Quick Pickled Carrots Recipe

Name: Pickled Carrots
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 3 large carrots; 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar (or white, red wine, or white wine vinegar); 5 whole cloves; 1 star anise; 1 teaspoon freeze-dried ginger (or 3 slices fresh); 1/2 Ceylon cinnamon stick; 1/2 teaspoon black cumin seeds (or mustard seeds); 7 black peppercorns; 2 teaspoons agave (or maple syrup (optional)); 1/2 red chili pepper; 1 cup water (plus more as needed)

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Quick Pickled Carrots that are good for you. Randomized controlled trials suggest that two teaspoons of vinegar with a meal may improve blood sugar control, blunting the blood sugar spike by about 20 percent. However, drinking it straight can damage the esophagus in several ways, including causing acidic burns, ulcerative injuries, and necrosis.

Pickled carrots in a glass pickle jar with spices.

That's why I make it a habit to pickle something weekly in vinegar, along with longevity spices, and add it to my meals. This Quick Pickled Carrots recipe packs in antioxidants and adds a tangy crunch with the numerous health benefits of vinegar.

These benefits include restoring ovarian function within a few months in four out of seven women with PCOS, acutely improving artery function in postmenopausal women, and improving nitric oxide production, which may help with hypertension. Vinegar is also associated with weight loss.

We get three times more antioxidants in cooked carrots than in raw carrots. Therefore, the carrots are placed into the hot vinegar to partially cook them while preserving their crunch. Pairing these pickled carrots with your meals can reduce their effects on blood glucose.

This Pickled Carrots recipe was inspired by my longevity Pickled Red Onion recipe, as well as this Pickled Cauliflower recipe on my site.

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👩🏼‍🌾 Ingredients
🥕 Substitutions
📖 How to Pickled Carrots
✔️ Expert Tips
🙋🏽‍♀️ Recipe FAQs
🍽️ Related Recipes
🥙 Pairing
👩🏽‍🍳 Made This Recipe?
Pickled Carrots
💬 Comments

👩🏼‍🌾 Ingredients

Vinegar in a measuring cup, three carrots, and two white bowls with dried ginger, star anise, black pepper, cinnamon, black cumin seeds, and cloves.

Carrots
Vinegar (apple cider, white, red, or white wine vinegar)
Optional spices (cinnamon, cloves, anise, black seeds, freeze-dried ginger, cloves, black peppercorn)
Red chili pepper (optional)

Find all the longevity ingredients here. See the recipe card for quantities.

Why These Pickled Carrots Are Good For You

Each spice was chosen based on evidence-based research about its health-boosting properties. Cloves are amongst the most antioxidant-packed spices, ginger boasts anti-inflammatory properties, and cinnamon is a cheap food source of antioxidants.

Black cumin seeds (optional) may improve cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, and blood sugar control. Black cumin powder reduced LDL cholesterol in postmenopausal women by 27 percent within two months, significantly better than a placebo. They may also help with menopausal symptoms. The side effects reported were a lack of appetite and weight loss.

🥕 Substitutions

Red chili pepper - omit for less spicy
Spices - mustard seeds, whole cloves, cumin seeds, anise, Ceylon cinnamon sticks, ginger, garlic, and black peppercorns are my go-to spices for their studied health benefits, but most spices are suitable
Vinegar- Use white, apple cider, red, or white wine vinegar, or a mixture.
Sweetener - to lightly sweeten pickled carrots, add about 2 teaspoons of agave or maple syrup

For more healthy dips and spreads, visit my Vegan Condiment Recipes page.

📖 How to Pickled Carrots

For the full recipe with quantities, scroll down to the bottom of the post. This is an overview.

Grated carrot strips in a glass bowl with a vegetable peeler.

Step 1. Grate the carrots using a vegetable peeler.

Carrot strips in a saucepan with vinegar, black cumin seeds, dried ginger, cinnamon stick, and red chili pepper.

Step 2. Transfer the vinegar to a small saucepan and bring it to a gentle simmer over medium-high heat. Once the vinegar is simmering, remove the saucepan from the heat and add the carrots, cloves, star anise, ginger, cinnamon, seeds, and black peppercorns. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Raw carrot strips, vinegar, black cumin seeds, red chili, star anise, and cinnamon in a glass pickle jar.

Step 3. Transfer to a glass container with a tight-fitting lid and add water to cover the carrots. Slice the red chili pepper in half lengthwise and add it to the liquid. Refrigerate. ( I used this container and it works very well, as you can flip it over and easily remove the carrot.)

Dal, chopped cilantro, farro, tomatoes, and pickled carrot strips in a white bowl.

Step 4. Serve as a crunchy, tangy topping.

✔️ Expert Tips

For more flavor, let the spices simmer in the vinegar for 5 minutes before adding the carrots. Yet, placing the spices in the warm vinegar and refrigerating overnight allows the flavors to concentrate further over time. I chose not to simmer and to wait overnight as simmering the spices may destroy some benefits.
Enjoy the vinegar in dressings and consume the spices with the carrots! Nothing should go to waste. Add more carrots to any remaining vinegar for up to two weeks.
Storage: Refrigerate Quick Pickled Carrots in an airtight container for up to 7 days. I used this container and it works very well as you can flip it over and easily remove the carrot. The capacity of the half that stores the pickles is 700ml/23.7 ounces, so use one around that size.

🙋🏽‍♀️ Recipe FAQs

Does vinegar help with weight loss?

A double-blind study found that the two vinegar groups (one tablespoon and two tablespoons) lost significantly more weight than the control group. CT scans showed the vinegar groups lost a significant amount of visceral fat, the abdominal fat that is particularly associated with chronic disease risk.