There is not a lot of fresh produce at the farmers market in the middle of the winter, but I still get an itch to can something good. I surf the aisle of the grocery store hoping to find something good. As you can imagine I was excited to find the biggest bag of organic carrots on sale. Knowing how popular pickled carrots have become at our house, I knew I had work to do.

I started making pickled carrots at the suggestion of our friend Jonathan. He convinced me they were his favorite and I had to give it a try. Once I made them, they quickly became Will’s favorite as well.

Here is my well loved pickled carrot recipe. Enjoy!

Pickled Carrots

Makes about 6 jars. I use the pint wide mouth Ball jars.

Ingredients

• one large bag (about 4 pounds) of carrots

Pickling Liquid

• 3 cups water
• 3 cups vinegar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup pickling salt
• 2 tbs mixed peppercorns

One for each jar

• sprig of rosemary
• hot chili (I like the small Thai chili)
• clove of garlic

Instructions

1. Prepare your jars in a water bath while cutting carrots.
2. Peel and cut the carrots into sticks that fit into your jars with plenty of headspace, and room to be fully covered by pickling liquid.
3. Place all ingredients for pickling liquid in a non-reactive pot and bring to a boil.
4. Pack prepared jars with carrots, rosemary, chili and garlic. Cover with pickling liquid leaving 1/2 inch head space.
5. Process 10 minutes, wait 5 minutes before removing jars from water, then remove jars to cool.

If you need a resource to get started in canning, head over to one of my favorite canning blogs, Food in Jars.