Easy Air Fryer Fried Pickles

Name: Easy Air Fryer Fried Pickles
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 2 cups (320g) sliced pickles; 1 cup (240g) buttermilk (mixed with a dash of Franks hot seasoning (optional)); 1 cup (125g) breadcrumbs; ¼ cup (23g) grated parmesan; 1 teaspoon oregano; ⅓ teaspoon smoked paprika; ¼ teaspoon garlic powder

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You will love these crave-worthy crispy Air Fryer Fried Pickles that are sooooo easy and quick to make! Fried Pickles Air Fryer style are perfect for serving up as a fast snack, party appetizers, and are just the thing for game day gatherings.

Weight Watcher Points included.

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close up of air fryer fried pickles served with a dipping sauce

Need some dinner inspiration tonight guys??? Make a nice Juicy Air Fryer Burger, pair it with these lightly breaded Air Fried Pickles that are made with breadcrumbs and flavorful seasonings and you’ll have a totally mouthwatering meal.

Heck, why not toss a few of these fried pickles on your burger?! Trust me folks, you can’t go wrong.

This simple air fryer recipe version makes an amazing appetizer or super easy snack, and it’s a great side dish to complete a meal.

What Are Fried Pickles?

Traditionally, a pickle is sliced up, breaded, and then deep-fried into golden crunchy bites of perfection. They’re a popular Southern snack that started to rise in popularity in the 1960s.

Like many of my Air Fryer recipes including Air Fryer French Fries and Air Fryer Tofu, you can enjoy a healthier version of similar recipes without all the deep frying guilt, fat, and calories. With just a spritz of oil in the Air Fryer these things crisp up just like the deep-fried ones do.

Why You’ll Crave These Fried Pickle Chips

Healthier than the traditional deep fried pickles.
Golden crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.
Easy and Fast to toss together.
Cheap snack, appetizer, or side.

a plate of air fryer fried pickles and a cup of dipping sauce

Ingredient Notes

sliced pickles – for this I prefer either bread and butter pickles or dill pickles. Try either and see what you like. You can start with whole pickles you slice yourself or store-bought sliced ones.
buttermilk – use store-bought or homemade version.
Franks hot sauce (optional) – add some heat if you desire.
breadcrumbs – you can use regular or panko bread crumbs to give them that crunchy coating.
grated parmesan – freshly grated and finely grated cheese gives the best results.
spices – this gets its flavor from oregano, smoked paprika, and garlic powder.

Air frying pickles is easy. Soooo, let’s gather up these ingredients and I will show you…..

How To Make Air Fryer Fried Pickles

Get complete ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card below.

Preheat the Air Fryer to 400 degrees F / 200 degrees C.
Drain pickles and pat dry using a paper towel.
Put seasoned buttermilk in a shallow bowl.
Mix together breadcrumbs, cheese, and seasonings in another bowl.
Working quickly, dip pickles in buttermilk mix, shake to drip off excess buttermilk, dredge both sides of the pickle in the seasoned bread crumbs mixture and then add coated pickle slices to the air fryer basket.
Keep working quickly to fill the basket in a single layer, then insert the basket into the Air Fryer and cook for 8-10 minutes.
About 3 minutes before they’re done, lightly spray the pickles with spray oil so that the breadcrumbs can crisp up and become golden brown.
Repeat by breading the rest of the pickles and continuing to fry in batches until finished.

image collage showing the steps for making air fryer fried pickles

Air Fryer Pickles Recipe Tips

Make sure the pickles are patted dry properly so the coating sticks on.
You may want to split your seasoned breadcrumb mixture into 2 bowls. Your first bowl of seasonings may start to clump together and get soggy from the dredging of buttermilk-coated pickles. Having a second bowl ready to go will help.
Do not overcrowd the air fryer basket, cook in a single layer which will allow the hot air to circulate and crisp up the food. You may need to cook in 2-3 batches depending on the size of your Air Fryer.
You can use pre-sliced pickles or slice the pickles yourself.
You can slice pickles into wedges or long slices rather than rounds if you want, or buy pre-cut versions of either shape.
Keep slices the same size so they cook evenly at an even rate.
Serve your fried pickles warm or they’ll get soggy if you wait to enjoy them.
Use shallow bowls to dredge the pickle chips in.
For a low carb version, use almond flour for coating.
If you prefer, you can use seasoned all purpose flour mixture to make these instead of breadcrumbs.
Air fryer temperatures can vary depending on the make and model, so it is important to always check your food for doneness.

Delicious Variations

Vary the seasoning – by using cajun seasoning, creole seasoning, Italian seasoning, etc.
Add extra heat – with red pepper flakes, cayenne seasoning, black pepper, etc.
Swap the buttermilk – if you prefer, you can use a beaten egg mixture as a binder instead.

Storage

These are best served up immediately.
Store – Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Reheat – in the air fryer at 400 degrees F / 200 degrees C for 2 to 3 minutes.

top down view of a plate filled with air fryer fried pickles

FAQs

Why Does The Breading Fall Off?

If your breading keeps falling off the pickle chips before you air fry them, try refrigerating them for 30 minutes before frying them. You may try pressing the breading on with a bit of pressure, but this may be hard to do depending on the size of the pickle slices.

Why Does My Breadcrumb Mix Get Clumpy?

If you mistakenly get too much moisture into your breadcrumb mixture bowl, simply scoop that bit off the plate and re-spread the breadcrumbs. This happens when too much of the buttermilk and pickle juice gets into the breadcrumb mix.

Make sure you’re patting the pickles dry before you start. And be sure to shake off the excess buttermilk before dredging through the breadcrumb and seasoning mix.

How to Make Sure Your Fried Pickle Chips Are Crispy

Getting the breading right can be the difference between crispy and soggy limp fried pickles.

Don’t let the pickles sit in the bread coating mix or it will get soggy.
Quickly coat both sides of the pickles, add to the air fryer basket and cook ASAP.
Use a very small amount of olive oil or cooking spray and make sure the buttermilk excess drips off thoroughly.
Or try brushing a small amount of olive oil on the pickle chips before frying. Otherwise, you will end up with a soggy breading.

cooked air fryer fried pickles inside the air fryer basket

More Air Fryer Recipes

Serving Suggestions

You could serve these with your favorite dipping sauce like Remoulade Sauce or Yum Yum Sauce or thousand island dressing or ranch dressing, fry sauce, or more.

You can also use them to complete meals like Juicy Air Fryer Burgers or Crispy Air Fryer Whole Chicken, or Air Fryer Cornish Hen , or these Air Fryer Chicken Tenders. I also love them with Pork Sliders.

a hand reaching into a plate of air fryer fried pickles with dipping sauce and napkins

Weight Watchers Points

There are 8 Blue Plan SmartPoints in one serving of these.

Thank you for reading my Air Fryer Fried Pickles recipe post. And please come visit again as I continue to slice, dice, and dream up affordable Air Fryer recipes, Instant Pot Recipes, Southern Recipes, and more. Thanks for supporting Recipes from a Pantry, food blog.

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5 from 5 votes