Is the ‘Picklewich’ Actually Healthier Than a Sandwich?

I tried the viral Jimmy John’s swap—and asked an RD for her thoughts.

October 24, 2025

Is the ‘Picklewich Actually Healthier Than a Sandwich

Part of my role as SELF’s fitness and nutrition writer is to try recipes and food products that spark buzz online and IRL. Fluffy yogurt? Check. Protein Diet Coke? Check. But a pickle sandwich? Well, that was new territory even for me.

Later this month, the sandwich chain Jimmy John’s will be serving exactly that for a limited time. And by “pickle sandwich,” I’m not talking about a sandwich that contains pickles, to be clear. Rather, I’m referring to the Picklewich, a bread-free spinoff that substitutes Jimmy John’s standard French roll for hollowed-out dill pickles. When the Picklewich first debuted in 2024, it proved such a viral sensation that the brand decided to bring it back for a consecutive year. From October 27 through November 23 (or while supplies last), the Picklewich will be available at Jimmy John’s locations across the country with six filling options: ham, tuna, turkey, veggie, roast beef, and Italian (the Italian ’wich is officially termed the Vito.).

To pick up a few of these briny boys for taste-testing, I headed to midtown Manhattan on October 22 for the official Picklewich launch event (appropriately dubbed “PickleCon”). Surrounded by pickle-themed decor and bathed in pickle-green light as pop songs blasted, I snagged a few Picklewich halves from waiters handing out samples and busied myself with reporting (a.k.a. eating). With the exception of the veggie Picklewich, I tried every other filling.

My review of the Picklewich

Early on, I noticed my Picklewiches presented a few practical difficulties. First of all, they’re…drippy (as you might expect of sandwiches made from cucumbers that have been marinated in liquid for an extended period of time), so the brine tends to leak onto your hands and clothes. My advice: Make sure you have some napkins handy.

Second, pickles are obviously more tough and firm than bread, so the Picklewich requires more force to bite into. While this isn’t necessarily an issue in and of itself, it causes the innards (the meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and everything else) to shift toward the other end to the point that they eventually start protruding from the back—a serious annoyance. Even though this can afflict regular sandwiches as well, my Picklewiches definitely suffered from it more.

Finally, the taste of the Picklewich might be divisive. Personally, I actually liked that the pickles provided some added oomph, but I can see how the increased saltiness and sourness could be a turnoff to some people. (And it goes without saying: If you don’t like pickles, you won’t like this sandwich.)

Yet the Picklewich has one notable practical advantage over regular sandwiches: staying power. Unlike bread, pickles don’t get soggy—a feature that means they keep better in the fridge overnight. When I had one of my leftover Picklewiches for dinner the day after the launch event, it had barely lost any of its crunch or crispness.

Is the Picklewich “healthy”?

In addition to trying the Picklewich myself, I also connected with an expert to chat about this zany new product. Specifically, I wanted to know whether replacing bread with a pickle actually makes a difference from a nutritional standpoint—for better or worse.

“To be honest, I kind of see it more as a nutritional disadvantage,” Jasmine Hormati, MS, RD, a certified intuitive eating counselor and the founder of the New York City–based practice Mendinground Nutrition, tells SELF. Her main concern: Because pickles aren’t a meaningful source of carbohydrates and bread is, Picklewiches aren’t as well-balanced as regular Jimmy John’s sandwiches. (In both cases, meat and cheese will provide protein and fats, and veggies will provide some fiber, so those bases are covered). Having that balance “will lead to a more…satisfying meal” overall, Hormati says.

Thankfully, there’s actually an easy fix for this issue: Pairing your Picklewich with a carb-y side. “That could be in the form of chips, or it could be your own piece of bread, or something like that,” Hormati explains. “Just something else that would add to it to make it a little bit more filling and a little bit more nourishing in that way.” Otherwise, you might still feel hungry after you’re finished—and that’s a *pickle* of its own.

But this isn’t to say pickles themselves are inherently unhealthy. In fact, according to Hormati, they can actually be a decent dietary choice. Since they’re made from cucumbers, they contain all the accompanying nutrients, including vitamin K and potassium. Plus, Hormati adds, “there's going to be some fiber,” since cukes are vegetables.

Perhaps most well-known, however, are the gut health benefits conferred by the pickling process itself. Pickles “could potentially have some probiotics and beneficial bacteria in them,” Hormati says, depending on whether they were produced via fermentation or an alternative preservation method known as fresh-pack pickling, according to the Cleveland Clinic. While both approaches entail steeping the pickles in a salty brine, fresh-pack pickling also involves vinegar, a substance acidic enough that it prevents fermentation and thus the development of probiotics.

Even pickles’ infamous sodium content—a byproduct of immersion in that brine—can actually be beneficial in some situations since it can provide “electrolyte support” along with potassium, Hormati says. Many athletes—my own dad included—actually swear by drinking pickle juice to help reduce muscle cramps. (It’s also been touted as a hangover cure.)

Just keep in mind that excess sodium can also cause dehydration by drawing water out of your cells. Soon after I left the launch event on Thursday, I realized that I was especially thirsty—parched, even. Maybe that was because I hadn’t been drinking much water during the day, but the timing seemed suspicious.

But let me be clear: If you’re dying to try the Picklewich, don’t let the lack of carbs or the high sodium content stop you. In fact, Hormati, a self-identified pickle lover, says she herself will “probably try this when I have an opportunity.” However her experiment turns out, “there is something that is fun about trying something new and having something that is different.”