12 Pickle Brands Made With The Highest Quality Ingredients

A pickle is not just a pickle. It all depends on where it comes from, how it's made, and what's added to each sour little cucumber. For the passionate pickle fans out there, the difference in quality and taste from one pickle to the next is a big deal. High-quality ingredients and traditional pickling methods can elevate the humble once-cucumber into a gourmet and healthy treat, making certain brands stand out from the pickle pack.

Unfortunately, not all pickles are created equal. Some brands cut corners by using artificial preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, and synthetic dyes, which can be harmful to your health, contributing to long-term health issues like chronic inflammation or even causing cancer. In contrast, top-quality pickles are made with natural ingredients and are free or mostly free from these potentially harmful substances.

So, to help you make informed decisions about your pickle consumption, we've collected the best of the best pickles you can buy. Our selections are primarily based on the source for the ingredients and the absence of notoriously unhealthy chemicals and additives, especially precarious ones like Yellow No. 5, which has been linked to allergic reactions and cancer. Whether you prefer your pickles sweet or sour, crunchy or smooth, rest assured that the brands on this list have your taste buds and your health in mind. From small-batch artisans to well-established names, these brands are committed to delivering high-quality, delicious pickles that you can feel good about eating.

Read more: 16 Little-Known Facts About Salt

Grillo's Pickles

Grillo's does not kid around when it comes to both its pickle ingredients and the pickling process. First of all, Grillo's pickles are made with garden-fresh produce using a family recipe that dates back 100 years. They contain absolutely no artificial preservatives or added colors of any kind. The fully recognizable, whole ingredients on the label of each jar of Grillo's pickles serve as proof.

Grillo's also uses a fresh pickling process instead of fermentation, which means its products are pickled in an acidic brine rather than active cultures. As a result, the pickles maintain more of their original tangy taste and crispness. Whether you're a pickle connoisseur or an occasional pickle eater, high-quality ingredients make a difference in flavor, and people flock to a truly great product. For this reason, the popularity of Grillo's pickles has skyrocketed. Well, that and the fact that podcaster Joe Rogan found Grillo's pickles, loved them, and started promoting them on his show. But he did it for a reason. Clearly, Grillo's is doing something right. It has even begun to create some wild spin-off products that Grillo's fans can't get enough of.

Dietz & Watson Pickles

As a family business since 1939, Dietz & Watson proudly maintains transparency about its products, including its pickles. It's not such a hard task when you're using high-quality ingredients in every jar. For one, Dietz & Watson sources produce from farmers who share its commitment to standards and quality. Also, the spices in each pickle flavor are blended by hand, unlike many companies that get their spices premixed. This ensures a delicious taste in every batch. Thoughtful details like these speak volumes about the exceptional quality and flavor of these pickles.

When you check the ingredients on any Dietz & Watson pickle product, you'll notice the majority of them are whole foods. That means no artificial colors and no monosodium glutamate (MSG), a common additive in mass-produced pickles. Dietz & Watson pickles do contain a preservative to keep them as fresh as possible, and it's listed on ingredients label as 1/10 of 1% sodium benzoate. The other potentially questionable ingredient is the nondescript "flavorings," but it's the last item on the list, so its quantity has to be even more minimal than 1/10 of 1%. Now in its fourth generation of family leadership, Dietz & Watson continues to uphold its legacy of quality and transparency in crafting delicious pickles that meet the highest standards.

Epic Pickles

Every single product from Epic Pickles is lovingly hand-produced right in its shop in York County, Pennsylvania. Being hand-crafted means that no machines whatsoever are used in production. The commitment a company must have to hand wash and slice its pickles really shows how much it cares about quality. To double down on that, Epic Pickles partners with a wholesaler who sources top-notch produce, often from local farms during cucumber season. This ensures that only the highest-quality cucumbers go into every jar. And there's more where that came from. Epic Pickles has a whole line of other pickled vegetables, such as carrots, cauliflower, and even garlic, that are all just as delicious.

The ingredient list in each Epic Pickles variety is refreshingly simple and straightforward. Alongside cucumbers, you'll find ingredients like mustard seed, vinegar, dill, and peppercorns. What you won't find are artificial flavors or additives. One ingredient at the very end of the list, calcium chloride, might raise eyebrows, but it's a mineral salt. This keeps the pickles firm and crisp, the way a scrumptious pickle should be.

Cleveland Kitchen Pickles

Cleveland Kitchen is in the business of world-class fermented foods, including pickles. It uses only the best of the best ingredients, all locally sourced from Midwest farmers. This is part of the reason why its pickles end up tasting so good. Cleveland Kitchen's pickles are also fresh-packed and lightly fermented with vinegar and various spices. Fermented foods contain lots of probiotics that support gut health, which means these pickles are not only delicious, but also they'll do your body good.

Aside from the probiotics, Cleveland Kitchen pickles are free of preservatives, colorings, and added sugars. Checking out the label, you'll quickly see that all the ingredients are whole foods, such as cucumbers, garlic, bay leaf, and turmeric. The added turmeric works double duty, adding delicious flavor and helping keep Cleveland Kitchen's pickles fresh and crunchy. Whether you're sliding them into a sandwich, pairing them with cheese and charcuterie, or enjoying them straight from the jar, Cleveland Kitchen pickles stand out for their superior quality and outright deliciousness.

Ba-Tampte Pickles

Founded in 1955, Ba-Tampte remains a family-owned business just like it started, and many of its pickle recipes have not changed a bit. Ba-Tampte's New York style pickles contain no preservatives and must be refrigerated to stay fresh. They also have no artificial colors, flavors, or added chemicals whatsoever. In fact, these pickles contain nothing but whole foods. Each label shows only five ingredients: cucumbers, water, garlic, salt, and spices. This is standard for a New York style pickle, also known as a kosher dill pickle, which became popular among the Jewish immigrant community of New York City. It is a crisp, tangy pickle typically brined in a solution of water, salt, garlic, and dill and fermented naturally without vinegar.

Ba-Tampte's pickles in particular are special because they use only the highest quality ingredients right down to the spices. For example, its Garlic Dill pickles and Half Sours use fresh garlic in a natural fermentation process. Though Ba-Tampte says it has added a pickle-packing machine to its production process to keep up with demand, its pickles are still cured by hand in its own facilities.

Pickled Pink Pickles

Pickled Pink Foods began in 2013 with two Alabama men taking old family recipes and turning them into a business they love. Its pickles are made with top-notch, natural ingredients. After all, when you love something, you do it right. Business owners who care don't let quality fall by the wayside. That's certainly not the case with Pickled Pink. Each jar of its pickles is free of dyes and preservatives, ensuring a pure and authentic taste. Ingredients are sourced in the U.S., with only fresh produce going into every batch.

Alongside the traditional garlic dill flavor, Pickled Pink offers a Southern twist with a variety of pickled foods that is sure to entice your taste buds. These include pickled watermelon, peaches, okra, and sweet original pickles, among plenty of other unique flavors. And if high-quality, all-natural ingredients aren't enough, Pickled Pink weaves ethical and heartwarming practices right into its business model. A piece of the company's profits is donated to the nonprofit animal shelter Felines & Canines Hunter Stephenson Rescue, which is located in Alabama. For each pickle purchase you make, you'll not only be eating some gourmet pickles, but you'll also be contributing to a worthy cause.

Bubbies Pickles

According to Bubbies' website, its pickles are so natural and authentic that they taste homemade. This claim is not a hard sell given the transparency of the company's pickling process and nutrition label. Its pickles are naturally fermented the old-fashioned way, in artesian well water, spices, and kosher salt. This meticulous approach to pickling ensures that each bite of a Bubbies pickle is bursting with natural flavor and crunch. There's no added sugar, no preservatives, and no artificial chemicals or colorings. What you see on the label is what you get, which is a short list of whole-food ingredients on any pickle product.

At your local grocery store, you'll find Bubbies pickles only in the refrigerated section. This helps to keep them as crisp and fresh as possible. Bubbies' commitment to quality and tradition shines through in every jar, lending to its wide popularity as one of the most beloved pickle brands across the U.S. Whether enjoyed on their own or as a tangy addition to your favorite dishes, Bubbies pickles are a mouth-watering testament to the art of traditional pickling.

Boar's Head Pickles

Boar's Head is a delicatessen brand famous for its award-winning meats and cheeses, but that doesn't mean its pickles don't live up to the fancy name too. Just like the rest of the company's products, Boar's Head pickles are made with uncompromising standards and use high-quality ingredients. Expect premium pickles and spices in every batch. Since the company began in 1905, those standards have always stood strong. As a family business now in its fifth generation, Boar's Head continues to uphold its legacy of excellence and tradition.

Boar's Head pickles are cold-cured to ensure a satisfying crunch and hand-packed into a tangy vinegar brine for a balanced sweet-and-sour flavor. Part of the irresistible sweetness of its classic kosher dills comes from the pickled carrots you'll also find in every jar. Boar's Head pickles are always free of artificial colors, flavors, MSG, and fillers. They do contain two preservatives -- sodium benzoate and EDTA -- to help with their fresh and crisp flavor and texture, so just be aware in case those are ingredients you want to avoid.

Trü Pickles

Before Trü Pickles became a business, it was simply Greg Skufca using his great-grandmother's hand-me-down canning recipes to preserve his homegrown vegetables. He shared all these freshly canned veggies with family and friends, but his pickles quickly became the prized favorite. Realizing the potential, Skufca turned his hobby into a business so he could share his delicious pickles with a lot more people. Today, Trü Pickles retains that homemade quality. One look at any Trü Pickles label reveals only the best ingredients. You won't find any additives, flavorings, or colors. Fresh-packed to maintain their crisp texture and flavor, these pickles have a natural taste and crunch that do not disappoint.

Trü Pickles also stands out for the unique flavors. Beyond traditional kosher dills and bread and butter pickles, the brand offers intriguing varieties like Smoked Black Pepper and Spiced Chai. These innovative options reflect Trü Pickles' commitment not just to quality but also to creativity. No matter if you're into a more classic or adventurous flavor profile, Trü Pickles delivers a tasty, all-natural eating experience that will satisfy any pickle lover's craving.

Maille Original Cornichons Gherkins

L'Maison Maille, known today as simply Maille, has been around since 1747 in France when a father and son decided to start a premium condiments business that included pickles. They didn't just make standard, everyday pickles though. Instead, they specialized in cornichons and gherkins. These small, tart, French pickles, typically made from young cucumbers, are known for their distinct, tangy flavor and crunchy texture. From day one of the company's humble beginnings, it promised to use the highest quality ingredients and nothing less. Almost three centuries later, this dedication to quality has not faltered.

The specialists at Maille today continue to put lots of effort and care into choosing the right produce, spices, and vinegars that will create the best texture and flavor for Maille Original Cornichons Gherkins. While the recipe primarily uses whole foods, it does contain the preservative potassium metabisulfite to protect the quality of the pickles during their shelf life. This way, customers can count on crisp and fresh flavors in each jar. Cornichons serve as an excellent addition to charcuterie boards and sandwiches, though they are so tasty you might just end up eating them right out of the jar.

McClure's Pickles

Every summer for years, brothers Bob and Joe McClure would make homemade pickles with their great-grandmother's infamous recipe. As the family mythology goes, their father married their mother just to get his hands on that pickle recipe, which would later be handed down to them. Year after year of making pickles together paved the way to what is now a successful family pickle business.

Based out of Michigan, McClure's Pickles use local cucumbers whenever possible. One of the largest cucumber farmers in the U.S. is located in Michigan, so this makes it pretty easy to get them fresh. And when that's not possible, McClure's always makes the effort to talk to growers directly so it can verify the quality of the cucumbers it'll be using. This means with McClure's, you're getting fresh pickles of guaranteed quality no matter what. Every single jar of McClure's Pickles is hand-packed, kosher certified, and all-natural with no preservatives. No matter the McClure's pickle flavor you choose, every ingredient on the label is a whole food. For example, the Garlic Dill pickles have only six ingredients: cucumbers, vinegar, water, salt, garlic, and dill. These pickles are simple and delicious. What more could you ask for?

Randy's Pickles

Every ingredient in Randy's Pickles comes directly from nature with no processing whatsoever. That equates to no chemicals, no preservatives, no GMOs, and no faux color either. We checked the labels to verify this, and it's true. Each jar has just a few ingredients, and except for the vinegar, they're all things that grow from the ground. Not only are the pickles as natural as can be, but they're also made with the freshest cucumbers and spices.

Since the company's debut in 2012, Randy's Pickles has really taken off, which has been attributed to its commitment to quality and flavor. Because of the company's growth, Randy's Pickles decided to join the Sidari Artisan Brands family of companies, which is dedicated to the use of artisan products and local ingredients. Sidari helps small artisanal entrepreneurs reach the national scale without having to sacrifice quality. This is great news for pickle lovers, as you can now find Randy's Pickles all across the U.S.

How We Chose The Pickles Brands On This List

Pickles are generally considered a healthy snack because they are low in calories and (very often) fat-free. While this is true, there are plenty of low-quality ingredients that can undermine these pickle perks and make them potentially harmful to your health. This is why we meticulously selected the pickles on this list based on brands that keep quality at the forefront of their business model. Specifically, we looked over the ingredient lists of pickle brand after pickle brand, checking for the use of whole-food ingredients without artificial additives, preservatives, or colorings. Thankfully, many pickle brands stick to all, or at least mostly, natural ingredients, which are the ones that populate this list.

We also considered how different pickle brands source their produce and spices, with local sourcing being optimal in terms of freshness. By focusing on these aspects, we curated a list of pickle brands that are not only delicious but also high-quality. That way, when you're at the grocery store, you can make informed decisions about which pickle brands you want to bring home.

Read the original article on Mashed.