Yahoo Finance What’s The Deal With TikTok's Chamoy Pickle Kits, And Why Are They So Popular?
If you've been doing any kind of scrolling on TikTok recently, there's a high chance you'll have come across people trying chamoy pickle kits.
At first glance, it looks absolutely bizarre. A giant pickle stuffed with spicy sweets or crisps, sometimes wrapped in a fruit roll up, and drizzled in hot sauce and chilli powder - but people are loving it.
As with loads of TikTok trends, it’s not actually new. Hispanic communities in the US and beyond have laid claim to the chamoy pickle and all its forms, and the trend first got going stateside too. However, this month chamoy pickle kits have been making tracks with people in the UK (#picklekituk has had over 3 billion views on TikTok so far), and in excellent news for adventurous pickle-lovers, they’re available to buy online here now too!
First up, what is chamoy?
Chamoy is a condiment most often found in Mexico, and can be made from apricot, plum or mango with chillies, salt and lime juice. Yum.
It's usually used to top fruit for a spicy, tangy hit or as a condiment for meats, so it’s mega versatile. It's got lots of different forms: powder, paste and even sweets. Often, it's made into a powder that's used to coat gummy sweets with, or even dipping powders for lollies to make a spicy sort of Sherbet Dip Dab.
It's sometimes confused with its similar spicy cousin, Tajín, a spicy powdered seasoning made from lime, salt and chilli powder. Kind of confusingly, Tajín does make a chamoy sauce, but most people recognise the name for their famous spicy powder (it comes in cute mini bottles, too).
What is a chamoy pickle?
Now, the trend for chamoy pickle kits seems to begin with the chamoy pickle itself. The bright-red giant pickles were picking up some attention on the platform back in late 2022, with the most popular one being The Big Tex Chamoy Dill Pickle from Alamo Candy. Now, when we say we've never seen a pickle this big or red, we mean it.
The packet promises it will be 'deliciously sour' and the reviews seem to agree. Now, the sticking point according to TikTokers appears to be that it doesn't actually taste that much like chamoy. Enter chamoy pickle kits.
What is a Chamoy Pickle Kit?
This is where the ball really gets rolling. In the comment sections of these Big Tex Chamoy Dill Pickle tasting videos, users were urging creators to try the pickles with extra chamoy and wrapped in a fruit roll up or topped with Salsaghetti (sort of like spicy, watermelon or mango flavoured strawberry laces). Excuse us?
Yes, that's what's got TikTok all hot and bothered recently. The main components of a chamoy pickle kit vary, but the mainstays are: a chamoy pickle, something sweet and tangy like the Salsaghetti or a fruit roll up, something crispy like Takis rolled tortilla chips, chilli seasoning powder like Tajín, and chamoy sauce.
Let's move on to method. You bite off the top of the pickle, then fill it with either Salsaghetti, Takis, or Gushers (a soft sweet filled with fruity juice). At this point, you could also wrap the pickle in a fruit roll up, or top with extra Salsaghetti. Then, sprinkle on Tajín and drizzle over the chamoy and take a big old bite.
The taste? Most people say it's a massive flavour combo - sweet, salty, spicy, tangy, sour. It sounds mad but also seriously good, hitting all possible snack cravings.
Some of the ingredients are a little tricky to get hold of in the UK, but online shop The Chamoy Guys has got a full range of pickle kits to try. They don’t come cheap, though. The OG Pickle Kit comes in at £26.95 on their website, so you’d better reallllly like pickles. You can get a similar kit on Etsy for a few pounds less, but the full shabang will still set you back around £20.
Or, if you want to recreate it on the cheap, Morrisons recently posted a ‘dupe’ for the pickles using gherkins, spicy crisps, strawberry laces, rainbow belts, harissa seasoning and sriracha. We’re not convinced…
