Selena Gomez Loves This Unusual Frozen Pickle Treat

Selena Gomez and I have two major things in common: We’re both from Texas, and we both love pickles. Not only do we enjoy pickles, but it turns out we also share a passion for pickle brine, the salty, sour liquid that fills your jar of dill spears.

Gomez has expressed her affection for pickles several times before — last July, her fiancé Benny Blanco posted a video on TikTok of her trying a watermelon and pickle sandwich — but on a recent episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the pop superstar and recent Oscar-nominee demonstrated just how much she loves this classic cucumber snack.

While appearing on the talk show alongside Benny Blanco to promote their new album, I Said I Love You First, the recently engaged couple brought a snack for host Jimmy Fallon to try.

More specifically, they brought Gomez’s favorite childhood treat: a snow cone from a small stand in her hometown of Grand Prairie, Texas. Blanco actually picked it up while he was in Texas hosting an event, froze it, and brought it with him so Fallon could have a bite.

But what kind of snack is special enough to bring from a small town in Texas to a late-night show in New York City? Gomez explains that her snow cone of choice features an unexpected combination, involving a cup full of shaved ice that’s been covered in pickle juice (aka the brine), and topped with chopped pickles.

What is a snow cone?

For the uninitiated, a snow cone is a cold summer treat made from shaved or crushed ice — typically served in a paper cone or styrofoam cup — topped with a sweet, flavored syrup. While they are usually sold at small stands, like the one Selena Gomez says she’s been going to for decades, snow cones come in a seemingly endless array of flavors.

Fruit-focused options like watermelon, blackberry, cherry, lemon, kiwi, and pineapple, to name just a few, are the most prevalent, but non-fruit offerings such as root beer, chocolate, or wedding cake are also common.

There are variations of shaved ice desserts worldwide — if you’re ever in Japan, make sure to try kakigori — and even regional variations across the United States. Louisiana is known for its snoballs, which are quite similar to snow cones, but feature more finely shaved, almost fluffy ice.

Philadelphia’s famous water ice has a texture that resembles a slushy, yet it remains firm enough to be eaten with a spoon. Unlike snow cones and snoballs, which have fruit-flavored syrups added to the ice after it’s been shaved, water ice incorporates sugar and fruit blended into the water before it’s frozen.

Where is Selena Gomez’s favorite snow cone from?

On the off chance you’re ever passing through Grand Prairie, Texas, you can stop by Tastee Ice to try Gomez’s snow cone of choice. The singer and actress says the stand has been open since she was a kid, and “They know my order. They’re always like ‘Welcome back!’” 

Blanco explains that while his fiancée loves the frozen pickle concoction served at Tastee Ice, he asked an employee at the stand if anyone else ever orders it, and they replied “Nobody except her.”

Selena Gomez might be the only one ordering a snow cone covered in pickle brine, but Tastee Ice does offer a few other savory and even spicy options for customers to try. Some icy treats are topped with Tajín, a seasoning blend of dried chiles, lime, and salt. Or you can sample a snow cone with the sweet, salty, and sour condiment chamoy drizzled on top.

Does a pickle snow cone actually taste good?

I haven’t tried pickle brine over shaved ice just yet, but I can assure you that icy pickle juice is actually delicious. I grew up in Texas, too, in a small city called Beaumont, and my favorite snack at my elementary school was frozen pickle juice. 

The cafeteria would take brine from its giant jars of dill pickles and freeze it in clear plastic condiment containers — the kind you fill with ketchup at a fast food restaurant. The result was a sour, refreshing, and exceptional snack that I still dream about. If it sounds strange, the best comparison I can offer is an extra dirty martini, which is also icy cold and briny, and widely loved for both qualities. 

These popsicles are especially great in the summer when you’ve been exercising outside, because pickle brine contains plenty of electrolytes. So if you can’t go try a pickle-topped snow cone in person, you can at least make a pickle popsicle at home.