Ten Easy Fermented Vegetable Recipes for Beginners (2024)

Fermentation RecipesFermented Vegetables

by Kaitlynn Fenley

written by Kaitlynn Fenley

Making fermented vegetables at home can be confusing and daunting, but I’ve got you covered with some easy fermented vegetable recipes for beginners! Since I develop all of our fermentation recipes to be simple, exact, and safe, you’re guaranteed to get great fermentation results on the first try when you use these fermentation recipes for beginners. Get ready to become a confident home fermenter.

Fermentation Recipes for Beginners

The best fermentation recipes for beginners are sauerkraut recipes! After you master sauerkraut, I suggest trying out fermentation for pickles and other “vine-growing” vegetables. By vine growing, I mean it grows on a branching plant from a flower.

Here are my top five easy fermented vegetable recipes for beginners.

I advise starting with number one, then working your way through number ten.

By the time you make the tenth recipe, you’ll feel like a cultured guru too!

The main supplies you need for these recipes are a large mason jar, a fermentation weight, some sea salt, and a kitchen scale.

How to Make Old Fashioned Sauerkraut with Caraway Seeds

Enjoy this delicious Bavarian-style sauerkraut recipe made with caraway seeds. In this step-by-step recipe, you will learn to make old fashioned sauerkraut with caraway seeds in a mason jar.

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Roasted Garlic Sauerkraut with Black Pepper

This recipe is a traditional, wild fermented sauerkraut with roasted garlic and black pepper incorporated. If you love garlic, crisp sauerkraut, and a light pepper flavor then this Roasted Garlic Sauerkraut with black pepper recipe is for you!

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Homemade Kimchi Inspired Spicy Sauerkraut Recipe

What does kimchi taste like? It’s spicy, umami, sour and absolutely delicious! Learn how to make kimchi sauerkraut, a spicy sauerkraut recipe with delicious kimchi flavor.

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Fermented Beet and Red Cabbage Sauerkraut

This fermented beet and red cabbage sauerkraut recipe is the best way to make fermented beets and cabbage. Beet sauerkraut is ready to eat in three weeks.

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Turmeric Napa Cabbage Sauerkraut

If you ever wondered if you can make sauerkraut with napa cabbage, the answer is yes! This delicious turmeric sauerkraut recipe is a simple napa cabbage sauerkraut, perfect for preserving in-season fall and winter cabbage.

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How to Ferment Sauerkraut with Orange, Sesame, and Ginger

Learn how to ferment sauerkraut with orange sesame and ginger. With only six ingredients and some patience, you can make this flavorful sauerkraut incorporating fresh orange, sesame seeds and freshly grated ginger root at home! Wild fermented sauerkraut contains billions of gut-healthy microorganisms, lots of vitamins, and prebiotic fiber.

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Fermented Cucumbers: Fermenting Sliced Cucumbers Two Ways

This fermented cucumbers recipe makes it easy to ferment pickles that stay crunchy and crisp. Learn the best techniques for fermenting sliced cucumbers.

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The Best Lacto-Fermented Green Beans with Ginger and Scallions

Green beans are one of the best and easiest vegetables to ferment! With just salt, water, fresh green beans, spices, a fermentation weight, and a mason jar you can make these probiotic-packed fermented green beans at home. This recipe requires a kitchen scale for measuring ingredients and two weeks of fermentation at room temperature.

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Pepper Fermentation Recipe: Learn How to Ferment Any Type of Pepper

How do you make fermented peppers? What is the best salt ratio for fermenting peppers? how long to ferment peppers? With our Easy Pepper Fermentation Recipe you’ll have the best fermented peppers in just 5 weeks! Learn how to ferment peppers at home.

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Easy and Nutritious Fermented Giardiniera

Giardiniera is a mix of pickled vegetables in vinegar or oil in Italy, but here we used wild fermentation to create a delicious fermented Giardiniera.For this recipe, we developed a spicy, pleasantly sour preserved vegetable mix, made even more nutritious through fermentation. By the way, in Italian, it is pronounced jar-din-AIR-ah, and it literally means “from the garden.”

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More Fermenting Recipes for Beginners

  • How to Ferment Sauerkraut with Blueberries and Açaí
  • Fermented Baby Bok Choy
  • Fermented Pepperoncini Recipe
  • Fermented Spicy Garlic Pickle Spirals
Ten Easy Fermented Vegetable Recipes for Beginners (9)

Ten Easy Fermented Vegetable Recipes for Beginners (10)

Kaitlynn Fenley Author, Educator, Food Microbiologist

Kaitlynn is a food microbiologist and fermentation expert teaching people how to ferment foods and drinks at home.

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fermentation food microbiology sourdough sauerkraut fermenting at home fermented foods fermented drinks

Ten Easy Fermented Vegetable Recipes for Beginners (14)

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2 comments

Ten Easy Fermented Vegetable Recipes for Beginners (15)

Pattie August 8, 2022 - 11:30 am

I’ve been making beet kavass for a while now but my last two turned from beautiful red to brown. It tastes watery. Any ideas why.?

Reply

Ten Easy Fermented Vegetable Recipes for Beginners (16)

Kaitlynn Fenley August 9, 2022 - 10:50 am

I don’t have a beet kvass recipe here yet. My guess is that you made it with salt, and beet kvass is supposed to be made with sugar.

Reply

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.

What are the easiest home fermented foods? ›

Five fermenting recipes for gut health
  • Sauerkraut to quick kimchi. Sauerkraut is probably the easiest ferment to try your hand at, translated from German as 'sour cabbage' it really is tastier than it sounds. ...
  • Red cabbage, beetroot and apple sauerkraut. ...
  • Fermented garlic in honey. ...
  • Fermented chilli sauce.
Aug 15, 2023

What vegetables should you not ferment? ›

“There's no vegetable you can't ferment,” he said, but added that leafy greens such as kale — because of their chlorophyll content — aren't to most people's liking. During an NPR interview, Katz explained that pickling and fermentation are not the same, although they are “overlapping” categories.

How do you ferment vegetables for beginners? ›

How to ferment vegetables
  1. Begin by thoroughly sterilising your chosen jar. Wash it with warm soapy water and dry it well. ...
  2. Prep your vegetables. ...
  3. Make a brine. ...
  4. Add your veg to the jar. ...
  5. Pour over the brine. ...
  6. Leave to ferment at room temperature. ...
  7. Pop it in the fridge to finish fermentation.
Apr 7, 2022

What vegetables can I ferment at home? ›

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.

What is the healthiest fermented food? ›

Fermented Foods for Gut Health
  • Kefir.
  • Plain Yogurt.
  • Dry Curd Cottage Cheese or Farmer's Cheese, or fermented cottage cheese.
  • Certain aged cheeses (check label for live and active cultures)
  • Fermented Vegetables.
  • Tempeh (choose gluten free)
  • Miso (refrigerated)
  • Pickles (in salt, not vinegar)
Jun 19, 2019

What fermented foods should I eat daily? ›

Top fermented foods you can add to your diet
  • Kefir.
  • Kimchi.
  • Kombucha.
  • Sauerkraut.
  • Yogurt.
  • Miso.
  • Cheese.
  • Sourdough.
Mar 18, 2024

What foods ferment the fastest? ›

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.

What is the healthiest vegetable to ferment? ›

  1. Cabbage. Cabbage is the perfect vegetable for fermentation, and not without good reason! ...
  2. Carrots. Carrots can be used in all kinds of fermentations, but they also shine on their own! ...
  3. Beets. Beets are great for fermentation! ...
  4. Tomatoes. Managing the abundance of tomatoes in the fall… ...
  5. Cauliflower. ...
  6. Green Beans. ...
  7. Celery. ...
  8. Hot Peppers.

Is it OK to eat fermented vegetables everyday? ›

For the best results, start by eating one or two servings per day, and then slowly work your way up. Getting probiotics from whole foods is a simple way to take advantage of fermented foods' health benefits while reducing your risk of side effects associated with probiotic use, such as digestive issues ( 45 ).

How can fermentation go wrong? ›

If there is not enough salt, fermentation can go wrong and there is a risk of mould. On the other hand, if there is too much salt, it tastes bad. However, every vegetable is different. The weight of the vegetables is used to determine how much salt to add.

Can you eat too much fermented vegetables? ›

The most common reaction to fermented foods is a temporary increase in gas and bloating. This is the result of excess gas being produced after probiotics kill harmful gut bacteria and fungi. Probiotics secrete antimicrobial peptides that kill harmful pathogenic organisms like Salmonella and E.

What is the most important ingredient in fermented vegetable processing? ›

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.

What foods naturally ferment? ›

Some of the most widely available include kombucha, yogurt, aged/raw cheeses, sauerkraut, pickles, miso, tempeh, natto and kimchi. Other healthy foods that are fermented include apple cider vinegar, wine, sourdough bread, cottage cheese and coconut kefir.

What is the easiest fruit to ferment? ›

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

Does fermenting vegetables make them easier to digest? ›

Most fermented foods contribute bacteria that have a potential probiotic effect. This means that these bacteria may help restore the balance of bacteria in your gut, support digestive health and alleviate any digestive issues.

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