Easiest Pickled Fermented Vegetables Ever – How to Ferment Carrots, Cauliflower, and More
Discover how easy it is to create delicious, nutritious, and gut-loving fermented vegetables at home with this easy, step-by-step guide to pickling vegetables with salt. With just a few minutes of preparation, a few days, and one easy tool, you can learn how to ferment vegetables like carrots, green beans, and cauliflower to use as snacks and in salads for their beneficial probiotics.
Looking for more gut-friendly recipes? Try my Best Mild Homemade Sauerkraut Recipe, these Super Easy Fermented Pickled Jalapeños or use this sourdough starter recipe to make your breads healthier!
✩ What readers are saying…
“I just opened my first fermented vegetables after a 5 day fermentation, and they are so delicious.” -John
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I don’t know about you, but for years I always thought ‘fermented’ meant bubbly, strong flavored, and possibly slimy. That’s just what the word conjured up in my mind for some reason.
I knew that things like wine and vinegar resulted from some sort of fermentation and I happily used them, but the general unease regarding fermented foods still held out.
Because of this, I wasn’t really interested in exploring fermented foods, other than sourdough.
But as I started to become more aware of the importance of gut health and getting more probiotics in our diets, I read that fermented foods were a great way to feed the good bacteria in our intestines. Which made me curious.
How hard was it to make fermented foods? What did the food taste like?
To test, I bought some refrigerated sauerkraut and kimchi to taste it and see how I could use it in our daily diet.
I loved them – but not the high price tag, so of course I determined to figure out how to ferment produce at home.
And guess what I discovered along the way?
Fermenting is just natural pickling!
Don’t laugh – I really didn’t get it before actually doing it and tasting the result. I didn’t realize that if you let vegetables sit for awhile in salt water that they will pickle, just like in vinegar.
And I love pickles! Green beans, cucumbers, asparagus – they are all on my ‘must make’ list every season.
What is the difference between fermented and pickled vegetables?
While vegetables pickled with vinegar are not bad for you, they are not as good for your gut like fermented vegetables are.
You want the good lactobacillus bacteria that can only come from fermenting. In fermenting, lactobacillus bacteria change naturally present sugars in vegetables (and fruit!) into lactic acid (which is why you’ll see this method called lacto-fermentation). Lactic acid is a natural preservative that fights any bad bacteria and preserves the flavor, texture, and nutrients of the food.
These good bacteria not only help your gut, but some can also help with chronic diseases, inflammation, immunity, and even some cancers. (source)
I also discovered that this lacto-fermentation, an age-old method of preservation, is SO easy and can be used right along with canning to keep garden harvests through the winter, stored in a refrigerator.
If you’re ready to aid your digestion with delicious pickled foods through fermenting, then this recipe for fermented vegetables is the easiest and fastest way to start! You can use different vegetables or all one vegetable and tailor the spices to your liking.
I can’t wait for you to taste for yourself how wonderful fresh, pickled fermented vegetables are – and to discover the simple lid I found that makes any fermenting practically effortless!
How to Ferment Vegetables Video
Ingredients
To make fermented pickled vegetables you actually need only vegetables and salt at the basic level. I like to increase the flavor with garlic and red pepper flakes for a bit of spice.
- Fresh Vegetables – Use multiple vegetables or just one kind. As far as the types, stick with anything you know will stand up to pickling. I show cauliflower, carrots, and green beans here. Asparagus, cucumbers, and beets work well, too. Add a hot pepper for spice (or ferment sliced jalapeños). For cabbage, stick with sauerkraut for the best results.
- Pure sea salt – or even specialty sea salts, though fine-ground will dissolve easiest.
- Garlic cloves, optional – This adds flavor and the fermented garlic is delicious in salads and whirred up in salad dressings, too.
- Red pepper flakes, optional – I have found that the fermenting diminishes the spice of red pepper and I’ve needed to add more than in my vinegar pickling recipes.
- Crushed black pepper, optional – I’d use this if not using red pepper flakes for a very light spice.
- Pickling Spice, optional – this homemade pickling spice can be customized for what you’re fermenting – include the red pepper flakes and black peppercorns from above and add dill seed for cucumbers and more cinnamon or allspice for beets. This is the best way to add unique flavor to your ferments!
Supplies
- Quart Jar – or half gallon jar if you want to make a lot.
- Glass Weight – place on top of veggies to help keep them submerged under the brine.
- Fermenting lid – see below
- Storage lid – you can use the metal two-piece standard canning jar lids, but it’s easier to use the plastic or leak-proof one-piece lids after stashing your fermenting jars in the fridge. There’s also less chance of rusting during cold storage.
The Easy Fermenting “Secret”
Want to know what makes these fermented pickles the “easiest ever?” This:
Click here to buy Easy Fermenter Lids on website or here for similar lids on Amazon.
The part of fermenting that intimidated me (after getting over my initial misconceptions), was the whole burp-the-jar-daily thing – oh, and the potential for mold I kept reading about.
If you don’t constantly monitor the jars, you could find your counters covered in brine that’s oozed from under the jar lids. And there’s big debate on whether you should scrape off any mold or dump the whole jar. Yikes.
Enter the Easy Fermenter Lids (website) (similar on Amazon)
The lids have been truly as set-it-and-forget-it as you can get with fermenting.
I’ve made half-gallon jars of sauerkraut and kimchi, quart jars of corn relish and these pickled veggies without any mold and only one instance of overflow because I filled the jar too full.
I LOVE these jar lids. They took all the trepidation out of fermenting for me.
How to Ferment Vegetables: Step-by-Step
Step 1: Fill The Jar
- Grab a quart mason jar and start layering your prepared vegetables (you can cut them any size you want).
- Press down as much as possible to fit as many as you can into the jar to just under the shoulders (about 1 to 1-1/2 inches of headspace).
- Finish with a sprinkling of red pepper flakes or other spices you’d like – mustard seeds, fresh herbs, ginger, or dried herbs.
Step 2: Make Brine & Fill Jar
- Use a 4-cup measuring glass to dissolve the pure sea salt into water – filtered or good well water. The recommended ratio is 1-3 tablespoons of salt to 4 cups of water – I use 2 tablespoons, but you can experiment with less, just never less than 1 tablespoon of salt.
- Pour the brine over the vegetables in the jar, filling to just above the vegetables, leaving 1 to 2 inches of headspace.
TIP: This headspace is important for the fermenting action that will occur – if you don’t leave enough room, you will have liquid overflow. #lessonlearned
Step 3: Remove Air Bubbles
Use a thin, plastic spatula (still one of my favorite kitchen tools!) to release air bubbles by pushing down the sides all around the jar.
Step 4: Add Glass Weight
While not a crucial when using the Easy Fermenter Lids and short fermented recipes like this one, I still like to use a weight to make sure the top vegetables stay under the brine.
I bought the glass weights shown which worked okay, though when slippery after fermenting, it wasn’t always the easiest to remove them. I’d make sure to get glass weights like these with easy-grip knobs now if I had it to do over.
Step 5: Attach Lids
- Attach the easy lids and set on the counter. Or use another style of fermenting lid that you’re familiar with.
- You can also use regular two-piece canning lids, or plastic storage jar lids, but you will have to ‘burp’ them daily – open the lid to let air in – and monitor them more closely.
TIP: If using regular lids, a good idea is to set the jars on a tray, cookie sheet, or some other thing that could catch any potential overflow.
Step 6: Let Ferment On Counter & Then Store In Fridge
- Label the jar with the date – the easy lids have a way to mark the date on the top – and let the vegetables ferment (aka, pickle) at room temperature.
- Ferment 4-5 days. After sitting on the counter for 4-5 days (depending – see first question below), the brine will be cloudy and it will be time to store them in the fridge.
- Remove the fermenting lid and replace with a regular storage lid.
- Store in the refrigerator. Eat them any time after storing – the pickles will continue to ferment, but much more slowly, and will be good for weeks and even months.
When are the vegetables done fermenting?
The room temperature finish date for fermented vegetables is very loose, in fact many recipes just say “when vegetables are finished,” relying instead on the taste test. Since I wasn’t really sure what they should taste like, never having eaten them before, this didn’t work well for me!
After making these many times, I can tell you that 5 days is perfect for our heated house in winter, so you can start there and adjust if needed. For example, a warm summer kitchen may need only 3-4 days, while a colder kitchen may need an extra day.
Note: Food will continue to ferment in storage, just at a much slower pace.
TIP: Do a taste test – these should taste like any firm, crisp pickle you’ve had.
Note: Food will continue to ferment in storage, just at a much slower pace. A commenter suggested using a couple grape leaves in the ferment to help keep the vegetables crisp in long storage (the tannins in the leaves are know for this). My vegetables have stayed crisp for months, so I’ve not needed to do this.
What do fermented vegetables look like in the fridge?
The photo above is what a jar of fermented vegetables look like after being stored in the refrigerator. The brine will get cloudy as it ferments on your counter and more so as it is stored – this is normal.
Storage Tips
After putting a regular lid on the jar and storing in the fridge, the vegetables will continue to develop flavor. They will last for months in the fridge (depending, see below) – unless you’re like us and they barely make it a week.
How Long To Store Fermented Vegetables
This is kind of up to you and the type of vegetables used.
Some vegetables (like green beans, peppers and softer vegetables) get pretty soft the longer they’re stored and it’s not pleasant to eat them after awhile. Cauliflower and carrots last longer. Cabbage as sauerkraut can last months in the fridge.
It’s not as much a safety issue when they’re refrigerated as it is a texture issue. So experiment and find what vegetables you like and how long you like to keep them!
My whole family LOVES these pickles just as much as the canned vinegar pickles I’ve made for years. We can easily go through a jar a week just eating as a snack.
Reader Raves
“My first real attempt at fermenting veggies so I was a little nervous! Love the outcome (so did my husband!)…This recipe is a keeper and oh the Easy Fermenter lid really rocks!” -Cathy
“Super easy recipe to make! Thank you!!” -Sarah
I hope you love these fermented vegetables as much as we do – if you make them, be sure to leave a recipe rating so I know how you liked the recipe!
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Easiest Pickled Fermented Vegetables Ever
Equipment
- 1 quart jar with lid for fridge storage
- 1 quart measuring cup
- 1 glass weight, optional
- 1 Fermenting Lid, optional
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 cups cut vegetables or enough to fill a quart jar (cauliflower, carrots, green beans, etc.) – a variety or all one kind
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and slightly crushed
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes optional OR coarse ground black pepper
- 1-2 teaspoons pickling spice, customized to your vegetables like this recipe
- Other optional seasonings: dill, oregano, thyme, etc.
- 1½ – 2 tablespoons sea salt*
- 1 quart water, filtered if on a public water system, or if well water isn't good
Instructions
- Place garlic in the bottom of a clean, wide-mouth quart jar. Layer the cut vegetables, pressing down to fit as many as you can up to the shoulder of the jar (1-2 inches headspace).
- Add any seasonings to the contents in the jar.
- Dissolve the salt in the water in a 1-quart measuring cup and pour over the vegetables in the jar until the top vegetables are barely covered.** Use a thin plastic spatula around the sides of the jar to release any air bubbles.
- Use a weight to keep the vegetables under the brine and attach a tight regular lid or airlock lid like the easy fermenter.
- Ferment at room temperature (60-75 degrees is ideal) for about 5 days, tasting to see if they are your desired flavor and texture at day 4. If using regular lids, burp daily to release excess pressure.
- Once they are finished, remove the fermenting lid, if you used one, and add a regular lid. Move the jar to the refrigerator for storage – the flavor will continue to develop.
Notes
Nutrition
Fermenting FAQs
When looking to fit fermented foods into a healthy diet, it helps to know you don’t need much of them to benefit – just a spoonful or a couple pieces of vegetables once or twice a day is enough to get the digestive benefits.
We find them easy to add to salads and these picked vegetables in particular make a great addition to vegetable platters or even on their own served alongside your meal.
You want to use the purest salt you have – sea salt, pink Himalayan salt, grey salt and similar are perfect. You want to stay away from table salt with added iodine which can interfere with the fermenting process.
Personally, I don’t think the salt offsets the health benefits of fermented foods. We also don’t eat a lot of it at once (it’s basically a condiment), and there are other fermented foods that don’t use salt, like yogurt and kefir, so you can balance the types of ferment food you eat.
There needs to be the right balance of salt in fermented foods – too much kills the good bacteria, too little lets the bad bacteria grow.
The National Library of Medicine published a follow-up study looking at the consumption of fermented foods and hypertension and they concluded that u0022high consumption of salt-fermented vegetables was not shown to be associated with increased risk of hypertension.u0022 (source)
Note: There are ways to make vegetable ferments without using salt by starting with whey or brine from another ferment. The taste and texture isn’t as good in my opinion, but if you’re really worried about the salt, you may want to look into fermenting with whey.
More Easy Fermented Recipes
- 5 Minute Fool-Proof Fermented Corn Relish
- Best, Mild Homemade Sauerkraut
- Fermented Pickled Jalapeno Slices
This recipe has been updated – it was originally published in March of 2017.
Disclosure: affiliate links in this article will earn commission based on sales, but it doesn’t change your price. Click here to read my full disclaimer and advertising disclosure.
What do you use for a weight?
I use glass fermenting weights I bought on Amazon. But they don’t have holders on them and are difficult to remove, so I’m looking at the type with handles on the tops now.
My mom usually layer vegetables with sugar and salt. I think in that way it tastes more crunchy! Thank you for the recipe
Well, I wouldn’t want to add any sugar – that will change the whole makeup of the ferment. Other than that, you can add the salt any way you wish, just keeping to the measurement so it’s not too salty. 🙂
Yes thank you for reminder. I’ll keep that in mind!
We are on a quest to include fermented foods into our diet so your easy to follow writings are welcome and appreciated.
Your pictures show quart jars and you mention gallon jars, just wondering if a beginner should start with the quarts?
Thanx,
Elizabeth
Good for you Elizabeth – it’s really been helpful for my husband and I! I would start with the quarts to see which recipes you like and how long it takes to eat them. Then when you get a feel for it, you can adjust. The kraut takes the longest, so I use a bigger jar of that, since we like to have enough to last between each ferment.
Ive been fermenting for about a year.
Tips: I use 2 grape leaves in each quart jar to maintain crispness, from the tannins in the leaves. I bought a large jar and froze them in a ziplock, pull out what I need.
To maintain consistency, I ferment the first 4 days with just 2 tablespoons of salt and a teaspoon of sugar, add the spices after 4 days and ferment 1 to 2 more days. Some spices seems to slow down or speed up the ferment.
Caraway seed pickles, bread and butter pickles are my favorites, follow recipes online for spice mix.
Zucchini makes amazing “pickles”
I’m experimenting with a chopped red pepper, onion, carrot, tomato blend, with cilantro, jalapeno for a fermented pico de gallo.
Also a chopped cauliflower, bell pepper, onion, hot pepper, celery, basil, oregano mix for a healthier version of giardiniera.
When you start a new batch. You can add a spoon of the last batch juice to kickstart the ferment.
Pickle pipes are my chosen airlock.
ENJOY.
Thanks for the tips, Jason. I really like your ideas for new ferments. I, too, use the brine to start new batches. 🙂
Where’s the “(see the recipe for exact amounts)” recipe for water and salt amounts, please? Thank you.
Click the arrow at the top of the article or the bottom, Beverly to go the full recipe!
Thank you…I searched the article a half a dozen times looking for the amounts.
Thank you for the awesome recipe and site..Pleased to follow you on all your social media sites..My inquiry is that I noticed you did not use Vinegar and Sugar as many recipes do…i like the pickles have some Acidity flavour and stay at least six months in use…I kindly ask you to comment on this ..
This is a fermented recipe, so the salt water left at room temperature ferments and creates the pickle that tastes just like vinegar – really! It’s actually kind of amazing. 🙂 They also are preserved like this, keeping in the fridge for 6 months or more.
Crushed Mustard seeds add flavours and keeps it crispy for longer , try it
Oh, that sounds great, I will – thanks!
Yummy and natural way if pickling Veggies thanks for sharing
“you can also use regular two-piece canning lids, or plastic storage jar lids, but you will have to ‘burp’ them daily”
I have news for you. Plastic lids do not have to be burped. In fact, I think they work better than these fancy airlock lids. (I own both.) The inexpensive, screw on, plastic lids are soft enough to let pressure escape. And they keep air out better than the fancy lids.
I also like Fido-style jars better than fancy airlock lids. Fido-style jars have a metal collar that presses the lid down against a gasket. Just like plastic screw on lids, this type of lid is airtight but not strong enough to prevent pressure from escaping, which is exactly what you want.
Bottom line: although I own fancy airlock lids from two different manufacturers, I actually think they are not as good as cheaper jars/lids.
Hmmm, do you screw the plastic lid down firmly, or loosely? You can probably tell from my article that I haven’t tried a lot of lids since it was nerve-wracking to think about. The lids I mention have really been a set-and-(almost)-forget so I do really love them – but haven’t tried as many as you. Thanks for the information!
Dear Jami,
I have made baby cucumbers but it looks a bit white no longer green. Is it still ok to eat?
Where do you purchase those lids?
The color will often change as a vegetable ferments – as long as it’s not mold or slimy it’s okay to eat. You can buy them on Amazon – see the purple link in the article (under the photo of the lid).
I can’t find where you say the ratio of water to salt??? Does it matter?
Yes it does, Anne – access the full recipe with ratios through the green arrows. 🙂
Ahhh! Thank you!!!!
Another question. I did my first fermentation batch last week and thought they were just ok. Which is what led me to your website, searching for something better. I compared your 2T salt/4 cups water to their 3T salt/4 cups water. Why the difference and in your opinion, what will more salt do for the veggies?
Thank you! Learning….
Hmmm, as I started researching fermenting, most all the recipes I started with call for about 2 TB salt for a quart jar so that’s what I went with for these recipes (also the corn relish I published and a kraut recipe I’m working on now). I’m not an expert so I don’t really know the difference, but I do know that we like less salty of most things and all my ferments have been nicely fermented with the smaller amount.
I’ve gotten a lot of good info and recipes from the Cultures for Health website – maybe you can find more info there?
Can I use Himalayan pink salt?
Yes, any salt will work. If it’s bigger crystals, though, I’d add more.
What is the difference between pickling and fermentation?
They both taste the same, Tara, but pickled uses vinegar to pickle and fermenting uses water and salt and allows the bacteria in the environment to do the pickling. It’s similar to sourdough. While vinegar is made through fermentation, foods pickled in it don’t provide the probiotic and enzymatic value of homemade fermented vegetables.
Have you tried this method for okra? I love picked okra, so it seems like a good idea!
I haven’t, Shelby -pickled okra is not my favorite. 🙂 I did find this for you, which is similar, though it does start the ferment with a bit of vinegar: http://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/recipe/lacto-fermentation-recipes/okra-pickles/
Hope that helps!
Thank you for being so thorough in your explanation Jami! I think alot of people don’t really know the difference between pickling and fermenting and are even usually pretty afraid of both. Your recipe looks great, and the pictures look great too! If you had to pick only one vegetable you could ferment for the rest of your life, which would you choose?
I dont understand the measurements in this recipe. If you fill a quart jar with veggies, only about 2 cups of the brine will fit! Recipe says to use 1 quart of brine???
Sorry that’s not clear, Leigh! You mix the salt into a quart of water, but just use what will fit. It’s to make sure there’s enough since different vegetables will leave different air pockets (cauliflower leaves more than carrots, etc.). The water amount is standard so the salt-water ratio is the same no matter how much you use. Hope that helps – I’ll clarify in the recipe, too.
We LOOOOVE pickles in this house – but I have never thought about pickling my own veggies before. Once I made a batch of refrigerator pickles, and those actually came out pretty well – but took FOREVER (like a month in the fridge or something!). Totally want to try this for the first time. Thanks for sharing <3
If you love pickles, Savannah, I think you will be amazed at this recipe!
Fermented vegetables looks good thanks for sharing.
Am I reading correctly, that you should not use tap water if you are on city water?
Thanks for clarifying!
Yes, the recommendation is to not use water from a system, since it usually includes fluoride and things to kill bacteria. And only well systems that you are sure are good.
Now that you have explained the process so clearly with great photos, I am totally going to make pickled vegetables! I always buy half sour or fermented pickles at our local deli, but if I can make my own- I am willing to try! I’ll buy the weights and lids you suggested, too. Thanks Jami!Once again, your great explanations and clear directions and wonderful photography will push me into new areas of cooking!
Oh, Michelle, I’m so glad!! Thank you for your sweet words – you’re always such an encouragement to me. 🙂
I am really excited about fermenting now, and I think you will be too.