One might wonder why I chose to pickle carrots when cukes are at their peak season right now. That’s a fair question.
Back in March, I attended a canning & preserving workshop facilitated by the Everdale Organic Farm and the Toronto Green Community. Discussing the workshop with a friend, she told me she had fond memories of her aunt pickling every summer and making a jar of pickled carrots especially for her.
To practice my new skills, she happily agreed to play guinea pig for my first canning project. And sadly, I just got around to doing it a couple of weeks ago. Rest assured that cukes are next!
Pickled Dill Carrots
- 5 pint-sized jars, or a combination of pint and cup-sized jars
- 4 pounds of carrots, cut into even-sized sticks (the amount needed will vary depending on the size of jars used and how tightly packed)
- 1 tsp dill seeds / jar
- 1 garlic clove / jar
- 6 cups water
- 2 1/2 cups vinegar (5% acidity)
- 1/4 cup pickling salt
- 1 home canning kit (funnel, jar lifter, magnetic lid lifter, and bubble remover)
Preheat oven at 225 F. Bring your water-filled canner (or large, deep pot) to a simmer (I use a deep pot in which I placed a homemade rack – see below). Place your empty jars without lids in hot water.
In separate, medium-sized pot, place the lids in hot, but not boiling water. To make the brine, combine the water, vinegar and pickling salt in another pot and bring to a boil. Keep hot until needed.
Remove the jars from the canner (you can use new plastic rubber gloves or jar lifter), and place into the preheated oven to be filled one by one. Bring the water in canner to a boil.
One at a time, take a jar from the oven and place 1 tsp of dill and 1 garlic clove in it. Fill tightly with carrot sticks.
Using the funnel, cover with hot brine leaving 1/2 inch of head space. Repeat with all jars.
With the help of the magnetic stick, place lids on jars. Screw bands onto jars, but only fingertip tight. Place all jars back in the pot of boiling water for 10 minutes. You should be able to see the air bubbles come out of the jars.
After 10 minutes, remove the jars from the canner and let stand. You should hear the lids “pop” as they seal. Double check the lids after 24 hours and refrigerate any that has not sealed properly, to be eaten first.
Wait a couple of weeks for the flavours to develop, et voilà! Enjoy within a year.
missmobtown
October 31, 2009I'm excited about pickling carrots and plan to try this recipe this weekend. Were you satisfied with the results?
Thanks,
CG
Halina
April 5, 2018I did them and they are the best.
Marie-Ève
October 31, 2009Hi CG,
Yes, they turned out nice. The carrots remained crispy yet absorbed the flavours of the dill and the vinegar. Delicious!
Good luck and thanks for visiting 🙂
Marie-Ève
missmobtown
November 16, 2009Hello! Just stopping by again to say that these were a *huge* hit and they turned out great. I was a bit low on dill seed when I made these so I tried a variation in a couple of the jars by adding a couple of cardommom pods and a half a serrano chili. Gave them a good kick!
Thanks,
CG
Shae
February 25, 2010Thanks for posting this recipe. I experimented with it a little bit:
http://hitchhikingtoheaven.blogspot.com/2010/02/speedy-spicy-pickled-carrots.html
It turned out well!
Not Jenny
September 26, 2011You are making me actually want to dig up my sad little carrot patch. Go you! I can hardly wait to get my jars and canning stuff out.
Anonymous
June 4, 2012Thank for the recipe!! I won't be able to pickle for a while yet but for a first timer it is very helpful.
Katie
Sarah
August 17, 2016Could you use fresh dill instead of dill seed? I don’t know the difference as I am new to canning 🙂
Thank you!
cravinggreens
August 17, 2016Hi Sarah,
Yes I assume you could use fresh dill though I have not tried myself. You would most likely need a lot more than the seed amount to get a similar taste.
Happy canning!
Marie-Ève
terry
October 13, 2019You need to put one fresh dill spray in the bottom with the garlic , or a few sprigs.
tracy
October 4, 2016Why do i put jars in oven
cravinggreens
October 4, 2016To sterilize them. Happy canning 🙂
Lexie
October 14, 2016Would I need to process longer at my elevation of 6200?
cravinggreens
October 15, 2016Good question! Yes, you should add 15 minutes processing time.
Sauerkraut Billy
August 14, 2017Your pictures are stunning! They really outline an aesthetically pleasing view of canning and how colorful and inviting the process can be. The pictures alone do a great job of making me want to try the recipe! I’m going to have to give it a shot and report back with how they turn out! Thanks so much for sharing!
cravinggreens
August 26, 2017Awesome! I wish you great success! Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Wendy
September 25, 2017Help. Do you need to blanch the carrots or just jar them raw? Thank you
cravinggreens
September 26, 2017Hi Wendy,
You can jar them raw which is what I did here. They will remain quite crunchy. I haven’t tested with blanching them first but would be concerned that they might end up a little too soft once the jars are boiled / processed and you let it rest before eating.
Good luck!
Marie-Ève
D. Way
October 16, 2017Love your photos! Could I use pickle crisp in this recipe? I’m new to canning. Any experience with pickle crisp? Is it affecting the nutritional balance at all? I have yet to do research on it.
cravinggreens
October 16, 2017Thank you! Unfortunately I have no experience with pickle crisp so I can’t advise on that.
Kathleen Denne
December 25, 2017Years ago I made a sweet pickled carrot that contained mustard seed, white vinegar and sugar. I lost the recipe and have never found one similar to it. Do you or your readers have a recipe for sweet pickled carrots. Thank you.
Please send reply via email.
cravinggreens
December 26, 2017Hi Kathleen,
This sounds to me like bread and butter pickles. Here’s a recipe I found online: https://www.ricardocuisine.com/en/recipes/6829-bread-and-butter-pickles
I’m pretty sure you could just use carrots instead of cucumbers. Good luck!
Marie-Ève
Betty
August 8, 2018What doesit mean when my garlic turns a weird color?..almost looks moldy colored..is it a bad batch? What should i do to keep it drom doing that again? Any ideas would be appreciated..thank you
Betty
cravinggreens
August 15, 2018Hi Betty,
Sorry for the late reply. This has also happened to me before and I remember researching it. It’s apparently a normal reaction with the garlic and the batch is still good. Check this article out https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/why-does-garlic-turn-blue-article
Marie-Ève
Kristi
October 9, 2018I’ve been reading that carrots need to be pressure canned. Is it safe to water bath can them because of the 5% acidity?