anything, including fruits, and it's a great way to extend the shelf life of your veggies.

There are plenty of reasons why pickles are great in salads. Because they're preserved in a brine, they bring a bright tang that can help to balance rich, creamy dressings like Thousand Island or blue cheese. We recommend never rinsing your pickled vegetables; you want that brine to stick to them and transfer into the salad. Better yet, there are many uses for leftover pickle brine, and if you love savory flavors as much as we do, stir a spoonful straight into your dressing for an extra pop of briny brightness.

Pickled vegetables are also naturally salty. Salt is used in the brine to draw out moisture, helping preserve the vegetables and protect them from spoilage. That built-in salinity also makes pickles an easy way to boost flavor and provide contrast to sweeter ingredients. While salt is good, too much can ruin any dish, so it's best to scale back on any additional salt or salty ingredients when adding pickles to your salad.

You could buy your pickles at the grocery store, but they're surprisingly easy to make at home. To make things even better, have a go at pre-brining your vegetables before they go into the vinegar mix. Simply toss them in coarse sea salt and let them sit in a colander as the salt draws out excess moisture. This step helps the vegetables absorb more of the brine's flavor while keeping their texture crisp and snappy.

From there, you can customize your brine with aromatics and spices. For an Asian-inspire salad, consider adding coriander seeds, sliced ginger, smashed garlic, and using rice wine vinegar instead of regular white vinegar. That's just one example — whole black peppercorns, bay leaves, and cloves are also reliable picks for everyday brines to add depth and complexity.

Finally, think about how you cut your vegetables, so they shine in the salad itself. Carrots are especially great for this. Before brining, we like to shave them into long ribbons with a peeler to create long strands that'll weave crunchy goodness throughout your salad. The same technique also works on cucumbers and zucchini.