The Latest Food Trend On Social Media Is Absolutely ‘Dill’-Icious

It’s the summer of the pickle. The crunchy, salty, brined cucumber is taking over snack cabinets and menus across the country. Shoppers are likely noticing a surge in pickle and dill-flavored products lining the grocery aisles.

There’s a new limited edition spicy dill pickle-flavored Goldfish cracker, Heinz created a pickle ketchup and Trader Joe’s released Perfectly Pickled Pups—breaded mini hot dogs infused with dill-pickle flavor. Unlikely food items, like desserts, are even getting in on the pickle mania: Baked by Melissa, the bite-sized cupcake bakery, just launched a special pickle flavored cupcake in collaboration with Claussen.

Social media has long been obsessed with all things pickle. There have been a variety of trends on TikTok featuring the briny vegetable. First there were “girl dinners,” a meal featuring a variety of smaller snacks like pickles, cheese and crackers.

Then there was the hot pickle challenge showcasing TikTokers eating very spicy pickles straight from the container. The hashtag #pickles on TikTok has been used close to 300,000 times.

The pickle social media trend is also reflected in consumer data. The market size for pickles is expected to grow over 5.8% CAGR between 2023 and 2032, with the 2032 value projection at $22.36 Billion. A Yelp report from 2023 shows pickle-flavored food searches up 55%.

Now, the latest “big dill” in the pickle craze is a sandwich.

This new food trend taking over social media swaps the bread in a submarine sandwich for a giant seed-scooped-out pickle. A New York deli has gone viral on TikTok for this creation that piles cold cuts, cheese and other traditional sandwich ingredients, like lettuce and bacon, between two halves of a giant pickle.

Seven Brothers Gourmet in Oceanside, New York is the deli responsible for the viral pickle sandwich. It was the brainchild of two pickle loving staff members who wanted to make a new type of sandwich without using bread. They came up with the concoction this past January and only made a few of the sandwiches each week. When a TikTok video showcasing the pickle sandwich creation went viral in May, everything changed. After the TikTok video featuring the sandwich garnered over 4 million views, Seven Brothers Gourmet noticed an increase in demand. Customers started showing up in droves to get a taste of the pickle sandwich.

“Now we’re making up to 500 pickle sandwiches a day,” says Stephanie Kempf, one of the Seven Brothers Gourmet employees who invented the sandwich. Kempf says her original creation contained turkey, provolone cheese, lettuce and bacon, but any combination of meat and cheese works in the picklewich.

Customers are even traveling to the deli from other states to sink their teeth into the pickle goodness. The demand has been so high that Seven Brothers Gourmet started a separate line designated for pickle sandwiches to meet the increase in orders and to not bother customers looking for a more carb-filled lunch.

Pickle lovers who don’t live near Oceanside, New York can recreate the sandwich at home.

“Make sure you have a big enough pickle and don’t forget to scoop out the seeds,” Kempf says. “Layer on any cold cuts you’d like, cheese, lettuce and there you have your own pickle sandwich.”

Seven Brothers Gourmet isn’t the first deli to swap bread for the lower calorie pickle. Elsie’s Sub Shop in Haddon Township, New Jersey started making picklewiches in 2019 when the owner was looking for a healthier sandwich option. Now the New Jersey deli focuses on traditional bread sandwiches, but the pickle bun is still available for those looking to have a lower carb meal.