I Tried 7 Grocery Store Dill Pickles, and the Winner Is a Total Classic (2024)

If I could be a trending food, I’d be pickles. Unlike its viral food predecessors (smoothie bowls, butter boards, and blended cottage cheese, I’m talking about you), pickles are beloved not just by trendy TikTokers, but also kids and Gen Xers. Who wouldn’t want to be appreciated by anyone and everyone?

Pickles are so popular that even their flavor has been used to season dips, chips, classic condiments, and even canned fish! But give me a good classic dill pickle, and I’m a happy girl! That’s why I set out to find the best of the best available at the grocery store.

How I Chose the Dill Pickles

I roamed the refrigerator and condiment aisles of chain grocery stores for a variety of brands and selected only those that I knew were widely available. They had to be designated as “dill” in some way and needed to be in spear form to be considered. No price point was deemed “off-limits” because this is a taste test, after all.

How I Tested and Rated the Dill Pickles

I gathered my trusty tasters, and we judged our pickle experience on several factors. First, of course was flavor. It had to taste like a pickle, and also taste good. Second was crunch. We were after that crispy snap that’s perfect, bite after bite. Last was appearance. Did it look like a cucumber, or some kind of weirdly colored alien food? To keep things fair, we enjoyed the pickles on unlabeled plates and took sips of water between samples to cleanse our palates.

The Best Store-Bought Dill Pickles, Ranked

7th Place: Mt. Olive Kosher Dill Spears

These pickles are an odd, neon yellow color and lack structure. Their limp demeanor and confusing color made us wonder how exactly this pickle was made. Unfortunately, tasting it didn’t improve its likability. One tester took a bite and immediately said, “No!” Another was a little more open-minded, saying, “it’s not that bad, it’s just not good.” It didn’t taste like a traditional dill pickle, and it lacked the punchy vinegar flavor we hoped for. Since it didn’t perform well in any category, we ranked it last.

6th Place: Dietz & Watson Kosher Pickle Spears

5th Place: Yee Haw No Frills Dills

These looked good and gave off solid cucumber vibes with their nubby and crisp exterior. However, the interior was overly soft, which no one loved. The flavor was generally mild and didn’t give us the pickle punch we craved. We placed it in the “meh” category, which put it in 5th place overall.

4th Place: Suckerpunch Snappy Classic Dill Spears

This was the darkest pickle of the bunch, and one tester asked, “are these pickles okay?” To be fair, the color is likely due to the blend of spices (we detected cloves) and seasonings they use. The texture was great though, and the pickles were crisp, which we all loved. As for flavor, it’s not traditional. You can definitely taste the garlic and lots of warm spices, like the above mentioned clove. We agreed that we liked these, but they didn’t fall close enough to the classic, so 4th place seemed right.

3rd Place: Vlasic Zesty Dill Spears

We were faced with another abnormally colored pickle. Its 1980's-inspired neon yellow color didn’t sit well with testers, at least at first. Ironically, the color was completely forgotten once we tasted the pickle. It was bright and had a nice clean flavor. It felt classic and reminded our older taste testers of childhood cookouts, where similar pickles were served alongside hotdogs and hamburgers. They were relatively crunchy, but could’ve ranked higher if they’d provided a crisper bite.

2nd Place: Grillo's Pickles Classic Dill Spears

“It’s gorgeous!” shouted one tester. It looked like an actual cucumber, and we loved the little “whispers” of fresh dill that clung to each pickle. This pickle also packed the biggest crunch and satisfying snap when eaten. It was pickle perfection, and the flavor delivered! We actually saw pieces of dill—and tasted them too. They were fresh and fabulous, and we ate our entire spear!

1st Place: Claussen Kosher Dill Spears

It’s sometimes hard to choose a winner, and my testers were somewhat split here, but Claussen won out over Grillo's by just a little bit. Like Grillo's, Claussen pickles are refrigerated and they are “nice and crunchy,” said one taste tester. We loved that about them, and that the flavor felt familiar, but also unique, with bold acidity and tang that had our mouths watering. We all agreed that Claussen got it right! Big pickle spears packed with crunch and clean flavor! For those reasons, it’s our favorite.