Our easy dill pickle dip is my dairy free version of the TikTok viral Grillos pickle dip. This creamy dip is super easy and quick to make, and also happens to be gluten free as well as vegan if you decide not to add bacon.
If you love the tangy, salty, and flavorful taste of dill pickles, you’ll like our lastest allergy friendly recipe: easy dairy free dill pickle dip!
I recently came across a TikTok video of someone making Grillo’s pickle dip and I knew I had to give it a try by adding our dairy free spin on it.
I’m not sure who created the original recipe since there are a ton of videos and recipes online for pickle dip and the recipe is going viral on TikTok making it harder to find the original, so I made my own version of the dip I saw on that TikTok I liked above.
Our version is made allergy friendly and it’s a little simplified to make it quick to make, but you can load this dip if you want with extras, we included a list!
Why we love this recipe
This crowd-pleasing dip is super easy to make, plus it’s really easy to customize with extra mix-ins for even more flavor, like bacon bits or chopped hot peppers.
We made a few changes from the original to suit our dietary needs, but you can add just about anything you like to make this your own. You can even top it with some gluten free French-fried onions for a type of “fried” pickle dip.
How to make dairy-free dill pickle dip
Our dairy free Grillos pickle dip is really easy to make,
- Add the dairy free cream cheese to a medium-sized bowl and use a hand mixer to soften the cream cheese.
- Add the dairy-free sour cream and beat again until mixed and smooth. Set aside.
- Using about 1/2 to 3/4 of the pickle spears in the 1-quart container of Grillo’s pickle spears (or your other favorite brand of pickles), remove them from the pickle juice and dice them, then mix them into the cream cheese/sour cream mixture. Keep some of the pickle juice for adding to the dip later.
- Stir in the dairy free cheddar cheese, pickle juice, garlic powder, onion powder, dried dill, chives (or green onions), and black pepper.
- After this is mixed, taste test and decide if you want any more salt. This tends to be more salty, so taste test first before adding anything that adds more salt. I used all-purpose Creole seasoning to taste (it ended up being about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon Creole seasoning).
- Either serve immediately or allow it to chill for a few hours. This will thicken up as it sits in the fridge, especially if you chill it overnight. You can adjust the amount of pickle juice you add depending on how thick you want your dip.
For our pickles, we used about 2/3 of the quart container of pickle spears for the dip, which measured out to about 2 cups of diced pickles for our dip. So you can use 1 ½ to 2 cups of diced pickles if you like depemding on how many pickles you want in your dip.
You can use either plain dairy free cream cheese for this recipe, or use a chive/onion cream cheese. I used both: the plain Violife cream cheese in my first batch and the chive Violife cream cheese in my second batch, and both batches turned out delicious.
Optional dip mix-ins
I wanted to keep this dip recipe really easy to make and suitable for me so I changed a few things. But here are some things other people put in their dip that you can use to ramp up the flavor if you want!
- Hot pickles: If you want extra spice, use hot dill pickle spears instead of regular ones.
- Bacon: Some versions of this recipe call for bacon crumbles added. I didn’t add any to mine just to keep it simple without having to cook bacon, but I will definitely try my next batch of pickle dip with some bacon mixed in! If you don’t want to cook and chop your own bacon, you can use packaged bacon bits, too.
- Hot sauce: Some recipes I saw on TikTok called for hot sauce to be added. I did this with my first batch of dip, but didn’t add it to the second one. You can use it or not, I didn’t think it made a huge difference in my dip.
- Fresh jalapeños: I have to watch how much hot stuff I have, so I didn’t add any fresh hot peppers to mine. But some recipes people add chopped jalapeño. I bet pickled jalapeño would also be good!
- French-fried onions: you can add some of these on top if you want to make a type of “fried” pickle dip.
Check out our other allergy friendly dip recipes!
Easy Dairy Free Dill Pickle Dip (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 7 ounces Violife cream cheese (regular or chive)
- ½ cup Violife sour cream
- ½ container (1 quart) Grillos dill pickle spears, diced (about 1½ to 2 cups when diced)
- ⅓ cup dairy free cheddar cheese shreds
- 3 to 4 Tablespoons pickle juice (adjust the amount depending on how thick or thin you'd like your dip)
- 1-2 Tablespoons chopped chives
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon dried dill
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon all purpose Cajun or Creole spice
- Optional: chopped bacon, chopped jalapeño, hot sauce
Instructions
- Add the dairy free cream cheese to a medium-sized bowl and use a hand mixer to beat and soften the cream cheese.7 ounces Violife cream cheese
- Add the dairy-free sour cream and beat again until mixed and smooth. Set aside.1/2 cup Violife sour cream
- Using about 1/2 to 3/4 of the pickle spears in the 1-quart container of Grillo’s pickle spears (or your other favorite brand of pickles), remove them from the pickle juice and dice them, then mix them into the cream cheese/sour cream mixture. Make sure to keep some of the pickle juice for adding to the dip.1/2 container (1 quart) Grillos dill pickle spears, diced
- For our pickles, we used about 2/3 of the quart container of pickle spears for the dip, which measured out to about 2 cups of diced pickles for our dip. So you can use 1 ½ to 2 cups of diced pickles if you like depending on how many pickles you want in your dip.
- Stir in the dairy free cheddar cheese, pickle juice, garlic powder, onion powder, dill, chives (or green onions), and black pepper. You can adjust the amount of pickle juice you add depending on how thick you want your dip.1/3 cup dairy free cheddar cheese shreds, 3 to 4 Tablespoons pickle juice, 1-2 Tablespoons chopped chives, 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon dried dill, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- After this is mixed, taste test and decide if you want any more salt. This tends to be more salty, so taste test first before adding anything that includes more salt. I used all-purpose Creole seasoning to taste and it ended up being about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon Creole seasoning.Optional: chopped bacon, chopped jalapeño, hot sauce , 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon all purpose Cajun or Creole spice
- Either serve immediately or allow it to chill for a few hours or overnight. This will thicken up as it chills in the fridge, especially overnight. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
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Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie which she founded in 2011. Sarah is based in Wyoming and has been managing food allergies for herself and her 2 children for over 20 years. Sarah was also a certified personal trainer for 12 years, as well as a group fitness instructor, health coach, running coach, and fitness nutrition specialist.