Your Guide to Homemade Pickled Vegetables

Your Ultimate Guide to Homemade Pickled Vegetables

homemade pickled vegetables

It is easy and fun to create your own spice blends for pickling any kind of vegetable you like! Begin with a basic, multifunctional seasoning blend for the basic brine, then experiment with additional spices to find flavors you enjoy!

 

Step 1: Choose Your Veggies

  • Many vegetables pickle well, but the best and most common are carrots, onions, garlic, jalapeno, cucumbers, beets, cauliflower, bell peppers, summer squash, zucchini, turnips

 

Step 2: Build Your Basic Brine

  • Water, salt, sugar, plus spices make your basic brine.
  • Salt: draws out moisture from the vegetables so that it can be replaced by flavors from the seasoned brine.
  • Sugar: helps counterbalance the sour taste of the vinegar.
  • Turmeric: adds earthy flavors and creates the yellow color of the brine.
  • Chili flakes and peppercorns: adds heat

 

Step 3: Experiment With Additional Spices

  • You can add any combination of these spices in different quantities.  Start with ½-2 teaspoons of the spices you would like, experiment until you find the balance of flavors you like.
  • Allspice, cinnamon, mustard seed, coriander seed, bay leaf, ginger, fennel seed, curry powder, star anise, whole cinnamon sticks, chipotle pepper, cardamom

 

Basic Brine Recipe

 

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups water
  • 2 ¾ cups vinegar
  • ¼ cup salt
  • 1-3 tablespoons pickling spice blend
  • About 4 pounds vegetables

 

Directions:

  • Pack veggies in sterile glass jars.
  • In a large saucepan, combine pickling spice blend and brine ingredients. Heat and stir until salt is dissolved.
  • Pour brine over pickles. Store in the refrigerator.

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