Peanut Butter, Dill Pickle, and Miracle Whip‽ Together‽ It may sound weird, but don't knock it til you've tried it! This old-fashioned sandwich may well become one of your favorite snacks!

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What's the Story Behind this Recipe?
I pack Mr. B and the girls their lunches nearly every morning. Mr. B's customarily takes a cup of Tillamook yogurt, a piece of fruit, and some kind of leftovers to heat up in the microwave at work. The girls most often get a “cold lunch”: a sandwich or other hand-held high-protein item, fruit, nuts or a granola bar, maybe some yogurt, and a little treat. Nothing fancy, but nutritious and hearty enough to get them through the day.
There are kids in their schools who go hungry though. Each of my five girls, at one time or another, have told me about kids they know who don’t have anything to eat for lunch. Kids they share their lunches with.
I don’t understand, what with free lunches being so easy to qualify for and all, how this happens, but on many occasions over the years I’ve packed a child of mine a much more substantial lunch than usual, because I know it will be shared with someone who needs it. I can’t fix the bigger problem of childhood hunger by myself, but I can help one kid for one day.

Personally, I’ve never known real hunger. I did not know, when I was a child, how precariously close our budget balanced on the line. I did not notice, back then, how my mother picked the big pieces of tuna out of our casserole and set them carefully on my plate saying she didn’t want them, or how she could make a tiny pot roast last for four or five meals.
I did not know that other people didn’t have chipped beef on rice four times a month. Still, First World problems. We always had something to eat. We weren’t rich by American standards, but we were by most of the rest of world’s – there was never a day in my childhood when I didn’t know where my next meal was coming from.
Hunger, though, was only a generation away. My father, a Depression era migrant child straight out of The Grapes of Wrath, knew hunger often. He told me with no self-indulgence of many times going to bed without anything to eat, and watching his mother scrape and scrimp and go without to feed her children. He made me understand just how lucky – how bless – our family was.
Ways You Can Fight Childhood Hunger
- Volunteer: Spend a one day a month (or more) volunteering in your community. Local food banks and pantries offer a wide variety of volunteer opportunities, many of which are kid-friendly.
- Set out a donation jar at home or at work: Create a colorful collection jar for spare change, and set a group goal with your family or coworkers. Donate the proceeds to your local food bank, NoKidHungry.org, TheLunchBoxFund.org, or one of the many other organizations actively fighting childhood hunger in the US and around the world.
- Check out Feeding America: Visit Feeding America for more ideas about how you can help, including hands-on family activities and ways to teach your kids the importance of caring for others.
What Goes into this Sandwich
There are four ingredients in this sandwich:
- White bread
- Peanut butter (Skippy or Jif are best)
- Miracle Whip (not mayo!)
- Dill pickles
No substitutions.
I know what you are probably thinking, so I'm just asking - give this PDM sandwich a chance! (I like it best with home-canned dills - specifically spicy garlic dills!)
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Peanut Butter Dill Pickle Sandwich
Equipment
- 1 butter knife
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter more or less
- ½ whole dill pickle Sliced the long way
- 1 tabelspoon Miracle Whip more or less
- 2 slices bread
Instructions
- Spread peanut butter on one slice of bread.
- Layer pickle slices on the bread to cover bread.
- Spread Miracle Whip on the other slice of bread and put it all together.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
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Autism United says
Our school has a breakfast program so that at least the kids are getting a hot breakfast, but still no assistance for lunches. I send my kids with extra in their lunches too (for sharing) and my one child says his teacher always has extra too and they do like a little buffet each day in class during lunch. Isn't that great.
Charity starts at home and I wish more would participate in helping at a family level.
Carol says
PB Pickles and miracle whip sounds gross but, I am going to try it. My mama always said
don't knock it until you try it. besides that as my daughter in law you are a fantastic cook!!!!! Love you!
Renée ♥ says
Love you, Mama. ♥
pech says
What a great post that has a little bit of everything- a little storytelling of you, some reminiscing of childhood lunches (I loved cold pizza), some inspiration for more lunch possibilities, and highlighting a great cause!
Sarah M. says
PB & Pickles is my favorite sandwich, too!!! We weren't a Miracle Whip family, though, so I've never tried that. Nowadays I make it a little fancier with PB & Kurry Kraut. YUM! Thanks for sharing this wonderful charity. 🙂
Yvonne @ Dress This Nest says
This is such a great program! No kid should go hungry. When we lived in Santa Monica, they even had a free lunch program for kids during the summer. They had bag lunches that anyone could pick up at the local parks. It's great to see things like this being offered abroad.