How to Make Homemade Fermented Pickles + 3 Recipes
Learn how to make homemade fermented pickles, a tasty source of probiotics and a great way to preserve summer's produce. This post has three recipes for fermented pickles including spicy dill pickles, pickled green tomatoes and jalapeno slaw.
Last year, I learned the art of fermentation. With summer produce so plentiful, I’ve gotten really into it the past month. It’s to a point where I’m a bit concerned for anyone coming over to our house with all the bubbling jars of homemade fermented pickles on our counter. It’s weird. If this was the 1700s and I lived in Salem, I would totally get turned in for witchcraft.
Health Benefits of Fermented Foods
Lately, fermented foods have been getting a ton of (well deserved) press. In the past year alone, we’ve learned a mind boggling amount about how fermented food and a healthy gut flora promotes health. Healthy gut flora aids digestion, improves immunity, and clears skin.
Also, the trillions of bacteria in your gut are like your personal army of cheerleaders, boosting mood and combatting anxiety and depression!
The brain is typically thought of as the main organ that regulates mood. It is, but there’s a major brain-gut connection and we’re just starting to realize the profound impact it has on mood. In fact, the gut has recently earned the nickname “the second brain.” That’s because it’s home to the enteric nervous system, the second largest concentration of neurons in the body.
The second brain does more than create that feeling of butterflies when you get nervous. Just like the brain, the gut uses and creates more than thirty types of neurotransmitters, including 95% of the body’s supply of serotonin, the happy hormone. There’s information constantly going back and forth from the gut to the brain through the vagus nerve, and in fact, almost 90% of the fibers carry information out of the gut to the brain and not the other way around. It's so much more than a poop chute.
Gut bacteria play a special role. They communicate with the brain using the same neurochemicals that the brain uses – serotonin, dopamine, GABA. Multiple mice studies show specific bacteria are associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety. Other studies show you can alter mice behavior by transplanting them with fecal bacteria from mice that display more anxious behavios. Although there is less research in humans, it’ a growing area. In recent years, studies have shown eating yogurt can modulate activity in areas of the brain associated with anxiety, prebiotics alter the cortisol (stress hormone) response, and that probiotic supplements may lower anxiety and depression.
I could talk for hours about the connection between the brain and the gut, but for the sake of brevity, I'll give you these links to articles on the topic to read at your leisure.
The Surprising Link Between Gut Bacteria and Anxiety (Huffington Post)
Mental Health May Depend on Creatures in the Gut (Scientific American)
Why you should make homemade fermented pickles
Eating fermented foods regularly is a good way to get a dose of brain boosting probiotics. Yogurt is probably the fermented food most people are familiar with, but vegans (or yogurt haters), sometimes feel at a loss on how to get fermented foods in. Home fermented foods are some of the most nutritious, because you get such a wide variety of bacteria versus many storebought foods, which are inoculated with only a few strains. Making probiotic rich foods is a fun project to do at home, so I hope this “how to” tutorial on homemade fermented pickles breaks it down for ya!
How to Make Homemade Fermented Pickles
Making fermented pickles at home sounds kind of terrifying, but it's actually quite easy. Also, I've been doing it for a year and haven't died yet, so there's that. All you do is put your pickle ingredients in a clean jar with a salt water solution and let it sit at room temperature for about a week. The salt water creates an anaerobic environment (oxygen-free) which allows the naturally occurring beneficial bacteria to grow and convert sugars to lactic acid, which provides the characteristic sour or pickled flavor.
To pickle, you can use any size mason jar or any quantity of ingredients. As long as you use a ratio of 1 tablespoon kosher salt to 2 cups of water, you'll be set. That creates the level of salinity you need to prevent the growth of bad bacteria. What I like to do is put the vegetables in the (clean) jar, mix the salt water in a (clean) measuring cup, and pour it in.
Then, all you have to do is let the jar sit on the counter, out of direct sunlight, at room temperature. You should see some bubbling after a few days - that means fermentation is happening! Loosen the lid once or twice a day to “burp” it. It takes about 5-10 days before the homemade fermented pickles are ready - just taste them to see if they’re done.
Homemade Fermented Pickles Recipe Tips
One thing you’ll want to be sure of when making these homemade fermented pickles is that the vegetables are weighted down into the salt water. I recommend using a cabbage leaf, which you could also top with a small, clean glass jar (like the ones used to package those cute little individual jams!) to make it press down under water. It’s nbd though if you don’t have one on hand.
What’s great about making homemade fermented pickles is that if it goes bad, you’ll know! If these smell funky - not fermented funky but FUNKY funky, then don’t eat them. From what I’ve read, occasionally homemade fermented pickles might grown some mold over the top if they get exposed to air, but you can just scrape it off. I dunno about that. Haven’t had that happen to me, but also if it did, I can’t imagine being that confident. You do you though!
Another thing to be mindful of when making this recipe is to use distilled water. Sometimes things are added to tap water to make it safe for drinking, which is fine, but not so great for growing bacteria! Good thing when you’re drinking it, not so great when you’re trying to intentionally grow bacteria! So just use bottled, distilled water to be safe.
Also, goes without saying, but make sure the jars you’re using are super clean! You can sterilize them in boiling water for 30 seconds.
Homemade fermented pickles will last in the refrigerator for a few months.
Three Recipes for Homemade Fermented Pickles
Included in this post are three of my favorite recipes for homemade fermented pickles - spicy dill pickles, pickled green tomatoes, and pickled jalapeno slaw. Here’s some ideas for how to use each:
Spicy Dill Pickles - Obviously great as a side for burgers or sandwiches! I also love these chopped up and added to tartar sauce, egg salad, chicken salad, or my tofu salad, or in grain bowls.
Pickled Green Tomatoes - With their round shape, these are the perfect sandwich pickle! Try it on my honey-bourbon barbecue tempeh sandwich. I also love these served as part of a cheese board.
Pickled Jalapeno Slaw - The BEST taco topper! Try it on these spicy black bean breakfast tacos or these barbecue salmon tacos. Also great on grain bowls, like this millet and black bean grain bowl, a burger, or mixed into guacamole.
Homemade Fermented Pickles: Spicy Dill Pickles
Adapted from Smoke.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons kosher salt
6 small pickling cucumbers (or Persian cucumbers)
2 green onions, roots trimmed
1-2 jalapenos, halved and most of the seeds scooped out and discarded
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch fresh dill
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
Clean, sterilized mason jars
Cabbage leaf (optional)
Instructions
Measure 4 cups of filtered water. Add kosher salt and stir to dissolve.
Cut the cucumbers to your desired pickle shape (I like spears). Divide among mason jars - this recipe should yield one large mason jar or 2-3 medium mason jars of pickles. Divide the remaining ingredients evenly between the jars.
Pour the salt water solution to the top of the mason jar. If desired, use a cabbage leaf to weigh the ingredients down so they stay submerged.
Place the jars over a plate, which will collect any liquid that bubbles out, and let sit at room temperature out of direct sunlight for 5-10 days until the brine stops bubbling. If you notice the water is running low, add a pinch more salt and water to bring in to the top. When the pickles are ready, place them in the fridge and refrigerate until ready to eat. Will last a few months in the fridge.
Homemade Fermented Pickles: Pickled Green Tomatoes
Ingredients
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1-2 green tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 sprigs of dill
1 green onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
Instructions
Mix 1 tablespoon kosher salt with 2 cups of water. Stir to dissolve.
Place sliced green tomatoes in a large mason jar. Top with remaining ingredients. Pour the salt water solution to the top of the mason jar. If desired, use a cabbage leaf to weigh the ingredients down so they stay submerged.
Place the jars over a plate, which will collect any liquid that bubbles out, and let sit at room temperature out of direct sunlight for 5-10 days until the brine stops bubbling. If you notice the water is running low, add a pinch more salt and water to bring in to the top. When the pickles are ready, place them in the fridge and refrigerate until ready to eat. Will last a few months in the fridge.
Fermented Pickled Jalapeno Slaw
Ingredients
2 tablespoons kosher salt
8-10 jalapenos, sliced
1 bag shredded cabbage
8-10 cloves garlic, minced
Sterilized mason jars
Cabbage leaf (optional)
Instructions
Combine kosher salt with 4 cups water and stir to dissolve.
Place a layer of jalapeno slices in the bottom of a mason jar. Top with a handful of cabbage and a couple minced garlic cloves. Repeat with another layer of jalapenos and cabbage until you reach the top.Pour the salt water solution to the top of the mason jar. If desired, use a cabbage leaf to weigh the ingredients down so they stay submerged.
Place the jars over a plate, which will collect any liquid that bubbles out, and let sit at room temperature out of direct sunlight for 5-10 days until the brine stops bubbling. If you notice the water is running low, add a pinch more salt and water to bring in to the top. When the pickles are ready, place them in the fridge and refrigerate until ready to eat. Will last a few months in the fridge.
Recipes to pair with these homemade fermented pickles:
Miso Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Sriracha Mayo
Everything Bagel Salmon Burgers
Chorizo Tempeh Potato Tacos
