Trader Joe's Popcorn in a Pickle

The pros: Trader Joe's Popcorn in A Pickle is a return favorite that if you are a pickle fan, you may love these. Others will be repulsed by these.

The cons: This is a seasonal offering. This item isn't exactly low-fat, so if you are hoping for this to be a healthy snack you might want to double-check the nutritional information.

The verdict:     

Maybe you have that one family member who is super adventurous in the culinary arena. They are willing to go where few home cooks are willing to go. For better or worse perhaps.

I remember Winnie, my neighbor's mother. She was best known for her creativity in the kitchen. Chocolate covered pot roast was one of her more legendary combinations. I'm not sure it got quite the reviews she was hoping for. But everyone still talks about it to different to this day.

While her pot roast might not have knocked it out of the park, her pairing of marinated artichoke hearts and bacon quickly became a family favorite in my household.

For better or worse, some experiments just work better than others.

This at first glance reminds me of a pairing that might not belong together. It fact, I've never had any urge to mix those two side items together.

But the popcorn in a pickle is back on shelves and will be loved or reviled depending on how you feel about the dill flavored brine of a pickle.

I love pickles. My husband does not. I loved this bag. My husband hated it. He had one piece and he said "Absolutely not. That's gross."

In fact, I took one bite and determined that I strangely like this. But this review is also written by someone who wouldn't think twice about sitting down with an entire jar of dill pickles and eating the whole thing. This is very dill but also has that acidic kick to it too.

The packaging does contain one glaring error: the popcorn is actually the incorrect shape. Popcorn will pop in a mushroom shape or a butterfly shape. What is pictured here is more butterfly shaped than the mostly mushroom-shaped popcorn that actually comes out of the bag. It doesn't make a difference in terms of taste, but I like to know that what I'm getting is accurate.

There are certain flavor pairings that on paper should not work together. This should be one of them.

A serving here is 2 cups of popcorn. With this being mushroom-shaped you do get more popcorn per serving than if it were butterfly shaped (which is why that variety is sold in movie theaters). But don't count on this being a low-fat snack. You are still looking at 10 grams of fat per servings.

But, if this is a pairing you like, then I'm not sure this popcorn has much in the way of competition. In fact, I don't recall ever seeing pickle flavored popcorn anywhere. Only recently have major brands gotten more experimental with their flavor pairings. To garner interest, they sometimes have fans come up with flavor combinations and allow people to vote.

For $1.99 if you are a hardline pickle fan then this might be something worth a try. I tried some and while each bite was strange and full of that dill flavored brine flavor, I had a hard time putting it down too.

This is only available seasonally at Trader Joe's, but you could also pick this up on Amazon.com.

Here is the visual run down of what you get if you buy this product:

The bag of Trader Joe's Popcorn in A Pickle:

The nutritional information:

The ingredients:

How to prepare:

Out of the package you get:

Would I buy this again? While I know a lot of people are wild about this product, I thought Trader Joe's Popcorn in a Pickle was good, but not necessarily worth a repurchase this season. Probably by next summer I'd want to reach for another bag.

Want to see more items I've reviewed from Trader Joe's? Click on Thoughts & Reviews of Trader Joe's for a searchable list.

Did you try it? Let me know what you think in the comments section!