Quick Pickled Vegetables — It’s so easy to make quick pickles! These pickled vegetables take just 10 minutes to prep and are ready to eat after 24 hours. I made pickled carrots and parsnips, but you can use any veggies you have on hand!
Easy Pickled Vegetables
I love vinegar and vinegary foods. Pickling carrots and parsnips is how I’ve been getting my vinegar groove on lately.
If you’ve never pickled anything, don’t fret. Quick pickling is so fast and easy, and you have nothing to fear. It’s a 10-minute project, and a perfect way to bottle up summertime.
The pickled vegetables become tenderized and softened after a few hours, but the full effect and flavor of the pickling sets in a day or two later as the flavors marry.
The vinegar brine is tangy and sweetish, with a gentle kick from the mustard and peppercorn. Sweet with heat, of sorts. And vinegar has plenty of health benefits. I’ll consider myself super healthy then with all that I’ve been consuming lately!
What’s in Quick Pickled Vegetables?
For these quick pickles, you’ll need:
- Carrots
- Parsnips
- Granulated sugar
- White distilled vinegar
- Favorite grill seasoning blend
- Dry yellow mustard seeds
- Salt (optional)
I used carrots and parsnips because they’re quite firm to begin with and I wanted the finished veggies to be firmer and not mushy. They retain plenty of texture, crispiness, and crunch. Cauliflower, rutabaga, beets, and turnips are next!
How to Quick Pickle Vegetables
To make the pickle brine, I simply combined equal parts white vinegar and sugar in a saucepan, brought the mixture just to a boil, and poured the brine over raw carrot and raw parsnip spears that I’d packed into jars. To each jar, I also added a few tablespoons of dry yellow mustard grains and some salt-free citrus pepper blend (a blend of lime, orange, and lemon rinds paired with black peppercorns).
Most people add salt to pickle vegetables, but I avoid cooking with or adding salt to our food as much as possible for health reasons. With the right blend of other seasonings, there’s plenty of flavor and a bit of a kick from the mustard grains and peppercorns. No salt needed. Plus, parsnips naturally have a peppery kick, and the spice blend enhanced it.
Tips for Making Pickled Vegetables
Think outside the box when flavoring your quick pickles. Try Jerk seasoning, chipotle seasoning, mesquite grill seasoning, or Indian spices like curry or garam masala. Remember: pickling doesn’t just have to mean Kosher dills!
Also, when adding the sliced veggies to your jars, make sure to really pack them in. You shouldn’t be able to fit any more veggies into the jars, that’s how full they should be.
Once you pour the brine over the vegetables, screw on the lid and gently shake the jars to distribute the seasonings. And let the pickles cool to room temperature on your counter before placing them in the fridge. If you place the hot glass jar in the fridge, it might crack!
More Easy Vegetable Recipes:
- Herb-Roasted Tri-Colored Carrots – Lightly caramelized around the edges, crisp-tender in the center, and seasoned with rosemary, thyme, and parsley!! A trusty side that you’ll make again and again for holidays or easy weeknight dinners!
- Grilled Mexican Corn (Elote) – Learn how to make this EASY and FLAVORFUL grilled Mexican street corn at home in minutes!! Fresh sweet corn is covered in crema, cheese, and finished with chili, lime juice, and cilantro!
- Cheesy Roasted Asparagus – Even picky eaters will LOVE asparagus when it’s roasted with onions and covered with melted CHEESE!! A fast and EASY side that’s perfect for busy weeknights!
- Rainbow Roasted Vegetables – Trying to eat more vegetables? Seeing the rainbow should do the trick!! FAST, EASY, and as HEALTHY as it gets!
- The Best Broccoli Salad — So many textures and flavors in every bite including crunchy broccoli, crisp celery, salty bacon and sunflower seeds, juicy grapes, and sweet raisins.
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Quick Pickled Vegetables
Ingredients
- 1 or 2 extra large raw carrots, peeled and sliced into 4-inch by 1/2-inch spears*
- 1 or 2 large raw parsnips, peeled and sliced into 4-inch by 1/2-inch spears (I did not ‘core’ the parsnip, I used the whole thing)
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups white distilled vinegar
- 4 tablespoons Salt-Free Citrus Pepper Blend, or a favorite all-purpose or grill seasoning blend, divided**
- 2 tablespoons dry yellow mustard grains, divided
- salt, optional and to taste
Instructions
- Place trimmed and sliced carrot spears in one glass jar and parsnips in another glass jar (or mingle them, if preferred); set jars aside. My jars were very well-packed and very stuffed; I couldn’t fit in any more spears.
- In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and vinegar and heat over medium heat to dissolve sugar, stirring constantly. Allow mixture to come to a boil and then shut the heat off.
- Pour the mixture over the vegetables, divided equally, or until the liquid comes up to nearly to the top of the jar. I find it’s easiest to pour the vinegar-sugar mixture into a heat-safe, large, glass measuring cup rather than trying to pour from a saucepan directly over the vegetables since more seems to spill onto the counter than get into the jars.
- Add 2 tablespoons citrus pepper blend and 1 tablespoon mustard to each jar. If adding salt, add it to each jar, to taste.
- Seal jars and shake gently to disperse spices.
- Allow jars to cool on counter before transferring to the refrigerator. Do not put hot glass jars into a cold refrigerator, they could crack. Vegetables will be ‘ready’ after about 2 hours, but the full effect of the pickling will set in about 48 hours later. Vegetables will keep refrigerated in jars for many weeks; let common sense and your tastebuds be your guide.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Even More Summer Vegetable Recipes:
Mexican Grilled Corn and Zucchini Salad — A healthy EASY salad that’s ready in 15 minutes and so flavorful!! Corn, zucchini, cilantro, queso fresco and more are tossed in a DELISH creamy lime sauce!
I can easily go through a jar of dill pickles in an hour – I never even thought about making my own pickled veggies! *Love* the idea of using parsnips!!
Love it! I don’t want to miss my favorite vegetables after the season :)
I also love pickled vegetables. Especially carrots and parsnips. You have brought back memories and I will be making these soon. Thanks so much.
I love pickles with any vegetable. They look so beautiful. I’ve pickled green chillies and garlic too in vinegar and they are so good. Your photography is beautiful as usual
Yum – my lips are puckering – hey, neighbor, come over to my herb garden and I will share 4 different kinds of thyme for “pickling”. Lovely, Averie.
Such a healthy snack Averie. I need to focus more on veggies. This inspires me!
I have to laugh! I was going to pickle carrots today, but got lazy! I have like 4 or 5 pounds of them, and I need to use them! It’s so funny you posted this today! :)
you totally should! it’s so easy and you’ll thank yourself later! :)
Thank you for this Averie! Have you ever done cucumbers? I want to make sweet pickles, and this sounds like the best and easiest method I’ve seen so far!
It would totally work for cucumbers and it’s so easy! Now mind you they will be mushier than the veggies I used but pickles ARE mushier than carrots anyway. I would just slice them thicker and/or use spears rather than paper thin little cucumber slices (who has time for all that slicing anyway…lol) LMK if it works for you and what you do!
mmm Pickled anything = delicious
my husband and I have made some spicy pickled yellow and green beans, the yellow ones always come out “snappier” than the green for some reason.
we’ve done a vegetable mix as well with cauliflower, onions, carrots and garlic. so. good. the garlic at the bottom is ALWAYS the best part. <3
I know exactly what you mean about snappy yellow beans. I love them that way! And your cauli, carrots, mmm, I need to do that soon here, too!
Carrots and parsnips are delish! And I’m all for a refreshing summer snack ;) So happy these aren’t overly salty. Salty usually means being bloated which I definitely do not need!
I love vinegar and eat waaaaay more than my fair share. I feel so good when I eat it – like it’s detoxifying. It probably is. Love that you pickled vegetables without salt. I always avoid them because of the high salt content but now I don’t have to!
Enjoy the lack of salt :)
I love homemade pickled veggies! I make pickled jalapenos all the time, best nacho topping!
Great how to post, I know so many people have never attempted this and will be surprised at how easy it is! Also, it’s a great way to use up vegetables that might go bad before we get around to eating them.
Exactly right on preserving things before they go bad!
Also those last sugar cookies of yours, I left a comment but was curious, do they taste like Lofthouse cookies at all?
I don’t get to complex in the kitchen, I usually leave that to the Mrs, but this looks pretty simple. Awesome Photos BTW. Cheers!
I love crunchy vinegar-packed veggies! I have been eating carrot salad with vinegar every day for a long, long time. I’d have to make several jars of this at once because I can easily eat an entire jar in one go. :D
LOL :) And perfect for those of us who don’t want to eat a ton of salt, either!
i love pickled veggies. these sound wonderfully refreshing!
I love vinegary things too, great idea to preserve veggies – love the mustard grains!