Quick Pickled Spicy Carrots

With their vivid colors and tangy bite, these quick pickled carrots get their unique flavor from being pickled with a poblano pepper and whole allspice.
One of the things that makes this pickled carrot recipe so delicious is the allspice, with hints of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove it gives the carrots a slightly exotic flavor, making them taste like there must be a secret to getting something so simple to taste so good.
Using a poblano pepper, which has a moderate heat level, and cumin seeds add enough heat to make the carrots interesting without overpowering the veggiesโ natural flavors.
Quick Pickling for the Win
Quick pickling is a simple process that uses vinegar, sugar, and lemon juice to slightly pickle vegetables without putting them through a full pickling process. We like to use apple cider vinegar to quick pickle vegetables for how it deepens and rounds out the brineโs flavors.
What makes quick pickling such a helpful technique is how it can be used to add exciting flavors and textures to vegetables without overpowering them the way full pickling does. It also helps that these carrots only take 15 minutes to pull together, which is a lot less regular canning takes.
Vegetables pickled this way are often referred to as refrigerator pickles because they need to be kept in the refrigerator and do not have the long shelf life of things that have been fully pickled.
Itโs worth noting that quick pickled items need to be stored in the refrigerator and while they will last for a couple of weeks, they wonโt last as long as items that have been fully pickled.
The reason this recipe uses whole spices, instead of ground is that the whole spices help keep the brine clear and the carrots looking amazing. The one batch we made with ground allspice tasted fine but looked lost in a very cloudy brine.
These pickled carrots have become a summer favorite, especially when itโs hot out, the tang in the brine and the flavor from the poblano help to cut through the summer heat. We love serving these pickled carrots as an appetizer, side dish, or with really good BBQ.

Ingredients
- 2 lb carrots, peeled and sliced
- 1/2 Poblano pepper
- 4 oz apple cider vinegar
- 2 oz lemon juice
- 4 whole allspice
- 1/2 tsp cumin seed
- 1/4 tsp black peppercorns
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Peel the carrots and cut them into sticks.
- Cut the Poblano in half, remove the seeds and the pith and cut the pepper into thin strips.
- In a small bowl, mix the apple cider vinegar with the lemon juice, cumin seed, peppercorns, sugar, salt, and allspice.
- Mix the brine and the carrots in a large bowl, making sure the brine gets distributed throughout the carrots.
- The carrots should be placed in the fridge in a sealed container for at least six hours before serving. The carrots are even better once theyโve sat in the brine overnight.
Mark is an experienced food writer, recipe developer, and photographer who is also Umamiโs publisher and CEO. A passionate cook who loves to cook for friends, he can often be found in the kitchen or by the grill testing new recipes.
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Ingredients:
- Allspice
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- Carrots
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- Cumin
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- Poblano Peppers
Cuisines:
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