Crispy cheese-wrapped pickles are the latest viral 2-ingredient snack

Originally published by Good Morning America on February 17, 2023

Written by Kelly McCarthy

Over the last couple years, snack time has become a major part of work-from-home routines and defined new territory on TikTok, offering users quick and fun ways to throw together simple ingredients with minimal effort to achieve a tasty bite.

The latest viral recipe to fill social media feeds is a two-ingredient “pickle in a blanket” — a pickle spear wrapped in cheese that’s been melted in a non-stick frying pan until bubbly and crispy.

Food enthusiasts and cooks everywhere recognize that a great bite should try to deliver on texture and flavor, and at its best can hit all five tastes on the palate: salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami.

Salty and sour is a delicious pairing — looking at you, salt and vinegar chips — but this new snack idea delivers similar flavors in a whole new way.

Claire Snyder first shared a video of her “guilty pleasure snack” on TikTok last month, which has since garnered 13 million views and more than 1.2 million likes, inspiring thousands of new iterations on food and “pickle-tok.”

“Start with some nonstick cooking spray,” Snyder explains in the video before laying down a slice of provolone cheese in a small frying pan. “It’s starting to get nice and melty and sizzling so I’m going to take my jar of pickles — take a pickle and just plop it in the middle of the slice of cheese.”

Once the cheese is “a little golden and hard” around the edges, Snyder folds the sides of the cheese around the pickle “like a little taquito.” Removing it from the pan, she sets it on a paper towel to remove any excess oils and gives it a taste.

“I don’t care if anyone says this is gross. It’s amazing,” she says after taking the first bite, hailing it’s satisfying crunch.

Of the hundreds of creators trying their hand at the trend, cookbook author and KaleJunkie creator Nicole Keshishian Modic, shared her spin on the snack with “Good Morning America.”

“Salty from the cheese, tangy from the pickle and crunchy,” she said of the crispy cheese-wrapped pickle, celebrating with a small celebratory dance in her kitchen.