The first time I had a jar of pickled Brussels sprouts I had picked them up at a country store. They were tasty and I hadn’t really thought about them in a long. Then I ended up with a bunch of Brussels sprouts and I decided to pickle them, or at least try to. These are going in the fridge, not being canned, but they could be processed if you wanted to. The recipe is pretty simple. The sprouts are cleaned and trimmed, cooked part way, then combined with the brine. The brine itself can be used for any number of fruits or veggies when you want to make a quick pickle.

 

The sprouts can be served alone or with cheese and breads. Or even on the side with sandwiches.  They are pretty intense in flavor. I think pickled food lovers are really going to enjoy them.

 

Here  is the brine recipe.

Quick Pickled Veggies or Fruit for Fridge Storage

 

Brine- for every pound of vegetables or fruit make a batch of the brine below

2 c. vinegar

2 c. water

3 T. sugar

3 T. salt

additional spices – optional

Heat brine ingredients together. Pour over prepared fruit or veggies. Allow to cool and store in the fridge. Your food will be pickled in a few hours for fruits  or a day or two for veggies like mushrooms, onions, daikon or tomatoes. For denser vegetables you want to simmer them in the brine or steam them ahead of time. Denser vegetables might take longer to fully pickle, but they will get there. That would include carrots, Brussels sprouts, or beets. Store in fridge- lasts for months.

 

To make the Brussels sprouts pickles:

Wash and trim the sprouts. You can cut larger ones in half. Cook in boiling water 3-5 minutes. Drain. Place in jars and cover with the hot brine. I added some red pepper flakes to each jar along with pickling spice and a clove or garlic. Allow to cool before attaching the lids and placing jars in the fridge. The sprouts take a few days to pickle. I like them best after at least a week in the fridge.

Note: you can add a little more sugar, if you like. These are a sour pickle and not sweet, but the sugar mellows them out a bit.   You can also cook them a little longer if you want a softer “pickle”  or if your sprouts are big.