How to Make Every Kind of Pickled Vegetable
Updated: Apr. 21, 2024
Pickled vegetables are a satisfying way to preserve your harvest. Learn how to make pickles with everything from asparagus to zucchini.
Got a bumper crop of cukes, beans or other veggies in your garden? Time to start making pickled vegetables! Pickling is a great way to enjoy your favorites all year long. It’s a bonus that you can add lots of extra flavor to them with herbs and spices.
So start with our guide to preserving, grab some canning supplies and we’ll show you how to make every kind of pickle—from asparagus to zucchini.
How to Pickle Asparagus
Asparagus season never seems to last long enough. You see these green sprigs at the farmers market in late spring and early summer and then poof—they’re gone! Preserve peak-season asparagus by pickling them. A classic pickled asparagus recipe is a great place to start because you can add garlic, onions, herbs and spices to suit your taste. Or, if you love dill, try this pickled asparagus recipe with dill seed, mustard seed and peppercorns to switch it up.
How to Pickle Cherry Tomatoes
Pickled cherry tomatoes are juicy little bites that would brighten up any charcuterie board, or work as a colorful and delicious garnish for a martini.
Our pickled cherry tomatoes recipe calls for garlic, peppercorns and mustard seed, but you could swap in dill and rosemary if you prefer. The red cherry tomatoes will take on whatever flavor you like in just 2 days.
How to Pickle Jalapenos
If you’re a jalapeno lover, we’re sure you’ll love them pickled, too. Pickled jalapenos are great in a lot of the same recipes that you’d top regular sliced jalapenos with, like tacos, quesadillas and other Mexican dishes, but they’ll even take your scrambled eggs up a notch in the mornings, too.
Our pickled jalapenos just have a little dill and garlic, so they’d be wonderful on pretty much anything if you’re willing to experiment.
How to Pickle Beets
You might think that pickled beets are a food best left in the corner of Grandma’s fridge, but think again! This pickled vegetable is sour and a little sweet (as beets tend to be) and makes for a great garnish or even side dish. Give this pickled beet recipe—and these other beet recipes—a try. By the way, those who make pickled veggies frequently should keep this homemade pickling spice on hand.
How to Pickle Corn
There’s no such thing as too much sweet corn—although, you may be looking for different ways to enjoy it after trying all of the ways to eat corn on the cob. Our quick pickled corn is the answer!
Simply pour a boiled mixture of vinegar, water, sugar, garlic, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes over corn cut off the cob. Two hours later, you’ll have a new topping for tacos, nachos and various summery salads.
How to Pickle Carrots
Pickled carrots make a great addition to any charcuterie board. They’re a bit sweet, a bit spicy and a bit sour—just the thing you want to crunch on at a party alongside cheese, crackers and nuts.
Making pickled carrots is a snap since you don’t need any fancy gear. These quick pickled carrots doesn’t require any pressure or water-bath canning, and can be made fast and enjoyed after chilling in the fridge overnight.
How to Pickle Cucumbers
Cucumbers are the go-to veggie when it comes to homemade pickles. Whether you prefer a dill pickle recipe, sweet pickles or bread and butter pickles, learning how to make them yourself is satisfying and delicious. Switch up the spices, pump up the heat and experiment with flavors to create a pickle recipe you’ll hand down to the next generation.
How to Pickle Green Tomatoes
Although green tomatoes aren’t as common as red tomatoes, they make just as great of a pickle. Our pickled green tomatoes just call for vinegar, canning salt, sugar, garlic and dried hot red chiles.
Like pickled reds, pickled green tomatoes can also garnish cocktails—especially a good Bloody Mary. Serve them on a skewer with your other favorite Bloody Mary garnishes.
How to Pickle Green Beans
Looking for a way to use up your garden’s harvest of beans, or just need a crunchy snack? Â Then you need to learn how to pickle green beans. These pickled vegetables are satisfying and can be a bit spicy. Try this pickled green bean recipe with cayenne and garlic to start. Did you know that you can make pickled garlic, too?
How to Pickle Cauliflower
Cauliflower is everywhere these days. It can be made into rice and pizza crust, or used as a low-carb replacement in dishes like cauliflower potato salad and cauliflower mashed potatoes.
Unsurprisingly, cauliflower makes great pickles, too. This quick pickled cauliflower recipe produces tangy and sweet cauliflowerets that you’ll eat straight out of the jar—although they would also work perfectly on a Chicago-style hot dog in place of giardiniera, too.
How to Pickle Okra
Like many pickled vegetables, you can preserve okra using the quick-pickle refrigerator method or water bath canning. Choose quick pickling for small batches, and when you know you can eat the okra quickly (within a month). Water bath canning is best for big batches and storing for the long term. However you choose to make your okra, be sure to avoid these pickling mistakes.
After making a batch, enjoy the crunch that comes from pickled okra eaten plain or sliced as a garnish on your favorite dish.
How to Pickle Onions
Love how your favorite taco truck adds pickled onions to your order? Us too! Turns out making these pickled vegetables at home is a breeze. Just grab some red or white onions, a little vinegar and you’re almost there.
Once pickled, use them to top tacos, sandwiches, salads—you name it! If you prefer to use cider vinegar or white wine vinegar when pickling, try these quick pickled red onions, whereas this guide to how to pickle onions shares a recipe that calls for white vinegar. Or, if you have sweet onions to use up, try this pickled sweet onions recipe that also calls for white vinegar.
How to Pickle Daikon Radish
Pickled daikon radish would be the perfect addition to banh mi or other sandwiches. Combined with carrots in our pickled carrots and daikon, the crunchy combination will be something you crave not only when the winter vegetable is in season, but all year round.
How to Pickle Peppers
Peter Piper had it right—pickled peppers are tasty enough to pick a whole peck. Include homemade pickled peppers in your next antipasto spread or just snack on ’em like you would traditional pickles. Choose between a pickled bell peppers recipe, pickled sweet peppers recipe or this mixed pickled peppers recipe.
How to Pickle Cabbage
While you might think of coleslaw and cabbage rolls when it comes to recipes with cabbage, we think of pickled cabbage, especially when served on top of a pulled pork sandwich.
If you prefer, you can swap in red cabbage for regular cabbage in this pickled cabbage recipe. Store it in the fridge and use it up in 2 weeks.
How to Pickle Rhubarb
Rhubarb fans, here’s a way to enjoy your harvest all year long. Pickled rhubarb is easy to make. Once you’ve pickled this tart produce, you’ll find that it has a spicy quality as well thanks to clove and anise. Use pickled rhubarb like a condiment on sandwiches, or add to fruit for an extra tart parfait. Then, make sure you check out more of our rhubarb recipes.
How to Pickle Zucchini
Sure, cucumbers are the ol’ standby when it comes to making pickles, but you can get similar flavor and crunch with zucchini. Slice this squash thinly and pickle in a brine full of your favorite spices. Our go-to zucchini pickle recipe uses mustard seed, celery seed and turmeric. If your garden is producing a bumper crop of zucchini and squash this year, try these summer squash and zucchini recipes.
Originally Published: September 10, 2020
