I don’t know about you, but I love the crispy snap of a good pickle.
Be it cucumber, green bean, or carrot, you just can’t beat that satisfying vinegary crunch. Especially late at night when you’re feeling snacky.
It used to be that every summer I would spend hours in my kitchen boiling gallons of hot brine to pour into sterilized jars packed with freshly sliced cucumbers. Then it was into the hot water bath to process.
My kitchen made the rainforest seem parched.
And while the flavor was always excellent, my carefully canned pickles often lacked that crisp, crunch that makes for the exceptional pickle.
In my quest for perfectly crunchy homemade pickles, I discovered refrigerator pickles.
This revolutionized my approach to pickles. I could make one jar of crispy pickled heaven at a time. And they were ready in a week.
Soon I was pickling everything.
With refrigerator pickles there’s no:
- hot water bath canning
- entire day spent in a sweltering kitchen
- slicing vegetables forever and a day
- stuffing jar after jar after jar
- waiting forever for your pickles to be ready to eat
Nowadays, whatever I’m pulling out of the garden gets turned into at least one jar of refrigerator pickles.
I still water-bath-process a few batches of dill pickles for the winter because the downside to fridge pickles is their shelf life doesn’t compare to their canned cousins.
But if you’re anything like me, they won’t last long enough to spoil anyway.
One of my favorite fridge pickles to make is pickled carrots.
Especially when combined with ginger and turmeric.
This spicy combination makes for a marvelous change from the more common dill used in so many pickle recipes.
This pickled carrot recipe is easy enough to whip up a week before a dinner party. And they’re a perfect complement to a well-rounded charcuterie board.
Let’s make these pickled ginger carrots one delicious pint at a time!
Ingredients:
• 4-6 carrots – peeled and sliced lengthwise, so they fit about a ¼ inch below the rim of a wide-mouth pint jar. For carrots about 1 inch or bigger in diameter, you’ll want to slice them in quarters lengthwise.
• ½ inch nob of fresh ginger, sliced into 1/8 inch chips – if it’s organic, rinse it and give it a good scrub, if it’s non-organic you’ll want to peel the ginger.
• ½ teaspoon of dried turmeric, or if you have access to it a small ½ inch nob of fresh turmeric, peeled and sliced into chips
• ¼ teaspoon of mustard seeds
• 4 peppercorns
• 4 cloves
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• ½ cup of apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup of water
Directions:
Pack your carrots in a clean wide-mouthed pint jar. You want them snug, but not too tight. You should be able to stick your finger in the midst of them.
In a small saucepan add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil.
Pour the brine and spices over the carrots, filling the jar with the liquid to just below the top.
Screw the lid on tightly and let the jar cool; once it has cooled place it in the fridge.
Your pickles will be ready to eat in a week. The pickles will last around three months. You know, if you don’t devour them before that.
A super easy variation on this recipe is to use a vegetable peeler to peel the carrots into ribbons and pack them tightly in the jar. These make for a great sandwich topping!
Start a batch today and by next week you’ll be standing in your kitchen at midnight reaching into the refrigerator saying,
“Just one more pickled carrot.”
“Just one more pickled carrot.”
“Okay, just one more pickled carrot. “
Quick Spiced Carrot Refrigerator Pickles
These fridge pickles are easy and quick to make, will be ready to enjoy in just a week and are highly addictive.
Ingredients
- 4-6 carrots
- 1/2 inch nob of fresh ginger, sliced into 1/8 inch chips
- 1/2 teaspoon dried turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 4 peppercorns
- 4 cloves
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
1. Pack your carrots in a clean wide-mouthed pint jar. You want them snug, but not too tight. You should be able to stick your finger in the midst of them.
2. In a small saucepan add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil.
3. Pour the brine and spices over the carrots, filling the jar with the liquid to just below the top.
4. Screw the lid on tightly and let the jar cool; once it has cooled place it in the fridge.
5. Your pickles will be ready to eat in a week. The pickles will last around three months.
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