The 'Genius' Tomato Salad Ingredient That's Perfect for Summer

Juicy, sweet and refreshing, tomatoes are my all-time favorite summer produce when they're at their peak. When they start popping up at the grocery store and the farmers market I find any excuse to eat them (I, too, am a summer baby so...what grows together goes together?). I'll bake tomatoes on puff pastry for a fancy (but so easy) tart , stir them with noodles , blend them into smoothies (yes really) and of course, eat them as is in large slices with nothing but a sprinkle of good salt.

And then there's tomato salad, which in my mind is a top-tier tomato preparation. One of the best things about a tomato salad is that it's really a choose-your-own-adventure exercise. Toss the tomatoes with mozzarella and basil for a caprese situtation, onions or cucumbers; combine tomatoes with watermelon and feta for a savory-sweet salad; toss juicy pieces of tomato with big pieces of toasted bread for a simple (and simply delicious) Panzanella.

And then there are the tomato salad garnishes. You can try toasted breadcrumbs, fresh herbs and seasonings like Aleppo pepper or furikake . But there's one tomato salad topper that showed up on our FYP recently that we had never considered but now can't stop thinking about: grated frozen pickle .

Why You Should Add Grated Frozen Pickle to Tomato Salads

We came across this nifty hack from @mob on TikTok. It turns out freezing and then grating pickles on salads can concentrate their flavors, making the garnish more potent. This ensures that even a small amount of grated pickle can add a strong, tangy flavor to the salad and enhance the umami flavor of fresh tomatoes.

Grated frozen pickle adds a tangy, salty, and slightly sweet flavor that contrasts beautifully with the natural sweetness and acidity of the tomatoes. The fun frozen texture adds a cool crunch that's delicious with the soft, juicy, tender tomatoes.

How to Make Tomato Salad with Grated Frozen Pickle

First, pick your pickle. (They use gherkins in the video, but we're thinking a garlicky dill is the way to go, though wouldn't be opposed to trying a bread and butter either.) Place your desired number of pickles on a baking sheet and freeze until firm. When you want to put a final hit of punch on a tomato salad, use a microplane or fine grater to grate the pickle over the salad. Add as little or as much as you like and eat asap.

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