My quick pickled carrots are easy to whip up with simple ingredients you already have on hand. Make these as a fun topping on sandwiches, nachos, and or just to snack on.
This quick pickled carrots recipe is done in just 35 minutes. It doesn’t require any canning experience, and it is a great base recipe that you can switch up in so many different ways. While these are perfect to go on tacos, nachos, and burrito bowls, my youngest loves them as a snack straight out of the jar. Once you learn how to pickle carrots, they will be a staple in your refrigerator.
Why This Recipe Works
- Doesn’t require any boiling.
- No need for any canning experience.
- Perfect ratio of vinegar to water.
- Stays crisp in the refrigerator for months.
How to Make Quick Pickled Carrots
Whisk together hot water, salt, and sugar until the salt and sugar dissolve. Then add vinegar to make the base pickling brine. Add the carrots and any seasonings you are adding (such as garlic cloves and peppercorns) to a jar. Then pour the brine over and close the jar with the lid. Let them pickle in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
How to Use Pickled Carrots
- Put them on your nachos. These would be great on my chicken nachos, but I especially want to try them on my BBQ chicken nachos.
- Add them to your tacos. Put them on top of your chicken tacos, shrimp tacos, or pork tacos.
- Eat them on your burgers. Whether you use our hamburger seasoning or my turkey burger recipe, these are a must when you are grilling out this summer.
- Eat them with your quesadillas. In addition to salsa and sour cream, we love pickled jalapeños and these pickled carrot slices on chicken quesadillas.
- Put them on a charcuterie board. If you’re not sure how to throw one together, check out my tutorial: How to Make a Charcuterie Board.
- Toss them on sandwiches. They would be amazing on something like crockpot Italian beef and so many kinds of sandwiches.
- Add them to your salads. That briny crunch would be a great addition to beet salad, chickpea salad, and so many other salads.
Whole Carrots vs. Slices
The type of carrot you use here depends on what you plan on using the pickled carrots for.
- Whole carrots: Carrots with the greens still attached are great for garnishing a Bloody Mary or snacking on. These do need to be peeled before pickling.
- Sliced carrots: Large carrots, peeled and sliced before pickling, are great for topping nachos, sandwiches, burgers, and popping on salads.
Storing Pickled Carrots
This recipe is meant to be a quick pickling recipe. It is not meant to be a shelf-stable recipe to be kept in the pantry. Please store this recipe in your refrigerator. In your refrigerator, this pickled carrots recipe will last for one to three months. As with all recipes, use your best discretion for whether a recipe is still good.
Variations
- Make them spicy: Add in a fresh jalapeño, 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or both.
- Make them sweet: Bump the sugar from 1 tablespoon to 3 tablespoons.
- Give them an Asian twist: Replace the white vinegar with rice vinegar.
- Give them a classic dill pickle taste: Add in a few fresh sprigs of dill or a tablespoon of dried dill.
More Quick Pickling Recipes
No matter what you are making, you need delicious condiments to go with it. Here some of our favorites.
If you make this quick pickled carrots recipe or any of my other recipes, please leave me a comment and let me know what you you think.
Recipe Video
Pickled Carrots
Ingredients
- 12 ounces peeled carrots see note 1 and 2
- 2 garlic cloves sliced
- 1 teaspoon peppercorns
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Instructions
- Pack the carrots into a mason jar with the sliced garlic and peppercorns.12 ounces peeled carrots, 2 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon peppercorns
- Whisk together the hot water, vinegar, salt and sugar until the salt and sugar are dissolved.1 cup hot water, 1 tablespoon sugar, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1 1/2 cup white vinegar
- Cover the carrots in the water and vinegar mixture. Cover the jar and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Enjoy or store in the refrigerator for up to 1 to 3 months. Always use your best discretion when it comes to recipes. If the recipe seems off after a month, toss it and make more. Please read note 3.
Notes
- If you are pickling the whole carrots, you will need 12 ounces, and you will need a quart mason jar. If you are doing the slices, you will need 8 ounces of carrots (by weight) and an 8-ounce (by liquid) mason jar.
- This recipe results in pickled carrots that have a slight crunch to them. If you prefer them to be soft, you will want to blanch them first by boiling them for three minutes and then transferring them to an ice bath for five minutes.
- This recipe is meant to be a quick pickling recipe. It is not meant to be a shelf-stable recipe to be kept in the pantry. Please store this recipe in your refrigerator.
Fred McEVOY says
Lisa,
I enjoy reading your recipes and have even ‘re-created’ several of them with great results…delicious, each to follow…easily made with stuff usually ‘on hand’.
Keep ’em coming!
Thanks.
Fred
Hi Fred! I’m so happy to hear that you are enjoying them!
Susan says
Thanks for your recipes. This pickled carrot recipe looks easy and I’m sure….Very tasty. Much Appreciated!!
I hope you enjoy it!