This Dill Pickle-Ranch Pasta Salad is the Real Deal

Hot dogs and hamburgers may be the stars of your summer cookout, but no cookout is complete without the pickle. Pickles are always there on the side, waiting to jump in and add a sour punch to any dish. Whether you throw them on a burger, toss them into a tuna salad, or munch on them plain, there’s something inexplicably satisfying about the crunch of a pickle. Most of the time, pickles sit on the side of your plate without much attention.

This Dill Pickle-Ranch Pasta Salad changes all of that with its pickle-first flavor profile. Sure, the pasta provides most of the bulk for the dish, and the cubed cheese, onion and creamy dressing contribute their own flavors and textures, but it’s those crunchy, zingy pickles—along with a splash of pickle juice—that play the starring role.

To make this salad, you will need: two boxes of Betty Crocker Suddenly Pasta Salad ranch and bacon salad mix, mayonnaise, sour cream, garlic salt, cubed Colby-Monterey Jack cheese, sliced dill pickles, dill pickle juice and fresh dill weed.

Boil Suddenly Salad pasta according to package. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, and one of the Suddenly Salad ranch and bacon packets. You can discard the other packet. Mix until well combined.

Place cooked pasta in a large mixing bowl. Add in cheese, pickles, pickle juice, dill, mayo mixture, garlic powder and pepper.

Cover and refrigerate for two hours before serving.