Pink Pickled Radishes are simple fridge-pickles that add a dose of color, texture, and addicting flavor to your plate! No complicated or convoluted techniques necessary!
You’ll always find a variety of homemade pickles in my fridge. My husband and I go through them at an alarming rate, and buying them every week at the Farmers’ Market was getting ridiculously expensive! It came down to either cutting back on my pickle obsession or making my own. As you can guess, I chose the latter.
I was amazed at how simple they were to make, especially the fridge pickles featured on my blog.
What you’ll need to make Pink Pickled Radishes:
- 5 cups filtered water
- 1 ¼ cups white vinegar – 5% acidity
- 2 bay leaves
- ⅓ cup kosher salt – must be Kosher salt, sea salt is way too salty
- 1 lb radishes – number of bunches will vary depending on size; see notes
- 2 tsp celery seed
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- fresh dill – a few sprigs per jar
- 8 garlic cloves – skin removed and left whole
- 1 beet – medium-size; peeled, cut in half, sliced
- 1 jalapeño pepper – sliced; optional if you want some heat
How to make Pink Pickled Radishes:
Make the brine – Add water, vinegar, and bay leaved to a medium pot; bring to a low boil. Add salt and stir until dissolved in the liquid. Remove from heat.
Prep the beet and radishes – Wash and trim the radishes so stems and roots are completely removed. Keep small radishes whole and cut large radishes in half. Peel the beet, then cut in half and into thin half moons.
Assemble the jars of pickles- Divide the celery seed, peppercorns, and dill sprigs among both quart jars. Add 2 garlic cloves and a couple slices of beet to each jar.
Add radishes to each jar, while layering sliced jalapeño (is using), remaining beet and garlic cloves. Push down and shake the veggies as your go so they’re tightly packed. See notes below if you find you don’t have enough radishes.
Cover with brine – Pour the brine into each jar, leaving about ¾” at the the top. Store on the countertop for a day, flipping them upside down a few times throughout the day/night.
Store in the fridge – Move to the fridge and store for a minimum of 2 additional days before eating. I wait until my radishes are vibrant pink, usually about 4 days total. These will keep well in the fridge for a solid month, although I bet they won’t last that long!
What can I do if I don’t have enough radishes?
Since radish bunches can vary in size, it’s hard to know exactly how many radishes you’ll end up with after separating them, so I often find myself a bit short. But fortunately, this isn’t an issue!
I use this basic brine (without the beets for natural pink coloring) for most of my pickles. If I want to keep the pink hue, I mix the radishes with purple or green cabbage.
If you prefer not to do that, you can make one jar of pink radishes and fill the others with sliced cucumbers or zucchini, matchstick carrots, cauliflower florets, green beans, or whatever veggies you like. Feel free to switch up the spices and seasonings depending on what vegetables you’re using.
My go-to basics are black peppercorns, celery seed, dill, and garlic. It always works perfectly!
Looking for more fridge pickles? Try some of the recipes below!
- Pickled Okra
- Pickled Red Cabbage
- Curried Carrot and Cauliflower Pickles
- Middle Eastern Pickled Turnips
Pink Pickled Radishes
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Add water, vinegar, and bay leaved to a medium pot; bring to a low boil. Add salt and stir until dissolved in the liquid. Remove from heat.
- Wash and trim the radishes so stems and roots are completely removed. Keep small radishes whole and cut large radishes in half. Peel the beet, then cut in half and into thin half moons.
- Divide the celery seed, peppercorns, and dill sprigs among both quart jars. Add 2 garlic cloves and a couple slices of beet to each jar.Add radishes to each jar, while layering sliced jalapeño (is using), remaining beet and garlic cloves. Push down and shake the veggies as your go so they're tightly packed.See notes below if you find you don't have enough radishes.
- Pour the brine into each jar, leaving about ¾" at the the top. Store on the countertop for a day, flipping them upside down a few times throughout the day/night.Move to the fridge and store for a minimum of 2 additional days before eating. I wait until my radishes are vibrant pink, usually about 4 days total. These will keep well in the fridge for a solid month, although I bet they won't last that long!
