• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Cook, Craft, Cultivate
  • Recipes
    • Baking
    • Classic Recipes with a Healthy Twist
    • Fermentation
    • Kitchen Staples from Scratch
    • Lean and Green
    • Smoked and Grilled
    • Snacks
    • Veggie Focused
  • Gardening
  • Recommended Products
  • About
    • About Kristi
    • Creations
    • Photography
    • Privacy Policy
You are here: Home / Recipes / Fermented Foods Part 3: Spicy Lacto Fermented Pickles

Fermented Foods Part 3: Spicy Lacto Fermented Pickles

August 22, 2018

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

What to do when your cucumber plant is overflowing with fruit? Make pickles of course! And if you are a home fermentation lover like me, then let’s make lacto fermented pickles! Why lacto fermentation? For one, it is about as natural a process as you can get. And for two (and most importantly), for the added nutrition!

Pickle ingredients

Health Benefits of Lacto Fermentation

There are plenty of quick overnight pickle recipes readily available online, but I wanted to try a true lacto fermentation. The biggest difference is that the quick pickle recipes utilize vinegar for the brine. The lacto fermentation process just uses a salt brine with some spices, and lets the good Lactobacillus bacteria go to work.

Pickle making equipment

In short, the process of lacto fermentation allows these good bacteria to break down the sugars in fruits/veggies, into lactic acid, which acts as a natural preservative. And as an added bonus, the nutrition content of the food actually increases! Good probiotic bacteria thrive in fermented foods. When consumed, these probiotic bacteria lend a hand to improve your digestion and overall gut health.

Fermented foods are also rich in B12 (a byproduct of the fermentation process), and vitamins D and K2 (both help with calcium absorption). If you were to use an alternative fermentation process like high heat or vinegar, while still tasty, these methods actually destroy the good bacteria. So you are really missing out on the added health and nutrition benefits lacto fermentation can offer!

Finished fermented pickles

The Foundation for This Lacto Fermented Pickles Recipe

This recipe for lacto fermented pickles is based on a fermentation guide/recipe ebook I received from Nourished Essentials. They gave out a couple free pdfs with the purchase of some fermentation equipment (weights for small batch mason jar fermentation), and I have tried a couple of their recipes so far with nice success.

I also found another great resource over at Cultures for Health. It is a very similar recipe, but they addressed one very important question I had – what were some more options to use for tannin containing leaves? Grape, oak, and horseradish were all possibilities, but not something I could easily find. Tannin is needed to keep the crunch in the pickles, so I didn’t want to leave it out. The answer: bay leaves! And good news, most of us have those handy in our pantries πŸ™‚

Ready to add brine

As per my usual modus operandi, I decided to make a couple modifications. In particular, I wanted to try making spicy pickles, so for one of my jars I sliced up a serrano chili and included that in with the other aromatics. And guess what? It worked! The pickles in that jar are quite spicy! So if you like a little kick in your condiments, I would definitely recommend adding in some sliced chili peppers!

Ready to add brine
Start of fermented pickles

If you are interested in other home fermentation recipes, check out some of my other articles:

  • Sourdough starter
  • Crackers from left over sourdough starter
  • Homemade yogurt
  • How to use whey left over from yogurt making

And now for this featured fermented pickles recipe!

Finished pickles - spicy

Lacto Fermented Dill Pickles

Lacto feremented dill pickles are not only delicious, but are an excellent source of probiotics and vitamins B12, D, and K2.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Fermentation Time: 10 days
Course: Condiment
Cuisine: American

Equipment

  • Wide mouthed mason jars
  • Pickle pipe mason tops (or other one way valve that allows CO2 to release but keeps O2 from entering)
  • Mason jar weights

Ingredients
 

Cucumbers and Aromatics

  • Cucumbers (see notes)
  • Fresh dill (several large sprigs rinsed and stems trimmed)
  • Peppercorns
  • Garlic cloves (2 per jar, smashed and cut in half)
  • Bay leaves (3 per jar)
  • Serrano pepper (1 per jar, sliced, if you want spicy)

For the brine (enough to fill 2 1-pint mason jars)

  • Filtered water (1 quart)
  • Kosher salt (2 1/2 tablespoons)

Instructions

  • Sterilize all equipment to be used by submerging in boiling water.
  • Heat 1 quart of water, dissolve salt, and let the brine cool.
  • Trim ends from cucumbers and slice to size (see notes).
  • Into the bottom of each jar place a few sprigs of dill, the garlic cloves, a pinch of peppercorns, 2 bay leaves, and 2/3 of the sliced serrano.
  • Pack the cucumber spears on top of the spices.
  • Fill the jar just below the brim with the brine.
  • Add the rest of the serrano slices.
  • Top with third bay leaf.
  • Seal the jar with the pickle pipe.
  • Set aside in a cool dry place, less than 80Β°F.
  • The fermentation can take anywhere from 3 days to several weeks. I let mine go for about 10 days. You can taste every few days until the flavor profile is to your liking – just be sure you only dip into the jar with a clean utensil, do not double dip, and re-seal well.
  • Once fermentation is complete, replace pickle pipe with a normal lid, and store in the refrigerator for 2-3 months.

Notes

For the cucumbers, I used the Armenian Cucumbers growing in our garden. I have read that they make excellent pickles (maintaining a good crunch), but you could use whatever is available to you, or even small whole kirbies. To trim the cucumbers into spears, I measured the depth of the jar I was going to use, and then trimmed them 1 inch shorter (in length) by 1/4 – 1/2 inch wide.
Using weights is optional in this case, since the cucumber slices are packed in tightly, and heavy enough to stay submerged. I did not use weights in this recipe, although I would consider using them next time, just to be sure everything stays submerged. (I had some floating serrano slices on top that became discolored.) If you opted to use weights, then you would need to adjust the height of the cucumber spears to that there was space for the weight to sit on top, and still seal the jar. So measure accordingly! πŸ™‚
Tried this recipe?Let’s see it! Mention @cookcraftcultivate or tag #cookcraftcultivate!

Post Category: Fermentation, Recipes, Snacks, Veggie Focused Tagged With: cucumbers, fermentation, harvest, pickles, SFG, square foot garden

Previous Post: « Fermented Foods Part 2: Homemade Yogurt
Next Post: Mashed Cauliflower: A Mashed Potato Substitute »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

About Kristi

Picture of KristiJourney with me in my homemade adventures - creating more from scratch and increasing my self-sufficiency, in my small suburban home setting.
Read More…

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Featured Recipes

pork shoulder with smoke crust

Tender, Juicy, Traeger Smoked Pork Shoulder / Pork Butt

banana coconut chocolate chip cookies

Banana Cookies with Chocolate and Coconut

stock after cooking for a while

How to Make Stock

Peanut butter protein bars

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Protein Bar Recipe

plated beef stroganoff

Easy Low-Carb Stroganoff

stuffed zucchini ready to bake

Italian Stuffed Zucchini

Instagram

Need some breakfast inspiration for this week? Tap Need some breakfast inspiration for this week? Tap @cookcraftcultivate and go to the link in my bio for some classic oatmeal and steel cut oats recipes (featured on the homepage or under "Recipes")!
.
#cookcraftcultivate #cook #breakfast #oatmeal #steelcutoats #steelcutoatmeal #instantpot #instantpotrecipes #oatmealinspiration #breakfastinspiration #breakfastideas #quickbreakfast #quickbreakfastideas
Made this tasty #tikkamasala recipe from @jocooks Made this tasty #tikkamasala recipe from @jocooks this week! Easy and delicious! Wilted in some #gardenfresh #swisschard at the end because we are drowning in it right now 🀣 Would totally do it again, it was a great addition. This recipe is definitely a keeper! πŸ‘Œ
.
#cookcraftcultivate #cook #jocooks #lecreusetbraiser #weeknightdinner
Some "last harvests" ... Spinach, cilantro, sprout Some "last harvests" ... Spinach, cilantro, sprouting broccoli. We're also on the tail end of chard and kale, I let them go as long as I can before pulling them - they tolerate the warmth a little better.
BUT
The season is changing, these crops have been A-mazing for us this year, but it's time to say bye πŸ™‹
AND
Jump in to a new season... I'm going a little crazy with tomatoes (16 plants 😳) eggplants (x6), chiles and peppers (x23 plus a few more if we can find a place for them 🀣), and squash (x5). Fingers crossed for a bountiful late spring and summer harvest season πŸ€žπŸ™ŒπŸ€ž
.
#cookcraftcultivate #cultivate #azgardening #azgardener #azvegetablegarden #springgarden  #vegetablegarden #growyourownfood #growwhatyoueat #harvest #zone9b  #zone9bgardening  #zone9bgarden
We pulled out our sprouting broccoli plants this w We pulled out our sprouting broccoli plants this week ... These things were huge, like a small tree!! 
Sprouting broccoli is a better use of our small garden space than a single head - as you trim it it keeps putting off more and more shoots, each trimming doubles the next time. A really fun variety that we will definitely be growing again πŸ™Œ
It was still quite productive, but I need the space for my eggplant seedlings, so out it came ... Getting ready for summer with tomatoes, eggplants, chiles, and squash 🀩
.
#cookcraftcultivate #cultivate #azgardening #azgardener #azgarden #springgarden #azvegetablegarden #growyourownfood #growwhatyoueat #brassicas #broccoli #sproutingbroccoli
#zone9b  #zone9bgardening  #zone9bgarden
Love this view 😍 . #cookcraftcultivate #cultiva Love this view 😍
.
#cookcraftcultivate #cultivate #backyardgarden #azgardening #springinphoenix #backporchview #backporchliving #backporchsittin #backporch
#morning #aloebloom #succulentbloom #morning #aloebloom #succulentbloom
Made a large #swisschard haul from the garden this Made a large #swisschard haul from the garden this week! Making room for some late season kale... πŸ™ŒπŸ˜‹
.
My favorite way to cook swiss chard? Lightly braise it in water or some broth for about 10 minutes (include a favorite herb in this step if you would like - thyme, oregano, fennel, dill...). Once tender, let the liquid boil off. Add a touch of olive oil and/or lemon juice and saute for a minute more. Season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!!
.
#cookcraftcultivate #cultivate #azgardening #azgardener #azvegetablegarden #springvegetablegarden #harvest #swisschardharvest #howtocookswisschard #growyourownfood #growwhatyoueat
This Aloe 😍 I bought this off the discount rack This Aloe 😍
I bought this off the discount rack at Lowes several years ago for $1. It was tiny, half dead, and definitely on its last legs. Well. Look what a little TLC can do!! It's now huge, thriving, and about to put out it's first flower!!! 
.
#cookcraftcultivate #cultivate #aloevera #succulents #succulentbloom #nurture #nevergiveup #thriving
Follow @CookCraftCultivate

Footer

Cook Craft Cultivate

  • Homepage
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy

Our Other Brands

  • Kristi Stephenson Photography
  • Kristi Stephenson Creations

Copyright © 2018–2021 Kristi Stephenson Creations LLC