Fermented Carrots

These savory lacto-fermented carrots are SO delicious and super easy with just five minutes of prep time required! (And trust me, the five days of fermentation time is so worth the wait.) 😉

Similar to making sauerkraut or kimchi, these carrots are fermented by way of "lactic acid fermentation," or lacto-fermentation. But don't worry if this sounds overly difficult or complicated; I assure you it is neither. Actually, fermented carrots are an awesome way to get your feet wet fermenting veggies. They are hard to mess up and require only a few ingredients.

If you make these and want to go further into the wonderful world of fermented foods, I highly recommend trying some homemade sauerkraut next. 😉

🌿 Ingredients

You'll only need a half a clove of garlic at the most as a little goes a long way here, and I also like to add some mustard seed spice which really adds to the savory quality of the recipe. Not to worry if you don't have one of these, though; you can still make this recipe with just carrots and salt!

For salt, you can use sea salt, kosher salt or any other natural, finely ground salt. Just make sure it doesn't contain any anti-caking agents and is not iodized, as both can affect the success and/or taste of the ferment.

And, make sure you're using filtered, non-chlorinated water when fermenting carrots or other vegetables.

Pro tip: If you don't have access to filtered water, you can boil tap water first and let it cool in order to remove the chlorine from the water.

See recipe card below for exact quantities.

Salt ratio for fermented carrots

A quick side note here on salt and fermentation. Because we're using lacto-fermentation (or wild fermentation) here, we'll need to make sure to create the ideal environment so that the Lactobacillus (good) bacteria can grow and crowd out any bad bacteria. And that process is accomplished through a very specific salt ratio of 2-5%.

To learn more about the science behind lacto-fermentation and how the amount of salt in this recipe was determined, see my guide on how to ferment vegetables. But rest assured that you can feel confident using two teaspoons of sea salt for this recipe as written. This will ensure you're within the established salt ratio window in order to have predictable results with your ferment.

📖 Variations

The possibilities are endless when it comes to fermented vegetable recipes! Here are a few delicious variations you can try with carrots:

• Fermented ginger carrots - substitute the garlic with a little shaved or grated ginger for a delicious twist
• Fermented dill carrots - substitute the mustard seed for a few sprigs of fresh dill, with or without the garlic
• Fermented garlic carrots - as written, this recipe does call for half a clove of garlic, but feel free to add more if you'd like a stronger garlic flavor (just keep in mind that a little really does go a long way in a ferment)

You can also mix up the carrots themselves:

• Fermented baby carrots - feel free to use baby carrots (just make sure to wash before use); you'll probably want to use a fermentation weight unless you can pack them in your jar tightly enough
• Fermented shredded carrots - shred a bunch of carrots by hand or in a food processor, or use a mandoline to slice thinly and prepare the recipe as written (use a fermentation weight to keep the carrots submerged); I love these on a burger or some avocado toast

🔪 Equipment

Okay, let's talk tools. For most lacto-fermented vegetable recipes, the items you'll need are actually really simple.

A Mason jar (affiliate link) or other glass jar with a lid is the only real requirement. This is where your veggies will ferment at room temperature, and you can place the same jar in the fridge when they are ready (no need to transfer the carrots.)

If you'd like, you can buy special fermentation lids (affiliate link) that will help let carbon dioxide gas escape from your ferment. However, they are not essential and a regular loosely tightened lid will be fine to allow a small amount of gas to escape. You can also buy fermentation weights (affiliate link) to help keep veggies submerged under water during the fermentation process. As long as you pack your carrots tightly, though, you shouldn't need an additional weight.

You'll want to look for wide-mouth mason jars (as opposed to regular mouth mason jars.) The wider opening will allow for easier access as you place your vegetables in the jar to ferment. Also, it'll be much easier to grab them out for snacking later on. 🙂

In terms of size, pint sized Mason jars are ideal especially if you're just getting started fermenting. Once you're ready to make a larger batch, just switch to a quart sized Mason jar and double the ingredients.