Fermentation recipes: How to make fermented carrots and fermented onions

With the Spring season in action, our gardens are brimming with fresh produce! This is a great opportunity to get out your glass jars and start preserving food naturally with some simple fermentation recipes. 

Today, we share two of our favorite fermentation recipes that are also ideal for beginner fermenters: aromatic fermented carrots and crunchy fermented onions. For this recipe we used our Swing top and clip jars, the Mariposa and Classic Swing, which are ideal for food preservation:

• Pearl Mariposa jar
• Pearl Classic Swing jar

Fermented carrot sticks

Fermenting carrots not only helps to maintain their bright color but also keeps them perfectly crunchy. These aromatic fermented carrot sticks are a wonderful addition to a tapas board, an ideal salad topping, and can also add some extra bite to your burgers.

If you’re a beginner fermenter you might want to prepare for this recipe by checking our blog post on common mistakes to avoid in fermentation recipes.

Ingredients

Method

1. Thoroughly wash your fermentation equipment (jar, lid, and weight).

2. Dissolve the salt in water noting 2,3% for the quantity of water.

3. Trim the ends of the carrots and clean them. If the skin is too thick, peel the carrots then cut them to the same size, length, and thickness. To determine the size, cut one, place it in the jar and adjust to fit

4. Place the carrot sticks in the glass jar and pour the liquid over the carrots, leaving 1-2 inches headspace.

5. If necessary, weigh the carrots down under the brine to keep them fully submerged. 

6. Cover the glass jar with a tight lid, airlock lid, or coffee filter secured with a rubber band and culture at room temperature (60-70°F is preferred) until your desired flavour and texture are achieved.

7. If using a tight lid, make sure to burp daily to release excess pressure. Once the carrots are finished, place a tight lid on the jar and transfer to cold storage. The flavour will continue to develop as the carrots age.

Fermented Red Onions

Another of our favorite fermentation recipes is the humble fermented onion. Red onions are simple to make from scratch but pack a major punch of flavor. Whether you eat them straight from the jar or save them for your favorite tacos, this is one fermentation fix you should keep in your fridge for all occasions! You can also read more about the benefits of onions and how they can help support a healthy gut here.

Ingredients

Method

1. Thoroughly wash your fermentation equipment (jar, lid, and weight).

2. Pack sliced onions firmly into 12-ounce glass jar.  Layer in any herbs you want. 

3. Dissolve salt in water. 2,3% for the quantity of water

4. Pour brine over onions and tilt jar a few times to mix well.  Leave one inch between the top of the jar and the top of the brine. Use a weight (find a good source for fermenting weights here) to keep the onions under the brine, if necessary

5.  Let sit on the counter for three to seven days. Use an airlock lid (find a good source for airlock lids here) or burp the jars (meaning just open them) every day to let out the gasses that are a natural byproduct of fermentation.  If the water level rises, simply pour some out.

Enjoy on salads, burgers or anywhere you usually use red onions!  Fermented red onions will have a sour albeit less pungent flavor than unfermented ones. 

Our Pearl Mariposa Jar works well for this fermentation recipe. This is because the wire mechanism ensures that if too much pressure is built up the glass won’t explode as the pressure is automatically released. You can also burp the jar very easily through the nose on the sealing gasket by gently pushing on it.

Shop jars to build these recipes in!

We think our Classic Swing and Mariposa swing tops jars could be an ideal match for these recipes. Discover their full features below:

Original Classic Swing Mason Jar

Original Mariposa jar

Have you tried fermentation recipes at home? Leave your experience in the comments.