The best brands of pickles with probiotics are raw and naturally fermented. When buying pickles for their probiotic benefits, pick brands with no vinegar and no sugar added.
Bubbies, Olive My Pickle, and Kreugermann Pickles are some of my absolute favorite brand pickles. You can find them at the grocery store and online.
There are lots of pickles on the market. However, most are pasteurized with vinegar brine that does not have probiotics.
Here is a definitive list of the best brands of fermented pickles with gut-healthy probiotics in the supermarket and online.
Olive My Pickle
Olive My Pickle sells pickles in a Fermented Pickle Bundle that includes Garlic, Kosher Dill, and Spicy Dill.
It says right on the label, “Lab Verified Probiotic.” Olive My Pickle packs its products in a bag, which makes them easier to store in the pantry and fridge since they’re not bulky.
Probiotic Live Culture Raw & Unpasteurized Foods
Gut Healing Foods
Bubbies Pickles
Bubbies makes naturally fermented Kosher Dill Pickles and Kosher Dill Relish. It says so right on the jar, no sugar, no vinegar, all-natural.
Their ingredients include cucumbers, water, salt, garlic, dill, spices, mustard seed, and calcium chloride.
This brand of pickles is delicious and a great source of naturally fermented probiotic bacteria that foster the good gut bacteria in our bodies.
However, Bubbies Bread & Butter Chips are not fermented. Their Bread & Butter Chips are pasteurized and shelf-stable but equally delicious. Bubbies also make sauerkraut.
Gluten-Free
No Added Sugar
NATURALLY FERMENTED
Kreugermann Pickle
Kreugermann takes pride in its pickled products that come from traditional family recipes.
For fermenting, Kreugermann uses locally sourced ingredients such as dill and cucumbers and a mild salt solution, which doesn’t have chemical agents.
The result is the natural production of probiotics. Kreugermann says it all on their label “In Cloudy Brine, Naturally Fermented Dills.”
Kreugermann tastes naturally sour without vinegar which is excellent for pickle-lovers suffering from hyperacidity.
Pickles Grown on a Family Farm in California
Pasteurized Without Using Preservatives
Oregon Brineworks
Oregon Brineworks is a brand that is so popular its products are flying off the shelves. Beyond the Garlic Dills and Spicy Dills, they also make sauerkraut, Beet Kvass, Pickled Beets, and Ginger Roots made with golden beets, carrots, and ginger.
A unique trait of Oregon Brineworks is that it doesn’t pasteurize its pickles, and it only sources ingredients from organic farms. These pickles are so good they are often sold out; you can buy their line of fermented foods here.
Billions of Active Probiotic Cultures in Every Jar
What kind of pickles have probiotics?
Read the label; if it says “probiotic” or “fermented,” you’ve found the proper pickles.
There’s nothing wrong with a vinegar pickle. If you like the taste, know you won’t be getting the gut health benefits that the fermented version offers.
And while the vinegar was once a living fermenting food, the jarred pickles have since been heated and pasteurized, so it’s no longer alive and active culture.
When buying pickles full of good bacteria, choose naturally fermented kinds where they did not use vinegar in the pickling process.
Fermented pickles are made with sea salt and water solution that feeds the growth of good bacteria, and it may make sour pickles help with your digestion.
Shop: Best Fermentation Crocks for Making Pickles (Amazon link)
Where to find probiotic pickles in the grocery store?
Probiotic pickles will be in the refrigerated section of the health food aisle. The pickles found in the middle aisles are not fermented.
A fermented food, including pickles, will always be found in the refrigerated section of the produce aisle or health food aisle. The cooler temperatures halt the fermentation process without harming the fragile beneficial strains of bacteria present in fermented food.
Fermented pickles are considered a probiotic food, which means they contain beneficial strains of bacteria that, if consumed often, can contribute to the population and diversity of our gut microbiome.
Fermented foods are full of probiotics and help your body fight disease more effectively by supporting your immune system.
Eating more fermented foods also reduces gas, bloating, diarrhea and support and maintains the health of your skin. Fermented pickles are excellent sources of these mighty microbes.
These brands make many other delicious fermented foods, including olives, beets, carrots, and sauerkraut.
The difference between pickling and fermenting pickles
Canning pickles are the process of submerging the sliced or speared cucumbers in a brine made of vinegar, water, salt, and a variety of spices or herbs.
The brine preserves the pickles by creating an acidic environment that prevents harmful bacteria, yeast, mold, and other contaminants from growing.
Pickling foods is a great way to preserve foods for an extended period of time.
When you ferment pickles, you also make brine. But this brine which includes water, salt, spices, and herbs, promotes the growth of good bacteria, i.e., probiotics.
The vegetables are kept below the brine to remove the oxygen, which allows the probiotics to grow.
Which brands of pickles are not fermented?
Shelf-stable brands of pickles that are marinated in vinegar and sugar don’t have probiotics. This method of pickling is called fresh-pack. These pickles don’t offer the same probiotic benefits that fermented pickles offer.
That doesn’t mean they are bad for you; they don’t have gut-healthy bacteria.
Are Vlasic pickles fermented? Are Claussen pickles fermented? The answer is No. Vlasic and Claussen’s pickles are not fermented.
Mt. Olive and Nalley are also not fermented.
Did I cover everything you wanted to know about which brands of pickles have gut-healthy probiotics?
In this article, we went over which brands of pickles are fermented and have probiotics. We also discussed why eating fermented pickles is good for you.
Aside from providing you with a constant supply of probiotics, fermented dill pickles excel in boosting your body’s vitamin K and A supply.
Fermented pickles are better than typical pickles because they promote a healthier gut. It’s easy to know which pickles are fermented by reading the label.
How To Shop The Grocery Store For Gut Health
Eating various fermented foods with live probiotics can have powerful benefits for your body and brain. Check out my posts on choosing the right fermented foods with probiotics in the grocery or shopping online.
Which Brands of Sauerkraut have Probiotics?
Unfortunately, like pickles, most sauerkraut you find in stores or online do not contain enough or any probiotics at all.
Cultured sauerkraut is one of the best sources of live probiotics out there. Just 2-3 tablespoons of sauerkraut will give you enough beneficial colony-forming units (CFUs) recommended for a day.
Check out my post Does Store Bought Sauerkraut have Probiotics? to learn more.
