Super Easy Quick Pickled Carrots Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How to pickle quickly? ›

All-Purpose Quick Pickling Brine

Add your washed and sliced produce, packing the jar tightly. In a medium saucepan, bring the water, vinegar, salt and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and carefully pour into pickling jar until all contents are submerged. Close the lid on the jar tightly.

You want to choose a milder rice or white wine vinegar when pickling pears or pineapple but could use something bolder such as red wine vinegar to pickle onions or cauliflower. One quick thing to caveat is that if you use red wine or sherry vinegar, it can give a soft pink hue to your pickles.

For best flavor results, wait at least 24 hours before eating the pickled carrots. The longer you wait, the more intense in flavor they will get. Make sure your jars are completely clean and sterilized before using them. Depending on the size of your carrots, you may need more or less to fill the jars.

Vinegar pickling (or quick pickling) is a simple process. Water, salt and vinegar (and sometimes sugar) are combined and heated and then fruit or vegetables are immersed in that liquid.

The technique—a version of vinegar pickling that doesn't require a full canning process—produces briny, crunchy pickled vegetables in just a couple hours. Heat the brine until sugar and salt dissolve, then pour it over the vegetables and let them cool in the jar—voila, pickles.

Use 'cPickle' instead of 'Pickle'

The 'cPickle' module is a faster version of 'Pickle' that is written in C. This makes it faster than the 'Pickle' library that is implemented purely in Python.

Most of us think of small cucumbers when we think of pickles, but actually, pretty much anything can be pickled. Cabbage, radishes, onions, carrots, beets—the limit does not exist. And they're all great for the gut.

Pickling doesn't have to be a long process involving canning and special supplies. If you have vegetables that would be good pickled, like onions, garlic, carrots or green beans, toss them in the jar of leftover pickle juice, and see what happens. They'll make a nice addition to a charcuterie platter or Blood Mary.

For my pickled carrots, I do a quick blanch before adding to jars and processing in the water bath. This softens the carrots slightly and allows the pickle flavor to absorb better.

Any basic vinegar is game — white vinegar, apple cider, white wine, and rice vinegar all work well. You can use these vinegars alone or in combination. Steer clear of aged or concentrated vinegars like balsamic or malt vinegar for pickling.

Can I use white vinegar instead of distilled vinegar for pickling? ›

The base for pickling vinegars is often white vinegar but it can also be cider vinegar, malt vinegar, or wine vinegar. These vinegars vary in flavour and acidity to allow you to subtly alter the taste of your pickles. Vinegar, or acetic acid, is the base of most pickle recipes.

Apple cider vinegar made from fermented apple juice is a good choice for many pickles. It has a mellow, fruity flavor that blends well with spices. But it will darken most vegetables and fruits. Cider vinegar may be substituted for white vinegar of the same acidity.

Then there is the quick-pickle — the kind of pickle that's ready in less than 24 hours, and sometimes in only minutes. One way to speed up the process is to eliminate the water component in the brine. That way, acid is in direct contact with the ingredient so pickling is nearly instantaneous.

Top the cucumbers with a few stacked lids or a resealable plastic bag filled with extra brine to keep them submerged. Place the airlock on top and secure it to the jar with the band. Store in a cool area (between 60 and 75F [15 and 24C]) for 3 to 5 days, or until the cucumbers taste like pickles.

An easy pickling recipe to follow is the 3-2-1 method; three parts water, two parts vinegar, and one part sugar. This 3-2-1 pickle brine is on the sweeter side, making it great for bread and butter pickles or spicy pickled beets. For a more savory pickle, use less sugar.