Pickled vegetables are made using leftover vegetables. It has cauliflower, peppers, fennel, onions, garlic, and carrots. These crunchy refrigerator pickles are packed with flavor, and they’re made with simple spices.
How many times has this happened to you? You buy vegetables for a recipe and don’t use the whole veggie? For me, there are always a couple of cauliflower florets left over after making my Cauliflower soup or my roasted cauliflower orzo.
More often than not, my recipes call for using only half of a red bell pepper, like my vegan pot pie or my Bombay potatoes recipe. Last week, I made glazed baby carrots and, funnily, I had 4 baby carrots leftover!
And, that’s the origin story for this quick pickles recipe!
Ingredients
For the pickling liquid
- 1 cup distilled white vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 1 Tbsp sea salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp yellow mustard seeds
- 1 Tbsp whole peppercorns
- 1 Tbsp red pepper flakes
- 3 sprigs of dill
- ½ cup light olive oil (Optional, but highly recommend: affiliate link -> Graza EVOO.)
The Veggies I used:
- 5 cauliflower florets
- ½ green bell pepper
- 3 baby carrots
- 4 pearl onions
- 1/2 fennel bulb
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 3 ginger
🌿 Fresh Herb Tips: You can add fresh herbs at the end of the pickling process. My favorites to use are thyme, Rosemary, and Parsley.
Instructions
- In a (Affiliate Link) non-reactive pan, add the distilled white vinegar, water, sea salt, and sugar.
- Bring the liquid mixture to a boil on medium heat. Then, turn off the heat and let it rest for 30 seconds.
- Add yellow mustard seeds, peppercorns, red pepper flakes, and dill.
- Set it aside to cool to room temperature.
- Add your veggies in a (Affiliate Link) 1 quart (32oz) wide mouth mason glass jar.
- When the pickle liquid has cooled, slowly pour it over the veggies in the mason jar.
- Top the jar with about ½ cup of light olive oil (Optional, but highly recommended).
- Place the lid on the jar, seal it, and shake it well. Set it aside for about 24 hours.
- Refrigerate it, and it will last for about 3 months in the refrigerator.
🫒 Olive Oil Tip: Olive oil is optional in these pickles. I highly recommend it because it makes the veggies more flavorful.
How to use pickled vegetables
- As a topping on pizza, burgers, and sandwiches.
- Flavor pasta with these quick-pickled vegetables
- Put it into soups like this kale soup and acorn squash soup.
- Mix it with beans like this Caribbean black beans recipe.
- Enhance the flavors of your salads like this kale salad, tomato salad, or cucumber salad.
- Your tacos will taste so much better when you top them with these pickled veggies.
- I have eaten them as a snack, right out of the jar. It’s that good.
What veggies are good pickled?
The list of veggies you can use is limitless. I have even made pickled tomatoes and tomato relish. They are my favorite way to preserve summer tomatoes.
Have asparagus lying around? This pickled asparagus recipe will become your favorite! Even pickled turnips are super easy to make at home.
What is your favorite veggie to pickle?
🥦 Veggies Tip: Always opt for organic veggies, if you can. I know it’s expensive, but it pays off in the long run.
❓ Answering Common Questions
Yes, you can absolutely use oil to pickle veggies. It gives them a different flavor and also makes them taste less raw.
Yes, you can refrigerate pickled veggies with oil in them. This doesn’t change the flavor, and it doesn’t “rot” the veggies. If you see a cloudy film, you can spoon it out without any issue. The cloudy film on the top of the pickles will not change the flavor of the veggies.
Refrigerating them will slow down the fermentation process. This will make sure that the pickles don’t go bad quickly.
– Cilantro seeds AKA coriander seeds
– Red chili pepper
– Turmeric
– Cumin seeds, carom seeds, or fennel seeds
– Garlic or onion powder
I used distilled white vinegar. But, you can use apple cider vinegar with “mother”, rice vinegar, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, or even mirin.
🍋 Vinegar Tip: You can use one type of vinegar or a combo of different vinegars. The only thing to note is to make sure you don’t exceed 1 cup.
Other vegetable recipes
- Miso-glazed air fryer vegetables
- Quick stir-fry
- Sauteed green beans and asparagus
- Instant Pot green beans
- Sauteed Brussels Sprouts Tops
Now that you have this pickling recipe, you will never waste another vegetable again! This quick pickle brine recipe will work for any vegetable. It’s a great way to preserve your summer harvest for use in the fall or winter.
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Pickled Vegetables Using Leftover Veggies
Ingredients
For the Liquid
- 1 cup distilled white vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 1 Tbsp sea salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp yellow mustard seeds
- 1 Tbsp whole peppercorns
- 1 Tbsp red pepper flakes
- 3 sprigs dill
For the Veggies
- 5 cauliflower florets cut into smaller pieces
- 1/2 green bell pepper cut into long strips
- 3 baby carrots cut into long strips
- 4 pearl onions cut into halves
- 1/2 fennel bulb cut into long strips
- 4 cloves garlic cut into halves
- 3 ginger cut into thin rounds
Instructions
- In a non-reactive pan, add 1 cup of distilled white vinegar
- Add 1 cup of water
- Add 1 Tbsp of sea salt
- Add 1 cup of sugar
- Bring it to a boil on medium heat and then turn off the heat.
- Add yellow mustard seeds, peppercorns, red pepper flakes and dill
- Set it aside to cool to room temperature
- Place the remaining veggies in a 1 quart (32oz) wide mouth mason jar
- When the liquid has cooled, slowly pour it over the veggies in the mason jar.
- Top the jar with about 1/2 cup of vegetable oil.
- Seal it and shake it well. Set it aside for about 24 hours
- Refrigerate it and it will last for about 6 months in the fridge.
I actually poured the warm brine over fresh vegetables as I like my Mexican carrots a little crunchy…. delicious!
Thank you so much! I am glad you adopted to your style. Thank you for sharing, Linn
Linn would you pm your recipe to me. Tell me how you made yours??? I like mine crunchy too….💛💛💛💛
Thanks for sharing! How long does it last after the seal has been broken?
Thank you, Vanessa. I don’t can personally, so, i don’t know for sure. When I make it, I bottle it and use it up in under two weeks
This looks so good! It’s nice to have different ways to enjoy veggies!
Thank you, Suzanne. Love hearing from readers like you. 🙂
Is sugar necessary in pickle brine?
Can I use apple cider vinegar?
Thank you, Cristian. Yes, you can absolutely use ACV. I liked the slight sweetness in the veggies which is why I used sugar, but, ACV will be perfect too. Try it with ACV and tell me how it tastes. Thank you
Can I do a water bath as in canning so they will last longer and not in the refrigerator
Thank you Joanne. Yes, you can absolutely do a water bath. That would work just as well. Let me know how it goes
Try using chayote squash (aka vegetable pear) spears or jicama spears as they are very noble soaking up the pickling spices and remaining super crunchy.
We are wanting to learn and do pickling. My question is when we are done with everything do we have to keep it all in the refrigerator or can we keep what we are not immediately using on the shelf. Thank you.
Thank you for your comment, Dawn. I let mine cool for a few hours while in the bottle and then refrigerate it. About 3 hours outside should be good, but, refrigerate after that.
Can you make this recipe with raw veggies? I want to make stir fry, but always have leftover RAW veggies. Will it taste as well? Thank you…your recipe looks great!
Thank you, Carolyn. Yes, Raw veggies work perfectly in this recipe. Like you, I always have veggies left over because recipes don’t use all of the veggies at once. So, feel free to add any raw veggies to this recipe.
awesome recipes and site
Can I add veggies at any time as I have them left over? The recipie looks great. Just what I need to keep from wasting veggies. Thank you????.
Thank you, Dorothy. I wouldn’t recommend it. I like to add the veggies one time and let it ferment on its own. The reason is that the veggies are evenly flavored. If you add veggies later, they might not taste the same.
I have been looking for a recipe like this! Definitely going to do it. Thank you.????
Just wondering why you add half cup of oil on top?
Thank you, Wenda. The oil helps preserve the vegetables. When I put the veggies in sandwiches or any recipe after the pickling process, I make sure I dry of as much of the oil as possible. When all the veggies have been used up, I use the oil in recipes. Typically, that oil will be good for another 6 months after you use the veggies. I know that the half cup sounds like a lot of oil, but, I don’t use it all at once. The veggies don’t absorb most of that oil.
I was lookimg for a recipe like this one, the only problem is that I can’t use sugar my husband and I are diaberics can I eliminate de sugar?
Hello Esperanza. I am afraid I don’t know much about Diabetic diet to answer that question. Yes, you can eliminate the sugar, but, it might not taste well. It will be very tangy because the sugar helps even out the flavors. If you like, you can try a sugar substitute like Truvia? Not exactly sure how great it will taste, but, I will experiment on my end too. Let me know what you find.
This is such a great way to make use of all the things you buy from the grocery store. I totally find myself making a dish with veggies and then the rest of the veggies that I don’t use end up sitting in the fridge until they go bad due to other plans for other meals. I think this would be a great way to get all of the bang for my buck for grocery spending. I can’t wait to try this recipe! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you, Billy. I am so happy to hear that. I just tried with pickling broccoli and it turned out delicious!
Do you have to use oil and all the sugar in the pickles?
Thank you, Evelyn. You can adjust the amount for both the sugar and oil to your liking. It is useful in the pickling process because it adds flavor and also helps soften the cauliflower.
Such a great idea! I’ll bet it tastes amazing!
Thank you, Megan. It was delicious!
Pickled vegetables are a huge thing over here in Hungary and are served at pretty much every meal, love the look of these, they sound delicious!
OMG this is such an amazing idea. I usually bake my veggie leftovers and have them for dinner or I make veggie pizza – I call this “recycling the fridge” 😀 BUT to make pickled veggies out of leftovers… this is just great! Pickled veggies are very healthy for gut and good bacteria. Thanks a lot for this tip. Sharing this!