Get your probiotics in with these delicious, easy fermented carrots. The classic carrot flavor and crunch you love, plus a little bit of sour tang that fermentation brings. The process couldn’t be any easier, and the results are a gut healthy, probiotic rich superfood.
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It’s rare to not have something fermenting on the farmhouse counter these days, whether that is my no knead sourdough bread, veggies, or kefir. (Learn how to make milk kefir or make water kefir at home, too).
If you thought vegetable fermentation was only for kimchi and sauerkraut, think again! There are so many vegetables that can be fermented. Carrots are one of our favorites.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
It’s the perfect make-ahead side dish or delicious snack – Fermented vegetables are the perfect addition to any simple meal. All the prep work is done ahead of time, so when the meal is ready they can go straight from the fridge to the table.
An easy-to-follow recipe – Although you may think the fermentation process is cumbersome, it is actually a very simple equation of salt + liquid + time = crunchy, delicious, probiotic-rich superfood.
Great way to get in probiotics – Supplements are not the only way to get in probiotics. Like my homemade yogurt in the instant pot, these fermented carrots provide beneficial bacteria for gut health and are a great addition to your daily diet.
Ingredients for Fermented Carrots
Whole Raw Carrots – You can use carrots from the grocery store, farmers market, or you own garden. I usually opt for organic if buying from the store.
Sea Salt – Salt prevents the growth of harmful bacteria. When ferments are submerged in a salty brine, the good bacteria present on the fresh vegetables, namely Lactobacillus, can proliferate and grow uninhibited by bad bacteria. It also keeps the veggies crisp and adds flavor. My favorite is Redmond Sea Salt.
Filtered water – I prefer to use filtered water for my fermented food rather than tap water.
Tools You May Need
Fermentation lids – While you can use a tea towel and rubber band, these lids are great if you plan to do a lot of fermenting.
Fermentation weights – You can get creative here. I know some people who use a rock in a Ziplock bag. If you ferment often though, I love these glass fermentation weights.
Jars – you can use any size of wide mouth jar. Since we have a big family and go through a lot of ferments, I usually use 1/2 gallon mason jars.
How to Make Fermented Carrots
Step 1: Bring 2 cups of water to a light simmer on stove. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt, until dissolved.
Step 2: Add the salt water to a half gallon glass mason jar. Fill the jar the rest of the way with filtered water.
Step 3: Slice the carrots into long thin sticks. Put them in another half gallon mason jar.
Step 4: Pour the prepared saltwater brine over them until they are fully submerged. Leave one to two inches headspace at the top of the jar.
Step 5: Add some kind of fermenting weight to keep the carrots underneath the liquid. This could be glass fermenting weights or even a folded up cabbage leaf or a rock in a ziplock bag.
Cover with a fermenting lid, a loose lid, or a tea towel and rubber band.
Step 6: Allow the carrot sticks to sit in an undisturbed place for 2-10 days. The amount of time will depend on the temperature in the house and your preferences. You can give the veggies a little taste each day to see if the desired taste and texture is reached. Once the carrots are done fermenting, cover them with a tight lid and move the jar to the refrigerator.
Tips For Making Fermented Carrots:
- Slice carrots into long strips to make them easy to remove from the jar.
- Make a big batch at one time and then you can enjoy them for months. They make such a great snack or side.
- Add your favorite flavorings to spice them up. We love to add cloves of garlic, fresh dill, mustard seed, and some peppercorns to give them a classic pickle taste.
- The carrots need to be submerged in the salt water brine to prevent mold or spoilage; I love using the glass weights linked below.
- If your family members are skeptical about fermented carrots, try serving them with some Homemade Kefir Ranch – a double probiotic punch.
- Want to learn more about fermenting veggies? Join the School of Traditional Skills and take my class on all things fermented veggies.
Recipe FAQs
Eating fermented foods is a super healthy way to increase your probiotic intake. Not only are you getting a serving of vegetables, but since they have been fermented, they now contain live probiotics. Probiotics help improve healthy gut bacteria. Having healthy gut bacteria has been shown to help a variety of things: from boosting your immune system to decreasing inflammation – and it may even help decrease certain diseases. (source)
2-10 days. The amount of time will depend on the temperature in the house and your preferences. You can give the veggies a little taste each day to see if the desired taste and texture is reached.
They have a traditional carrot flavor with the addition of a salty, tangy, and slightly sour kick. You can also give them a more classic pickle flavor by adding pickling spices like garlic, onion, and dill.
Most fermented vegetables will stay in the fridge for 3-5 months. If you see any mold, or it smells ‘off’, then pitch it.
More Fermented Vegetable Recipes
- Fermented Cucumbers – The Easiest Way to Make Homemade Pickles
- How to Make Homemade Sauerkraut
- Homemade Kimchi
- Lacto Fermented Salsa Recipe
- How To Make Fermented Jalapeños
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love it if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
Fermented Carrots
Equipment
- 1 Glass Fermenting Weight optional
- 1 Fermentation Lid optional
- 1 1/2 Gallon Mason Jar
Ingredients
- 2 cups filtered water, Plus additional water to fill your jar.
- 4 tablespoons salt
- 1 pound whole carrots
Instructions
- Bring 2 cups of water to a light simmer. Remove it from the heat and stir in the salt, until dissolved.
- Add the salt water to a half gallon glass mason jar. Fill the jar the rest of the way with filtered water.
- Slice the carrots into long thin sticks. Put them in another half gallon mason jar, and pour the prepared brine over them until they are fully submerged. Leave one to two inches headspace.
- Add some kind of fermenting weight to keep the carrots underneath the liquid. This could be a folded up cabbage leaf or a rock in a ziplock bag. If you plan to ferment often, you could even buy weights specifically made for fermenting.
- Cover with a loose lid, or a tea towel and rubber band.
- Allow the carrots to sit in an undisturbed place for 2-10 days. The amount of time will depend on the temperature in the house and your preferences. You can give the veggies a little taste each day to see if the desired taste and texture is reached.
- Once the carrots are done fermenting, cover them with a tight lid and move the jar to the refrigerator.
Notes
-
- Slice carrots into long strips to make them easy to remove from the jar.
- Make a big batch at one time and then you can enjoy them for months. They make such a great snack or side.
- Add your favorite flavorings to spice them up. We love to add cloves of garlic, fresh dill, mustard seed, and some peppercorns to give them a classic pickle taste.
- The carrots need to be submerged in the salt water brine to prevent mold or spoilage; I love using the glass weights linked below.
- If your family members are skeptical about fermented carrots, try serving them with some Homemade Kefir Ranch – a double probiotic punch.
- Want to learn more about fermenting veggies? Join the School of Traditional Skills and take my class on all things fermented veggies.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I know these are healthy because of all the probiotics but what about all that salt? That can’t be healthy.
You are not really eating all that salt. It’s for the brine to keep the bad bacteria from growing. The carrots will not taste super salty.
If they are fermented why refrigerate before opening?
After the fermentation process has happened to the desired level you want to slow down the fermentation.
Do you peel the carrots or just rinse them? {Would peeling them remove the lactobacillus needed for the fermentation} I do make half sour pickles and enjoy them almost daily, though I am still struggling with getting the spices right.
Either way works! I usually don’t peel mine.
Love all your shared experiences and learned knowledge!
What kind of ceramic weights are in your pictures? Ive tried looking for some just like the ones you have but cannot find them. I like how they are less bulky 🙂
I bought them so long ago I don’t remember. Now I mostly use glass ones I order from Amazon.
We had to throw them away. Sooooooooo salty! Used pink Himalayan salt. Followed the recipe. I wonder if I used the wrong salt?
I have carrots in the brine as we speak, today is day 3. I have noticed foamy bubbles on the top of the brine…is that normal? This is my first time to try fermenting vegetables so I wasn’t sure. Thank you!
Hi there! I have 2 questions. 1. once my carrots are done and in the refrigerator, do I need to keep the glass weight on top of the carrots to hold them down in the brine? Because as we eat the carrots, the lack of carrots are displacing the water and now I have carrots above the brine level. I don’t want them to go bad, they taste so good. 2. Do I take the pickle pipe off the jar when I place them in the fridge?
Thanks for your help,
Debra
You can take the weight out and replace the pickle pipe with an airtight lid once you move them to cold storage!
I am making these now thank you. I love the fermented cabbage I did it a couple of weeks ago
Thank you for the time you take I stared doing sourdough and we love your recipes that I’ve done so far
Hi,can I use pickling salt in this
Here is a comment from Mortons: “Also known as canning salt or preserving salt, pickling salt is simply pure granulated salt (sodium chloride), without any anti-caking agents or additives that are traditionally added to table salt. These additives can add a cloudy and/or darkened look to the pickle brine, which is why it’s left out of pickling salt.”
So, yes, pickling salt is a good choice. I also use Kosher salt and Himalyan Pink salt w good results. It is ideal to target a % Brine strength to have repeatable results. 8 Tbsp. Salt per gallon = 136.56 grams + 3785 grams Water (1 gallon) = 3921.56 grams total weight. So salt concentration is (136.56/3921.56 total sol’n wght) x 100= 3.48% brine strength. Kosher salt weighs less/tbsp than does pickling salt, so you end up using a little more than 8 tbsp / gallon to get the same brine concentration. I use a kitchen scale for the salt weight and I always make up a gallon of brine. I use spring water as the base, not distilled water, to retain the minerals.
The pickling spices float around the glass weight, should I bury them with a cabbage leaf or something?
keeping the vegetables submerged is the important thing. (Some of) the pickling spices will tend to rise above the glass weight.