White Castle have just announced that they’re bringing deep fried pickles back to the menu

As the sheer number of unappetising new products proves, the world loves a pickle. Whether they’re replacing the bread in a sandwich, or serving as a substitute to potato chips, the modern diner apparently has an unstoppable and unhealthy obsession with anything green, phallic and soaked in brine. There’s no accounting for taste.

However, even though there are hundreds of disgusting pickle-related snacks on the market, every so often someone manages to stumble across an idea that isn’t totally horrible. Even more occasionally, they come up with something both pickle-heavy and genuinely awesome. Whether by luck or judgement, the creative geniuses at famed fast food franchise White Castle have managed to do just that.

In 2017, White Castle introduced their loyal fanbase to their first ever deep fried pickles. Featuring crispy crumbs of panko coating and the salty tang of vinegary brine, the snacks proved to be a hit. When they were inexplicably withdrawn from menus, the public outcry was swift. Now, the chain have decided that it’s high time they brought the snack back from the dead.

For a limited time only, starting from April 23rd, White Castle will be reintroducing the fan-favourite side dish back to their menus across the country. Though the recipe will be exactly the same as the option’s original run, White Castle have decided to up the ante by making them available in both “small” size for $1.99 and “sack” size for $4.99. Whether or not the latter arrives in a genuine snack is yet to be confirmed.

The pickles aren’t the only reasons for fans to look forward to a summer-load of White Castle. Alongside the re-release, the business unveiled three new barbecue-flavoured sliders and two smoothies. These include A BBQ Brisket Slider and BBQ Original Slider, as well as a fully plant-based BBQ Impossible Slider for vegans and vegetarians. As if this wasn’t enough to drool over, customers can also get their hands on new pineapple and banana smoothies. The fast food landscape for summer is certainly shaping up nicely.

The idea of featuring pickles this prominently at a fast food restaurant may strike some as odd. However, the truth is that White Castle are hardly the first franchise to dip into the pickle reservoir. Last year, Sonic appalled and excited the nation in equal measure with the introduction of “pickle slushies”, while potato-chip heavyweights Lays have managed to come up with a pickle-flavoured crisp. To anyone who can’t imagine anything worse than thin, soggy slivers of something green on their dinner, these products will no doubt seem baffling. But, if their success is anything to go by, it looks like the pickle will remain on menus for a while yet.