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I make no secret about how much I love sour and pickled foods. Their flavors are incredibly important to crafting balanced, craveable-to-the-last-bite dishes. These Whole30 Spicy Pickled Carrots can be enjoyed as a refreshing snack, or chopped up as a garnish for a roast.
Extend the shelf life of your produce through quick pickling
Quick pickling, or refrigerator pickling, is one of my favorite techniques for preserving food. It consists of making a brine from vinegar, water, and salt, and then marinating your vegetables in the brine for several days in the refrigerator. Pickling with this method can extend the shelf life of your food for up to two months. Carrots don’t have a short shelf life to begin with, but this technique works for many different fruits and vegetables, from cantaloupe to cucumbers.
Pickles are also a great way to incorporate more flavor into your vegetables. Here, the combination of lemon zest, cilantro, and crushed red pepper flakes evoke the bright flavors of Moroccan chermoula sauce. I’ve loved snacking on these carrots as is, or adding them into salads. Just because these carrots are pickled doesn’t mean they aren’t still versatile!
Farmers Market Ingredients and Substitutions
Carrots
Carrots take exceptionally well to pickling. They maintain their crunch factor, and their natural sweetness balances out the vinegary tang from the brine.
Carrots from your local farmers market will be sweeter and more flavorful than what you’ll see at the grocery store. And you can get extra value out of them if they still have their tops! If you don’t know what to do with them, check out my guide here!
Lemons
I love the little bit of extra citrusy tang that lemon peel provides in these refrigerator pickles. You don’t need the whole lemon for this recipe, just the zest. Save the rest of the lemon for making some lemon potatoes or adding to my creamy Whole30 beet soup.
Don’t limit yourself to lemons when there’s a ton of unusual citrus at the markets right now. Experiment with any of these fruits! Yuzu would be my top pick for these pickled carrots, but you really can’t go wrong.
Cilantro
Cilantro is probably my favorite herb, and the one you can most consistently find in my refrigerator.
Don’t like cilantro? Try using another herb, such as dill, parsley, or even mint. They’ll all bring their own flavor to the party; use the herbs you like the best.
Tips and Tricks
I highly recommend using wide mouthed glass jars when making these refrigerator pickles. I have tons of these jars in my pantry, and they’re perfect for all sorts of food storage. If you don’t like the screw top jars, try these jars with wire clamps. I just recommend avoiding plastic containers, as the pickling technique involves pouring a hot brine straight into the container.
Serving Suggestions
These Whole30 Spicy Pickled Carrots are perfect for guilt-free midday snacks! Pickles are one of my favorite snacks because you still have that satisfying crunch and salty flavors, but they’re not greasy like potato chips.
Don’t worry if you’re not a big snacker! Pickled carrots are a great addition to your sandwiches, salads, and dips. Use them one-for-one with any recipe calling for dill pickles.
How long will Whole30 Spicy Pickled Carrots last?
These Whole30 Spicy Pickled Carrots will last in the refrigerator for up to two months. I don’t recommend freezing them; the carrots will lose their crunchiness and any kind of appealing texture. But the good news is that you’ll likely eat all of them before that two month expiration date.
By the way, leftover pickle brine can be used to make marinades and salad dressings. Just imagine all that added flavor for no added cost!
Whole30 Spicy Pickled Carrots
These Whole30 Spicy Pickled Carrots can be enjoyed as a refreshing snack, added to a sandwich, or chopped up as a garnish for a roast.
Ingredients
- 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into spears
- Zest of one lemon, in long strips
- 1 tbsp cilantro leaves and stems, roughly chopped
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- Warm water
Instructions
- Stuff carrot spears lengthwise into a pint-sized wide mouth mason jar. Add lemon zest and cilantro.
- In a small saucepan, heat apple cider vinegar, salt, and crushed red pepper flakes until the salt has dissolved and the brine just comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and pour over the carrots.
- Add warm water to the jar until the carrots are covered.
- Seal the jar and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least two days before enjoying!
Notes
While you can start enjoying these pickles after just one day in the refrigerator, their flavor is really best after two days! Resist the urge, it's worth it!
