Living a Low-Waste Lifestyle? Here's What to Do With Leftover Pickle Juice

Instead of pouring your leftover pickle juice down the drain, you should consider saving it. If you don’t know what to do with leftover pickle juice, don’t worry, there are actually many different ways to use it.

From relieving cramps to cleaning cookware, there are so many cool ways to put your leftover pickle juice to good use.

If you're looking for a natural way to get rid of the weeds in your garden, your leftover pickle juice could be the answer. Southern Living explains that pickle juice kills weeds with its high salt and vinegar content.

It’s important to be careful with this method, though — too much can do more harm than good. Pickle juice is very strong, so you should dilute it with lots of water before putting it to use. Southern Living advises combining 1 part pickle juice and 20 parts water.

Not everyone likes pickles, but since you’re reading this, you probably do. After you finish a jar, you can use your leftover pickle juice to pickle other foods.

The Food Network offers a relatively easy pickling recipe that uses pickle juice. First, choose what vegetables you’d like to pickle; the recipe suggests red onion, carrots, orange bell peppers, or cauliflower. Add the vegetables to the jar and pour the hot pickle juice over it. Put the lid back onto the jar and leave it in your fridge for at least five hours.

You could even use your pickle juice to create more pickles — the choice is yours.

If you’ve heard this before, you might’ve thought it was just a joke, but a study published by the NIH stated that pickle juice really can relieve muscle cramps.

The Cooper Institute explains this is due to acetic acid in pickle juice, which is "noxious tasting’ leading to muscle relaxation.

While you might not want to rely solely on pickle juice if you’re experiencing severe muscle cramps, it could still be a good option if you need something to soothe minor cramps.

When it comes to cleaning, figuring out what products are non-toxic can be complicated. But there’s no need to worry because much like vinegar, pickle juice can be used as a cleaner, according to Refinery 29. In fact, its similarity to vinegar is what makes it so ideal — the acidity is great for cleaning copper cookware.

Pickle juice can be used in a wide range of recipes — it’s full of flavor and extremely versatile. According to Serious Eats, it can be used in soups, salad dressings, sauces, deviled eggs, and pickle bread, just to name a few. You can also use it as a marinade or to steam vegetables.

By freezing your leftover pickle juice in an ice tray, it makes it super easy to just pop a cube of it into a recipe whenever you need it. Many people use a similar technique for tomato paste. It’s a great way to reduce food waste and make cooking a little more convenient.