Ten Easy Fermented Vegetable Recipes for Beginners (2024)

FAQs

What is the easiest vegetable to ferment? ›

Cabbage is a relatively inexpensive and easy vegetable to ferment, and there are many options for creating flavors you might like. Experiment with herbs and spices such as ginger, garlic, hot pepper, caraway seeds, curry powder, and turmeric.

Salt. Salt provides many functions in the fermentation process: Allows needed water and sugars to be pulled from the vegetables that are used as nutrients by fermenting organisms. Favors the growth of fermenting organisms over spoilage bacteria, yeast, and mold as well as harmful bacteria.

Vegetables are possibly the easiest and quickest fermentation: cut the vegetables, place in glass jars and submerge completely in the brine for 1-2 days until fermented (you'll know it's ready once the ferment has developed a ˜tangy' taste). Then, keep the jar in cold storage.

Ferment for Only One Week

This is when lacto-fermentation tastes great and is healthy! However, for flavour purposes, some recipes suggest longer than 5 days. We're talking about 2 to 3 weeks of fermentation, or more than a year.

Fermented foods can cause gas and bloating, even in a healthy individual. This is because you are introducing more microbes into your system, and happy microbes produce gas when fed the right diet, aka a healthy balanced diet including plenty of fibre rich foods.

Apple cider vinegar is made through a process called fermentation. The process has two steps. First, the apples are crushed and yeast is added to speed up the fermentation process, so the sugar converts into alcohol after a few weeks.

While there are currently no official guidelines regarding how often you should eat fermented foods, adding a few servings to your daily diet may be beneficial ( 44 ). For the best results, start by eating one or two servings per day, and then slowly work your way up.

What vegetables ferment the best? ›

In alphabetical order, the best vegetables for fermenting include cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, cucumbers, garlic, kohlrabi, peppers, radishes, snap beans and turnips.

One of the best types of salt to ferment with is sea salt. Sea salt contains several nutrients, including trace amounts of magnesium, potassium and calcium. Picking salt and Kosher salt are also good to use. The type of salt you should avoid in fermentation is Iodized salt.

Lemons, berries, and tropical fruits are great choices for fermentation.

Dairy Kefir is one of the easiest fermented beverages to make and is one we often recommend starting with. Dairy Kefir can be made with Kefir Grains (symbiotic yeast and bacteria comprising a culture that looks like cauliflower) or with powdered Kefir Starter Culture.

Almost every type of vegetable (and some fruits) can be fermented. However, some are popular choices for good reason, especially cabbages, cucumbers and radishes. Try adding spices, herbs and flavourings to your ferments, too.

Picking high quality produce can make a difference in how your ferments turn out. Home grown produce is the best followed by organic, but it's okay to use conventional produce too. Washing your veggies isn't necessary when fermenting them, but it won't hurt either.