Skip to main content

Pickled Vegetables

Small bowl of bright colored pickled vegetables including carrots onions and fennel.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Sean Dooley, Prop Styling by JoJo Li

Pickling has long been a practical and affordable way of preserving inexpensive in-season produce. And while you may no longer need to put up dozens of jars to last you through a rough winter, a small batch of bright, crunchy-punchy pickles can be a thrifty, tasty, and colorful addition to your dinner table.

Pouring the hot brine over the vegetables will soften them just a bit and speed the pickling process along. If you’re in a real hurry, the carrots and onion will still be tasty with a four-hour marinade time, but the turmeric fennel needs at least 12 hours for maximum blinding color.

For more highly craveable recipes that’ll help save you some $$$ along the way, check out Shilpa’s monthly column What a Steal.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    8 servings

Ingredients

6 small carrots (about 8 oz.), peeled, sliced on a diagonal
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 medium fennel bulb, trimmed, thinly sliced
1 tsp. ground turmeric
1 medium red onion, sliced ½" thick
2 cups distilled white vinegar
½ cup (100 g) sugar
2 Tbsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 Tbsp. plus ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place 6 small carrots (about 8 oz.), peeled, sliced on a diagonal, and 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes in a 2-cup heatproof container. Place 1 medium fennel bulb, trimmed, thinly sliced, and 1 tsp. ground turmeric in another 2-cup heatproof container and 1 medium red onion, sliced ½" thick, in a third container.

    Step 2

    Bring 2 cups distilled white vinegar, ½ cup (100 g) sugar, 2 Tbsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 Tbsp. plus ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high, stirring until sugar and salt are dissolved.

    Step 3

    Pour brine evenly among containers with vegetables and let cool. Cover and chill at least 12 hours and up to 4 days.

Read More
Scallion-infused oil, or pa gireum in Korean, is a fragrant way to upgrade a pot of rice.
A flavorful one-pan meal featuring baked pierogies, roasted beets, and a poppy seed dressing. Frozen pierogies and pre-cooked beets make this extra easy.
Braising canned chickpeas in chicken stock and olive oil makes them unbelievably tender and buttery. This is worth the effort of peeling 40 cloves of garlic.
This assertive dressing is the perfect complement to tender, delicate steamed vegetables.
With custardy tofu, a fragrant scallion sauce, and smoky bonito flakes, this restaurant-quality dish is an impressive appetizer or main for dinner at home.
With homemade quick pickles, this will be your new signature side dish.
Transform summer squash into this spectacular spread to put toward sandwiches, pastas, and more all season long.
Summer’s best produce cooked into one vibrant, silky, flavor-packed dish.