MN State Fair Fried (Baked) Pickles

When I was a kid, August brought with it a wave of conflicting emotions. The excitement of an annual family beach vacation was offset by the paralyzing fear of returning to school, yet there was always one aspect of August that tilted my mood ever-so-slightly in the positive direction: The Minnesota State Fair.

While I was growing up, my family would go to the fair at least twice, but usually three times each year. Sure, us kids loved it, but the multiple journeys were mostly because of my mom. She grew up near the fair, and still transforms into a giddy kid as soon as she walks in the gates. This giddy kid then leads our hungry family from food stand to food stand, trying what’s new but mostly running to our tried-and-true favorites: cheese curds, mini donuts, and fried pickles.

If you’re not a Minnesotan, you may think, “It’s a fair, big deal,” but no no no, not so fast. This isn’t just your average fair. It’s an opportunity to observe variety. Variety in food, variety in courage (I mean WHAT are those people in that bungee ball even THINKING?), and variety in people. Oh me-oh-my the people watching is fantastic: The mullets, the puffy 80s bangs, the 60+ woman in a halter top, the fanny packs…it’s just everything you’d ever want to watch while stuffing your face with fried pickles.

Since I can only make it to “The Great Minnesota Get Together” once this year, I thought that I’d try to bring a bit of the fair home. Maybe I couldn’t take the people watching home with me (which is good…things could get weird real fast), but I could try my hand at homemade fried pickles. When I say “fried” I mean baked, because deep-fried pickles should probably be limited to once, twice, or three times a year, but breaded and baked pickles should be just 20 minutes away year-round, right?

I came up with this recipe after some trial and error. My first mistake was buying a jar of pre-sliced pickles. They’re just not thick enough, so you need to make your own slices. You want a good bite of pickle, not all batter.

In this first batch I also used just cornmeal and cornstarch to bread the pickles, and they turned out too thick and not crunchy enough. Then I tried just panko bread crumbs, but the crumbs were too big and not similar enough to Minnesota State Fair standards. That’s when I created this happy medium, with just a little cornmeal, a small spoonful of cornstarch, and finely processed panko crumbs. I’ve done the homework for you; If you want to make some Minnesota State Fair-style pickles at home, look no further.

If you’re feeling crazy, go ahead and fry these. They will be a bit more golden, and probably a tad crunchier, but I personally think that’s unnecessary. The drizzling of olive oil browns these up nicely, and the combination of panko and cornmeal makes them nice and crisp. You’d never even guess that they were baked.

MN State Fair Fried (Baked) Pickles

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

16 mins

Total time

31 mins

 

Golden and crispy oven "fried" pickles inspired by the Minnesota State Fair!

Author: Katie of Veggie and the Beast

Recipe type: Snacks

Serves: About 30 pickles

Ingredients

Oven Fried Pickles:

• 5 whole dill pickles, sliced into ¼-inch thick rounds
• ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch, divided
• 1 egg
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons cornmeal
• ½ teaspoon garlic salt
• ¼ teaspoon cumin
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

Ranch Dressing Dip

• 6 ounces fat free Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon dill
• ½ teaspoon parsely

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Get three bowls out, and fill one with ½ cup of cornstarch, and the next with a mix of the buttermilk, egg, and dijon. The third bowl will hold your breading mixture, which you assemble like this: In a food processor, pulse the panko bread crumbs, cornmeal, remaining tablespoon cornstarch, garlic salt and cumin. You want to process this mixture a bit so the panko bread crumbs become smaller, which will mirror the breading texture of the magical Minnesota State Fair pickles.
3. Once your breading mixture is ready, you have your assembly line all set up. Here’s how to approach it: 1) Dunk the pickle slice into the ½ cup cornstarch, making sure to coat all sides. 2) Dip it into the egg/buttermilk mixture. 3) Finish it off with a dip into the bread crumb, cornstarch and cornmeal bowl. 4) Set the dunked slice aside while you finish the other pickles
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil. Line up the pickle slices, and drizzle another tablespoon of olive oil over the top. Bake for 8 minutes, then flip each pickles, drizzle with remaining olive oil, and bake for another 8 minutes. Pickles will be golden and sizzling.
5. While the pickles bake, use a beater, processor, or whisk and gusto to combine all the ranch dip ingredients. Refrigerate until you’re ready to use.

Notes

Ranch dressing dip adapted from Baked Bree.

3.2.2310

To emulate the State Fair experience at home, I grabbed a cold beer, sat outside, and crunched on pickles while taking in the end of summer. Of course for a BETTER Minnesota State Fair experience I’d need to grab my fanny pack and work on my mullet, but in a pinch I suppose this’ll do.