How To Pickle Vegetables

Find out how to pickle vegetables the easy way! These homemade pickled vegetables are perfect for snacking, charcuterie boards, or as a side at your next bbq. They are easy to make, tasty, and are good for you.

This week we are talking pickles. But not just your average shelf pickle, these are homemade pickled vegetables, perfect for snacking, charcuterie boards, and as a side at your next bbq. What’s so great about these pickled vegetables? They are easy to make, tasty AND they are good for you. Make a batch today and enjoy them over the next few weeks!

How to Pickle Vegetables

1. Salt sliced cucumbers and let sit for 2 hours then rinse before adding brine. (This step is optional I like to do this to ensure my cucumbers and are extra crispy.)
2. Prepare vegetables.
3. In a saucepan, combine vinegar, water, salt, sugar and dry spices in a large saucepan. Bring to low boil over med-high heat. Simmer 2 minutes, stir, remove from heat and cover. Let sit for 5 minutes.
4. Add any fresh herbs you may like to the jar include, dill, oregano, basil, or rosemary are all wonderful additions to pickles.
5. Fill jars with vegetables (I did one jar mixed veggies and one jar cucumbers).
6. Pour or ladle brine over vegetables submerge completely, pressing down on them with the end of a wooden spoon. Be sure to leave ½ inch headspace.
7. Let sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours and then place in refrigerator.
8. Allow pickling for 48-72 hours, then enjoy! These are good for up to 2 months under refrigeration.

How to Pickle Vegetables - Recipe Variations

The best part of this recipe is that it’s so flexible! There’s so many variations of vegetables you can use this brine on and you can make it sweeter with a little more sugar, or try different types of vinegars to see what taste you like best. I’m giving you the base for great pickled veggies, but you get to make them your own!

Pickled Vegetables are Healthy and Great For Gut Health

I talked a little about my health issues in my gluten free bread blog, and how changing my diet turned me into a believer that what we eat truly affects our health. All that said, another major change I made to improve my gut health was increasing my intake of good bacteria--aka probiotics and fermented foods.

The human stomach needs to be populated with good bacteria. Increasingly it is being found that where there is an absence of good bacteria, illness results. The best way of obtaining healthy stomach bacteria is through fermented foods.

The problem with buying store bought goods is in order to be safe for consumption and avoid food poisoning, companies have to pasteurize and add preservatives. This kills most of the good bacteria in fermented or pickled foods.

So if you truly want the full benefits of pickled veggies, it’s time to make you own! I promise it is so easy. It’s slowly becoming one of my favorite things to make because there’s endless possibilities.

Pickling Liquid Recipe for Pickle Vegetables

This pickling recipe is pretty straight forward and it gives the perfect balance of tang and flavor to your pickled vegetables. The ingredients in the brine are:

• Water
• Aple cider vinegar
• White vinegar
• Sugar: I used coconut sugar as it's less refined, but you can use whatever you have to hand,
• Yellow and brown mustard seeds
• Salt and turmeric

You then add extra flavors to the vegetables by adding fresh herbs to the jar, or make it spicy by adding a chilli, sliced jalapeno or red pepper flakes.

Pickled Vegetables are Great Food Gifts

These make the cutest housewarming or hostess gifts. Just find a cute mason jar, tie a ribbon around the top and attach a sweet little note. They’ll be so impressed by your thoughtful, unique gift!

This recipe makes 2 quarts which is two large jars and it's easily doubled, so you can keep some for yourself and give some as gifts.

How Long Do Homemade Quick Pickle Vegetables Last?

These quick pickles vegetables, or refrigerator pickles, will last for about 2 months when stored in the fridge. Because these pickles are not canned, they must be stored in the fridge. If you process and can the jars, you can keep them unopened at room temperature.

Top Tips on How To Pickle Vegetables

• Use the freshest vegetables you can for pickling, and preferably organic.
• Sugar is for flavor and can be adjusted to your liking. For a sweeter pickle add closer to ½ c.
• Add in your favorite fresh herbs and spices to customize your pickles.
• Green vegetables can be blanched in water before pickling to retain their vibrant color - this is optional of course.

Be sure to check out some of my other recipes while you are here!

• Brazilian-Style Marinated Grilled Shrimp Recipe
• Vietnamese Noodle Bowl Recipe (Gluten Free!)
• Whole30 Chicken Teriyaki Meatballs Recipe
• Crispy Carnitas Taco Bowls

I'd love to hear from you if you have made your own homemade pickled vegetables! Be sure to scroll down and leave a comment and a star rating!

How To Pickle Vegetables

Jen Pinkston

These homemade pickled vegetables are perfect for snacking, charcuterie boards, or as a side at your next bbq. They are easy to make, tasty, and are good for you.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

pickling 2 days d

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 2 Quarts

Calories 264 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

Suggested veggies (use whatever kind you like!):

• 2 small onions slices or spiralized
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1 cucumber sliced or cut into spears
• 1 c carrots sliced or cut into sticks
• ½ c radishes sliced
• 1 c mini sweet peppers quarted or halved
• ½ c cauliflower chop into bite size pieces
• 1 celery stalk or ½ teaspoon celery seeds optional
• Other veggies you could try: okra green beans, cabbage or beets.

Brine

• 2 c water
• 1 c apple cider vinegar
• 1 c white vinegar
• ¼ -½ c sugar I used coconut sugar, but any sugar will do*
• ½ teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
• ½ teaspoon brown mustard seeds
• 2 tablespoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric
• + 2 quart size glass jars

Instructions

 

• Salt sliced cucumbers and let sit for 2 hours then rinse before adding brine. (This step is optional I like to do this to ensure my cucumbers and are extra crispy.) 
• Prepare vegetables.
• In a saucepan, combine vinegar, water, salt, sugar and dry spices in a large saucepan. Bring to low boil over med-high heat. Simmer 2 minutes, stir, remove from heat and cover. Let sit for 5 minutes.
• Add any fresh herbs you may like to the jar include, dill, oregano, basil, or rosemary are all wonderful additions to pickles.
• Fill jars with vegetables (I did one jar mixed veggies and one jar cucumbers).
• Pour or ladle brine over vegetables submerge completely, pressing down on them with the end of a wooden spoon. Be sure to leave ½ inch headspace.
• Let sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours and then place in refrigerator.
• Allow pickling for 48-72 hours, then enjoy! These are good for up to 2 months under refrigeration.

Notes

*Sugar is for flavor and can be adjusted to your liking. For a sweeter pickle add closer to ½ c.

To add some heat and create a spicy pickled version, add 1 sliced jalapeno to each jar and 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

How To Pickle Vegetables

Amount per Serving

Calories

264

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

1

g

2

%

Saturated Fat

 

1

g

6

%

Sodium

 

7070

mg

307

%

Potassium

 

859

mg

25

%

Carbohydrates

 

52

g

17

%

Fiber

 

6

g

25

%

Sugar

 

37

g

41

%

Protein

 

4

g

8

%

Vitamin A

 

11238

IU

225

%

Vitamin C

 

53

mg

64

%

Calcium

 

117

mg

12

%

Iron

 

1

mg

6

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword how to pickle vegetables, pickled vegetables recipe, refrigerator pickles

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Photography by Chase Daniel