With an array of pickles and fermented foods in my refrigerator, I often find myself mixing and matching flavors. Fermented dairy and pickled vegetables pair particularly well, so I don’t think twice about combining yogurt and pickles with canned tuna for tuna salad sandwiches on homemade sourdough bread or piling pickled onions, fermented jalapenos, and sour cream on nachos. As I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, pickles become even bolder when mixed with goat cheese as a dip or spread.

I prefer goat cheese to cream cheese or mayonnaise in Tangy Pickle Dip because I think it holds its own against sour fermented or vinegary fresh cucumber pickles, whereas cream cheese tends to hide in the background and mayonnaise tastes too much of egg. This is especially true when you use pickled garlic and chilies. And unlike mayonnaise, goat cheese has a density that helps it cling to my favorite pickle dip dippers: Parmesan Sourdough Bagel Chips.

Learn more about dip layers and get the complete recipe for Tangy Pickle Dip in my column.

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Twice as Tasty

I pile several homemade layers into Tangy Pickle Dip, but it all starts with cucumber pickles. I included more than a dozen recipes in The Complete Guide to Pickling that feature cucumbers, and many of them work well in pickle dip. The quick pickle recipes in Chapter 2 are best served alongside the dip—and are so easy to make that they’re worth adding to a party spread. But the Kosher-Style Dill Pickles, Honeyed Bread-and-Butter Chips, fermented whole- and half-sour cucumbers, and even the cucumber relishes are delicious options to mix right into the dip.

Other pickled vegetables also work well. Mix in my fermented or vinegar-pickled asparagus, radishes, beans, or carrots, or add a bonus hit of grilled onion relish. Whichever you use, boost the tanginess with grated Pickled Garlic Cloves and Beer-Pickled Jalapenos. To thin out the goat cheese without reducing the creaminess, whip in Homemade Small-Batch Yogurt or Homemade Sour Cream until this vegetarian dip reaches your desired thickness.

Fans of deep-fried pickles can echo the crispy coating as a garnish on this dip. I recently shared a two-ingredient pasta upgrade with Simply Recipes readers: toasted parmesan breadcrumbs. When sprinkled generously on Tangy Pickle Dip, they add some of the crunch that makes fried dill pickles so popular.

Learn how to make these cheesy, toasty crumbs in this article. You can find more dip recipes in the blog’s recipe index and more of my work off the blog here.

Want more Twice as Tasty recipes? Get my books! Click here to order a personally signed, packaged, and shipped copy of The Complete Guide to Pickling directly from me. I also share tasty ways to use pickles in The Pickled Picnic; it’s only available here.