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How To Make Quick Spiced Carrot Refrigerator Pickles

I don’t know about you, but I love the crispy snap of a good pickle.

Ginger and turmeric carrot refrigerator pickles in a jar.
Oh, snap! Who doesn’t love a crunchy pickle?

Be it cucumber, green bean, or carrot, you just can’t beat that satisfying vinegary crunch. Especially late at night when you’re feeling snacky.

It used to be that every summer I would spend hours in my kitchen boiling gallons of hot brine to pour into sterilized jars packed with freshly sliced cucumbers. Then it was into the hot water bath to process.

My kitchen made the rainforest seem parched.

And while the flavor was always excellent, my carefully canned pickles often lacked that crisp, crunch that makes for the exceptional pickle.

In my quest for perfectly crunchy homemade pickles, I discovered refrigerator pickles.

This revolutionized my approach to pickles. I could make one jar of crispy pickled heaven at a time. And they were ready in a week.

Soon I was pickling everything.

With refrigerator pickles there’s no:

  • hot water bath canning
  • entire day spent in a sweltering kitchen
  • slicing vegetables forever and a day
  • stuffing jar after jar after jar
  • waiting forever for your pickles to be ready to eat

Nowadays, whatever I’m pulling out of the garden gets turned into at least one jar of refrigerator pickles.

I still water-bath-process a few batches of dill pickles for the winter because the downside to fridge pickles is their shelf life doesn’t compare to their canned cousins.

But if you’re anything like me, they won’t last long enough to spoil anyway.

One of my favorite fridge pickles to make is pickled carrots.

Especially when combined with ginger and turmeric.

This spicy combination makes for a marvelous change from the more common dill used in so many pickle recipes.

This pickled carrot recipe is easy enough to whip up a week before a dinner party. And they’re a perfect complement to a well-rounded charcuterie board.

Ginger and turmeric carrot refrigerator pickles emerging from a jar
They look pretty impressive too!

Let’s make these pickled ginger carrots one delicious pint at a time!

Ginger and turmeric carrot refrigerator pickle ingredients

Ingredients:

4-6 carrots – peeled and sliced lengthwise, so they fit about a ¼ inch below the rim of a wide-mouth pint jar. For carrots about 1 inch or bigger in diameter, you’ll want to slice them in quarters lengthwise.
½ inch nob of fresh ginger, sliced into 1/8 inch chips – if it’s organic, rinse it and give it a good scrub, if it’s non-organic you’ll want to peel the ginger.
½ teaspoon of dried turmeric, or if you have access to it a small ½ inch nob of fresh turmeric, peeled and sliced into chips
¼ teaspoon of mustard seeds
4 peppercorns
• 4 cloves
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• ½ cup of apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup of water

Carrots tucked snug into a jar, ready for pickling.
Snug, but not too snug.

Directions:

Pack your carrots in a clean wide-mouthed pint jar. You want them snug, but not too tight. You should be able to stick your finger in the midst of them.

In a small saucepan add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil.

Bringing the ingredients for spiced carrot refrigerator pickles to the boil

Pour the brine and spices over the carrots, filling the jar with the liquid to just below the top.

Screw the lid on tightly and let the jar cool; once it has cooled place it in the fridge.

Your pickles will be ready to eat in a week. The pickles will last around three months. You know, if you don’t devour them before that.

A super easy variation on this recipe is to use a vegetable peeler to peel the carrots into ribbons and pack them tightly in the jar. These make for a great sandwich topping!

Start a batch today and by next week you’ll be standing in your kitchen at midnight reaching into the refrigerator saying,

“Just one more pickled carrot.”

“Just one more pickled carrot.”

“Okay, just one more pickled carrot. “

Quick Spiced Carrot Refrigerator Pickles

Quick Spiced Carrot Refrigerator Pickles

Yield: One Jar
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

These fridge pickles are easy and quick to make, will be ready to enjoy in just a week and are highly addictive.

Ingredients

  • 4-6 carrots
  • 1/2 inch nob of fresh ginger, sliced into 1/8 inch chips
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried turmeric
  • 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 4 peppercorns
  • 4 cloves
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup water

Instructions

    1. Pack your carrots in a clean wide-mouthed pint jar. You want them snug, but not too tight. You should be able to stick your finger in the midst of them.

    2. In a small saucepan add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil.

    3. Pour the brine and spices over the carrots, filling the jar with the liquid to just below the top.

    4. Screw the lid on tightly and let the jar cool; once it has cooled place it in the fridge.

    5. Your pickles will be ready to eat in a week. The pickles will last around three months.

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Tracey Besemer

Hey there, my name is Tracey. I’m the editor-in-chief here at Rural Sprout.

Many of our readers already know me from our popular Sunday newsletters. (You are signed up for our newsletters, right?) Each Sunday, I send a friendly missive from my neck of the woods in Pennsylvania. It’s a bit like sitting on the front porch with a friend, discussing our gardens over a cup of tea.

Originally from upstate NY, I’m now an honorary Pennsylvanian, having lived here for the past 18 years.

I grew up spending weekends on my dad’s off-the-grid homestead, where I spent much of my childhood roaming the woods and getting my hands dirty.

I learned how to do things most little kids haven’t done in over a century.

Whether it was pressing apples in the fall for homemade cider, trudging through the early spring snows of upstate NY to tap trees for maple syrup, or canning everything that grew in the garden in the summer - there were always new adventures with each season.

As an adult, I continue to draw on the skills I learned as a kid. I love my Wi-Fi and knowing pizza is only a phone call away. And I’m okay with never revisiting the adventure that is using an outhouse in the middle of January.

These days, I tend to be almost a homesteader.

I take an eclectic approach to homesteading, utilizing modern convenience where I want and choosing the rustic ways of my childhood as they suit me.

I’m a firm believer in self-sufficiency, no matter where you live, and the power and pride that comes from doing something for yourself.

I’ve always had a garden, even when the only space available was the roof of my apartment building. I’ve been knitting since age seven, and I spin and dye my own wool as well. If you can ferment it, it’s probably in my pantry or on my kitchen counter. And I can’t go more than a few days without a trip into the woods looking for mushrooms, edible plants, or the sound of the wind in the trees.

You can follow my personal (crazy) homesteading adventures on Almost a Homesteader and Instagram as @aahomesteader.

Peace, love, and dirt under your nails,

Tracey
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