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22 Pickles & Condiments Recipes

Making pickles is fun—and easy. Capture crispy, tart, and spicy flavors in a jar with our tasty recipes

Elaine Johnson
1 /17 Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Pickles, two ways

Reader Stephanie Baldwin has fond memories of making these pickles growing up in New Zealand. She uses a mix of vegetables.

Recipes:

Bread-and-Butter Pickles

Dill Pickle Spears

2 /17 Thomas J. Story

Red Onion Pickles with Peppercorns

These may be the most versatile pickles you can make. “They’re a natural for sandwiches and, of course, burgers, but they’re also great with smoked fish,” says Seattle chef Renee Erickson. You can use this brine for asparagus, fennel, shallots, garlic, celery, ramps, or chard stems.

Recipe: Red Onion Pickles with Peppercorns

3 /17 Thomas J. Story

Pickled Mushrooms with Garlic and Thyme

You can snack on these pickles right from the jar, tossed with a little olive oil, or served with roast chicken. Seattle chef Renee Erickson also recommends using them in a Bloody Mary skewer.

Recipe: Pickled Mushrooms with Garlic and Thyme

4 /17 Thomas J. Story

Pickled Cherries with Tarragon and Vanilla

Seattle chef Renee Erickson uses fresh sour cherries for this bright pickle, but sweet Bings work well too—and so do frozen cherries of either type. You could use the brine for rhubarb, green (unripe) strawberries, or apricots. Eat with cheese or charcuterie.

Recipe: Pickled Cherries with Tarragon and Vanilla

5 /17 Iain Bagwell

Ginger and Chile Pickled Green Beans

We love these in cocktails as well as with burgers.

Recipe: Ginger and Chile Pickled Green Beans

6 /17 Photo by Annabelle Breakey; styling by Robyn Valarik; written by Elaine Johnson

Pickled Jicama, Ginger, and Summer Peppers

A great use for the sweet peppers piled up at the farmers’ market—all of them work in this juicy, tart pickle.

Recipe: Pickled Jicama, Ginger, and Summer Peppers

7 /17 Photo by Annabelle Breakey; styling by Robyn Valarik; written by Elaine Johnson

Mustard and Ginger Pickled Carrots

San Francisco Bay Area chef and cookbook author Joanne Weir gave us this tender-crisp pickle. It’s good served with raw vegetables alongside dips at a party.

Recipe: Mustard and Ginger Pickled Carrots

8 /17 Photo by Annabelle Breakey; styling by Robyn Valarik; written by Elaine Johnson

Spicy, Crunchy Pickled Green Beans with Lemon

Kombu, a kind of kelp, gives this pickle a certain velvety umami character, especially when it’s allowed to sit for a few days. The pickle also gets spicier with time.

Recipe: Spicy, Crunchy Pickled Green Beans with Lemon

9 /17 Photo by Annabelle Breakey; styling by Robyn Valarik; written by Elaine Johnson

Sweet and Sour Cucumber and Red Onion Pickles

We riffed off classic bread-and-butter pickles, adding the unexpected tastes of lemongrass and coriander.

Recipe: Sweet and Sour Cucumber and Red Onion Pickles

10 /17 Thomas J. Story

Pickled Fresno Chiles

A Southern California chef piles these spicy sweet chile rings on burgers.

Recipe: Pickled Fresno Chiles

11 /17 Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Pickled Chipotle Asparagus

Linda McCready of Rancho Cordova, California, makes these pickles with fresh Central Valley asparagus. The recipe yields five jars of asparagus spears and one jar of "nuggets" ― the tender trimmings from the stalks.

Recipe: Pickled Chipotle Asparagus

12 /17 Aya Brackett

Pickled Ginger (Beni Sho-ga)

Finely shredded pickled ginger, used as a garnish in Japanese recipes, is easy to make and tastes fresher than store-bought.

Recipe: Pickled Ginger (Beni Sho-ga)

13 /17 Thomas J. Story

Pickled Green Beans with Dill, Tarragon, Garlic, and Peppercorns

Making these tart, snappy beans couldn’t be easier: Stuff raw beans and seasonings into jars, add a boiling vinegar mixture, and put jars in the canner. They’re just the thing with a Bloody Mary or burger.

Recipe: Pickled Green Beans with Dill, Tarragon, Garlic, and Peppercorns

14 /17 Coral Von Zumwalt

Slow Sauerkraut

Austin Durant's "gateway recipe" for home fermenting was sauerkraut—once he'd made it, he was smitten.

Recipe: Slow Sauerkraut

15 /17 Andrea Gómez Romero

Quick Sauerkraut

An L.A. chef came up with this shortcut take on sauerkraut that doesn’t involve any fermentation, just a zap in the microwave to wilt the cabbage and help it absorb the brine.

Recipe: Quick Sauerkraut

16 /17 Thomas J. Story

Canned Heirloom Tomatoes

For this extra-easy recipe, adapted from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, you just squish raw skinned tomatoes into jars. This cold-pack technique may cause the fruit and liquid to separate a bit during processing, but the results still taste delicious.

It's essential for food safety when working with tomatoes that you acidify them with bottled (not fresh) lemon juice or citric acid, which has a standardized acidity, and that you do not increase the amount of herbs or add any other ingredients.

Recipe: Canned Heirloom Tomatoes

17 /17 Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Savory condiments

Recipe: Range Fire Salsa

Gayle Stover named her spicy salsa for the range fires that are common near her home in Hazelton, Idaho.

More:

Tomato-Garlic Chutney
Chipotle Tricolor Relish
Golden Tomato Ketchup
Lou's Chile Sauce