How To Make Pickled Carrots: Quick and Easy Recipes for Crunchy Pickles at Home

How to Make Pickled Carrots

Pickled carrots are a surprisingly tasty and simple way to add interest to meals. If you have ever stood in front of the refrigerator wishing for a pickle with more crunch and more color, this is the project for you.

Carrots hold their snap for weeks, they take on vinegar and spice beautifully, and they cost almost nothing when the garden is producing faster than anyone can eat.

I keep a jar in the door of my fridge at all times. They go on ramen bowls, beside pulled pork, and straight into salads when I want a sharp bite against something rich. Once you have the brine formula down, you can use pickled carrots anywhere you would use a cucumber pickle.

Start with one pint. If you like it, double the batch and put the rest up in jars.

Preparing Carrots for Pickling

Peeling is generally the first step, because carrot peels often taste earthy or dirty in a finished pickle. Tender young summer carrots are the exception. Their peels are mild enough that you can scrub them well and leave them on.

Once they are peeled, the cut you choose should match the way you plan to eat them.

• Grated. Grated carrots are good for salad toppings, udon bowls, stir fries, and coleslaw.
• Sticks. Carrot sticks are for eating out of the jar or piling onto sandwiches. Thin matchsticks run about 1/8 inch across, and whole peeled carrots cut into quarters work just as well.
• Slices. Slices make a great side dish, especially for Mexican pickled carrots with jalapeno and oregano. Cutting at a slant looks more decorative than flat slices.

Pickling Rainbow Carrots

Rainbow carrots, though beautiful in the garden, are usually a poor pickling choice. They lose color when heated, and nearly all of them bleed color into the vinegar brine. They are bred for looks rather than flavor, and much of the color sits in the skin, so it disappears the moment you peel them.

I tried red carrots once, hoping a no heat refrigerator pickle would hold the color. It did not. The brine went pink within 24 hours and the carrots faded. Use orange carrots for pickling and save the rainbow bunches for roasting.

Pickled Carrots Yield

Plan on roughly 3/4 pound of unpeeled fresh carrots per pint jar. Carrot sticks and grated carrots pack tighter than slices, so a jar of slices needs slightly less, and adding other vegetables reduces the carrot amount again.

Baby carrots that come already peeled can be pickled too, but they do not pack neatly, so only about 1/2 pound per pint is needed.

Basic Brine for Pickled Carrots

The brine is where you get to play, with one hard rule. Vinegar provides the preservation, and it must make up at least half the liquid by volume at 5% acidity. The rest is usually water, though fruit juice or wine can take its place if you want a different character.

Vinegars below 5% acidity, such as rice vinegar or malt vinegar, should be used undiluted as an all vinegar brine. Salt and sugar are there for flavor rather than preservation, so you can adjust them or leave them out entirely.

Each pint needs just over 1 cup of liquid plus the salt and sugar. The basic brine I come back to is 3/4 cup of 5% acidity vinegar, 1/2 cup water, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Spices for Pickled Carrots

Spices take a pickle from plain to the kind people ask you about.

The four recipes below each make 1 pint, and every one of them doubles easily to fill a quart. You can scale them up further too, which is what I do when the canner is already hot.

Dill pickled carrots

Dill pickled carrots are the classic place to start. They taste like a garden pickle with a sweeter backbone, and they are the jar I reach for first when company shows up.

If you want to dress them up, a colorful red carrot looks lovely going into the jar, but be warned that the color bleeds into the brine within about 24 to 48 hours.

Ingredients for 1 pint

• 3/4 pound carrots, weighed before you peel and top them
• 1 slice onion
• 3/4 cup vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon canning salt or sea salt
• 1 teaspoon dill seed, or 1 dill frond
• 1 teaspoon mustard seed
• 1 teaspoon coriander seed
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns

Refrigerator method

1. Peel the carrots and slice them into the shape you like. I suggest 1/4 inch circular slices, 1/4 inch sticks, or grated carrots.
2. Place the spices in the bottom of a jar and pack the carrots in on top, leaving 1 inch of headspace.
3. Bring the vinegar, water, and salt to a boil on the stove. A spoonful of sugar is optional here, since salt and sugar are for flavor and not for safety. Pour the boiling brine over the carrots, keeping that 1 inch headspace. Seal the jar and store it in the refrigerator. They are ready in 24 to 48 hours and keep for 3 to 4 weeks.

Canning method

1. Get the water bath canner going first and bring it up to a simmer, around 180 F, for hot pack canning.
2. Peel and slice the carrots.
3. Bring the brine to a boil, then add the spices, carrots, and any other vegetables to the pot. Simmer for 10 minutes, until the carrots are about half cooked. Grated carrots only need 5 minutes.
4. Pack the hot carrots into canning jars and top with boiling brine from the pot, leaving 1 inch headspace.
5. Process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude.
6. Cool the jars on a towel on the counter. After 24 hours, check the seals and move any unsealed jars to the refrigerator for immediate use. Sealed jars keep on the pantry shelf for 18 months. Refrigerate after opening.

A few notes. Do not cut back on the vinegar. The brine has to be at least half vinegar to pickle safely. The spices are flexible, and you can drop them down to plain dill if you like.

Some books take a different route. Preserving by the Pint uses an all vinegar brine with dill seeds, peppercorns, and garlic, while the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving calls for fresh dill and garlic with an optional 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes per jar.

Budget about 15 minutes of prep, 10 minutes of cooking, and 15 more minutes of processing if you can.

Spicy Pickled Carrots

This version, adapted from Canning for a New Generation, leans on an all vinegar cider brine. The extra sugar balances all that acid and the chili heat, so the finished pickle lands somewhere between hot and sweet. It is the jar that disappears fastest at my house.

Ingredients for 1 pint

• 3/4 pound carrots
• 1 1/4 cups cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 to 2 dried hot chilis
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 to 5 whole peppercorns
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional

Method

1. Place the spices in the jar, then prepare the carrots and pack them in on top.
2. Bring the vinegar, salt, and sugar to a boil and pour the boiling brine over the carrots.
3. If you are canning, simmer the carrots in the brine for about 10 minutes before packing them hot into jars with 1 inch headspace and topping with boiling brine. Process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude.

The spices are forgiving. Sliced fresh hot peppers can stand in for the dried chili or the flakes, and a teaspoon of prepared horseradish is a fine addition if you like that sharp, clean heat.

Mexican Pickled Carrots

These are the carrots you have eaten at a Mexican restaurant without knowing what they were called. This pint uses only 1/2 pound of carrots, because the jar also holds jalapeno, onion, and garlic, and sliced carrots do not pack as tightly as sticks or grated carrots.

Ingredients for 1 pint

• 1/2 pound carrots
• 1/2 to 1 jalapeno, sliced
• 1/4 of a medium onion, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3/4 cup vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon canning salt or sea salt
• 1 to 2 bay leaves
• 5 black peppercorns
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano

Method

1. Peel and slice the carrots, jalapeno, onion, and garlic. The traditional cut for this pickle is a thick 1/4 to 1/2 inch carrot slice.
2. Add the vinegar, water, salt, and spices to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add all the vegetables to the seasoned brine and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Go with 10 minutes if you are canning, since they cook further in the jar.
3. Pack into jars, leaving 1 inch headspace.
4. If you are canning, process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude.

One trick I use every time is to pack the raw sliced carrots into the jar first with 1 inch headspace. If they fit, everything will fit after cooking, because the vegetables shrink as they simmer. All of the spices here are optional, so build the jar to your own taste.

Asian Pickled Carrots

This version, adapted from Not Your Mama’s Canning Book, uses rice vinegar, which is standardized at 4.2% acidity. That is below the usual 5%, so the brine is all vinegar with no water added, and it is still considered safe for pickling.

Ingredients for 1 pint

• 3/4 pound carrots
• 1 1/4 cups rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 slice ginger
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 whole star anise
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional

Method

1. Peel and grate the carrots. Slices or sticks work too, so use what you enjoy.
2. Load the spices into the jar and top them with the carrots and any other vegetables.
3. Bring the rice vinegar, salt, and sugar to a boil on the stove and pour the boiling brine over the carrots.
4. If you are canning, boil the vegetables, meaning the carrots, ginger, and garlic, for 5 minutes if they are grated or 10 minutes for sticks and slices. Pack them hot on top of the spices, leaving 1 inch headspace, and process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude.

These are made for noodle bowls, banh mi sandwiches, and sushi night. You can swap half the carrots for daikon radish, and kombu or scallions make good company in the jar.

Pickled Carrot Recipe Variations

These recipes are flexible in every direction except one. Salt and sugar can be adjusted freely for flavor without affecting safety, but the brine must stay at least half vinegar, and that vinegar must be standardized to 5% acidity.

Nearly any cucumber pickle recipe can be made with carrots, though bread and butter pickle brine is not a good match, since it is overly sweet and heavily spiced.

Pickled carrots also turn up in mixed end of the garden jars, where whatever is left in the beds goes into the pot together. A few book recipes worth knowing:

• Naturally Sweet Food in Jars. Two parts carrot to one part daikon, julienned, in a brine of 4 parts rice vinegar to 1 part water plus a splash of agave. Per pint, add 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 garlic clove, and 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds.
• Ball Canning Back to Basics. Equal parts water and white vinegar, with 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, 1 to 2 red chilis, 2 garlic cloves, and a piece of ginger per pint.
• Pickles and Relishes. Equal parts carrot and parsnip sticks, with 1/2 teaspoon pickling spices and 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns per pint, topped with a white vinegar brine and a pinch of salt.

If you want a quick way to decide which of the four main recipes to make first, this comparison helps.

Canning Pickled Carrots

Refrigerator pickled carrots keep for 3 to 4 weeks, and they are the easiest route because you can pour hot brine straight over the carrots in the jar without simmering them first. If you want shelf space instead of refrigerator space, water bath canning keeps them at peak quality for up to 18 months. Refrigerate after opening either way.

Every recipe above is safe to can as long as you do not reduce the vinegar and you use vinegar at 5% acidity. Canning calls for a hot pack, which means the carrots go into the brine before they go into the jar.

• Simmer slices and sticks for 10 minutes, until they are about half cooked.
• Simmer grated carrots for only 5 minutes.
• Pack hot, top with boiling brine, and leave 1 inch headspace.
• Process for 15 minutes below 1,000 feet of elevation, adding time as you go higher.

Get the canner simmering, around 180 F, before you start packing jars. When the processing time is up, set the jars on a towel to cool completely. Check the seals after 24 hours, move any unsealed jars to the refrigerator for immediate use, and label the rest for the pantry.

Carrot Canning Recipes

If you want to put up plain carrots rather than pickles, that is a different project with a different piece of equipment.

Plain carrots are a low acid vegetable, so they call for a pressure canner rather than the water bath canner used for these pickles. The pressure canning guide for plain carrots is the right place to start if you are working through a big harvest.

Ways to Preserve Carrots

Pickling is only one way to keep a carrot harvest from going soft in the drawer. Other methods include dehydrating carrots and fermenting carrots, and a guide to freezing carrots is on the way. Between the four, you can handle just about any size of harvest without wasting a single root.

Pickle Recipes

Once the carrot jars are on the shelf, the same brine skills carry over to everything else in the garden.

If you are building a pickle shelf, these are the recipes to line up next: bread and butter pickles, dill pickles, gherkins, also called baby pickles, pickled peppers, and pickled onions.

Start with the one your family eats fastest, and you will never look at a full refrigerator drawer the same way again.

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Dill Pickled Carrots + Spicy Pickled Carrots + Mexican Pickled Carrots + Asian Pickled Carrots

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How to Make Pickled Carrots Pickled carrots are a surprisingly tasty and simple way to add interest to meals. If you have ever stood in front of the refrigerator wishing for a pickle with more crunch and more color, this is the project for you.

• Yield: 1 pint 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Dill Pickled Carrots
Dill Pickled Carrots
3/4 lb carrots
1 slice onion
3/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp canning salt or sea salt
1 tsp dill seed
1 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp peppercorns

Spicy Pickled Carrots
Spicy Pickled Carrots
3/4 lb carrots
1 1/4 cups cider vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1–2 dried hot chilis
1 clove garlic
1 bay leaf
3–5 peppercorns, whole
1/2 to 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Mexican Pickled Carrots
Mexican Pickled Carrots
1/2 lb carrots
1/2 to 1 jalapeno, sliced
1/4 medium onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic
3/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/4 to 1/2 tsp canning salt or sea salt
1–2 bay leaves
5 black peppercorns
1/2 tsp oregano

Asian Pickled Carrots
Asian Pickled Carrots
3/4 lb carrots
1 1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt
1 slice ginger
1 whole star anise
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic

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Instructions

Dill Pickled Carrots
Refrigerator Pickled Carrots
1-Prepare carrots by peeling, then slicing into: Prepare carrots by peeling, then slicing into a shape of your choice. I’d suggest 1/4 inch circular slices, 1/4 inch sticks, or grated carrots.
2-Place spices into the bottom of a: Place spices into the bottom of a jar and pack carrots in on top of the spices, leaving 1-inch headspace. (See note for Mexican Pickled Carrots.)
3-Prepare a brine by bringing the vinegar,: Prepare a brine by bringing the vinegar, water, salt, and sugar to a boil on the stove. Pour the boiling brine over the carrots in the jars, maintaining a 1-inch headspace. Seal and store in the refrigerator. They’ll be ready to eat in 24 to 48 hours and should keep for 3-4 weeks in the refrigerator.

Canning Pickled Carrots
4-Prepare a water bath canner before beginning: Prepare a water bath canner before beginning and bring it up to a simmer (around 180 degrees F) for hot pack canning.
5-Prepare carrots by peeling, then slicing into: Prepare carrots by peeling, then slicing into a shape of your choice. I’d suggest 1/4 inch circular slices, 1/4 inch sticks, or grated carrots.
6-Prepare a brine by bringing the vinegar,: Prepare a brine by bringing the vinegar, water, salt, and sugar to a boil on the stove. Add spices, carrots, and any other vegetables into the boiling brine on the stove. Simmer for 10 minutes, until the carrots are about half cooked. (5 minutes for grated carrots.)
7-Pack the hot carrots into canning jars: Pack the hot carrots into canning jars and top with boiling brine from the pot, leaving 1-inch headspace.
8-Process in a water bath canner for: Process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude (see notes).
9-After processing, remove jars to cool completely: After processing, remove jars to cool completely on a towel on the counter. After 24 hours, check seals and store any unsealed jars in the refrigerator for immediate use. Sealed jars will keep on the pantry shelf for 18 months. Refrigerate after opening.

Spicy Pickled Carrots
10-Place the spices in the jar, prepare: Place the spices in the jar, prepare the carrots and pack them into the jar. Bring the vinegar, salt, and sugar to a boil, and then pour the boiling brine over the carrots.
11-If canning, simmer the carrots in the: If canning, simmer the carrots in the brine for about 10 minutes before packing hot into canning jars (1-inch headspace) and topping with boiling brine. Process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude.

Mexican Pickled Carrots
12-Peel and slice the carrots, jalapeno, onion,: Peel and slice the carrots, jalapeno, onion, and garlic. Add the vinegar, water, salt, and spices into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add all vegetables into the seasoned brine and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. (Go with 10 minutes if canning as they’ll cook further in the jar.)
13-Pack into the jar, leaving 1-inch headspace: Pack into the jar, leaving 1-inch headspace.
14-If canning, simmer for only 10 minutes: If canning, simmer for only 10 minutes before packing into the jar as they’ll cook further in the canner. Process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude.

Asian Pickled Carrots
15-Prepare as with other pickled carrots by: Prepare as with other pickled carrots by peeling and grating carrots. Load spices into jars and top with carrots and other vegetables. Bring the rice vinegar, salt, and sugar to a boil on the stove, and then pour the boiling brine over the carrots.
16-If canning, bring all the vegetables (Carrot,: If canning, bring all the vegetables (Carrot, ginger, and garlic) to a boil for 5 minutes (grated carrots) or 10 minutes for carrots sticks and slices before packing hot on top of spices in the jar, leaving 1-inch headspace. Process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude.

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• Method: stovetop