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Fruits & Roots

How to Ferment Vegetables Using Easy Fermented Foods Recipes

Learn which types of vegetables are fermentable and how to ferment vegetables at home with our easy and safe fermented foods recipes!

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Ferment | Fruits & Roots

How to Ferment Vegetables Using Easy Fermented Foods Recipes

Learn which types of vegetables are fermentable and how to ferment vegetables at home with our easy and safe fermented foods recipes!

Which Types of Vegetables are Fermentable?

Mostly all water-dense vegetables can be fermented if you use the right salt concentration and the foods are fermented for the right amount of time. 

First, if you are a beginner to fermentation, the easiest place to start is sauerkraut and cabbage-based fermentation recipes. Check out these fun and flavorful sauerkraut recipes:

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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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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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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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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using my hads to show the tightly packed layers of a fresh raw red cabbage

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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Other Fermentable Vegetables

Once you get the hang of fermentation with some easy sauerkraut recipes, you can ferment many other vegetables at home! I always tell beginners to start with cabbage ferments and work with interesting sauerkrauts. Then, graduate to the vegetables that are also fruits (any vegetable that grows from a blossom), like cucumbers and peppers. Here are some easy recipes to try:

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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Fermented Celery with Shallots and Black Pepper

Sour, briny, and full of flavor. You’re going to love this fermented celery with shallots. Fermenting celery only takes a few ingredients and a couple weeks.

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Jar of colorful peppers, including red, orange, and green varieties, in brine for fermentation.

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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The Best Fermented Green Beans with Ginger and Scallions

Fermenting green beans is easy! With just salt, water, fresh green beans, and spices, you can make these probiotic-packed fermented green beans.

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Once you are an experienced fermenter, you can develop your recipes and experiment with fermenting other vegetables, but there are some guidelines you should follow for food safety. Check out these two blogs to learn about food safety in fermentation and how to calculate ideal salt concentrations for various vegetables:

  • The Complete Guide to Salt Fermentation
  • The Perfect Lacto Fermentation Salt Ratio for Fermenting Vegetables

Why You Should Ferment Vegetables

Fermented Foods are extremely nutritious, and fermentation is a delicious preservation method. Fermented vegetables contain probiotics, essential vitamins, nutrients, minerals, and prebiotic fiber. All of these things benefit overall health and wellness. 

Fermentation has existed for thousands of years, but people didn’t fully understand it long ago. Fermentation is not magic; it’s a science with wondrous and fascinating explanations. Many foods worldwide are fermented or rely on fermentation products for flavor, preservation, or texture.

 First and foremost, though, vegetable fermentation has always preserved harvests for long winters. 

What Is Vegetable Fermentation? 

When discussing fermenting vegetables, we refer to a microbial process called lactic acid fermentation. This fermentation occurs when certain bacteria ferment plant compounds for energy and produce lactic acid as a byproduct. All it takes is the addition of a precise salt concentration to vegetables, and you can turn plain old produce into flavor-rich superfoods.

It’s important to remember that you are not fermenting anything. Microorganisms are fermenting. You have to set the right microbes up for success.

microscope image of lactobacillus

Supplies You’ll Need to Make Fermented Vegetables

For the best sauerkraut flavor and texture, you should use weight measurements for your fermentation ingredients. That means you need a kitchen scale. Weighing your ingredients gives you consistent and superior fermentation results. This is the scale we use in our home kitchen.  

Here is the equipment you will need to make fermented vegetables:

  • 32-ounce Wide Mouth Mason Jar
  • Fermentation Weight
  • Standard Metal Mason Jar Lid (this can rust in the presence of salt)
  • OR Rust-Free Plastic Lid
  • or you can use a Weck Jar (without the gasket; only use the clips to secure the lid)
  • Sea Salt
  • Scale
  • Mixing Bowl 

If you would like to read more about the best jars and lids for fermenting vegetables, click here.

author avatar
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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hey i’m kaitlynn, i’m a microbiologist and together with my husband jon we are cultured guru.

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  1. Theresa
    06|11|2019

    Hello! Thank you so much for this–it is reassuring to have more information on the science behind the fermentation process, which has always made me nervous! I am running into an issue, however: when assembling the ingredients for my jar of kimchi or kraut, it’s hard for me to know exactly how much water to use. I recently mixed up a batch of salt/water brine for my vegetables by estimating how much water I’d need, but it ended up being too much for the veggies + the jar. I had to up ultimately dump some out, which changed the ratio again. I actually had to dump some more out after the vegetables fermented for a couple of days, changing the ratio yet again. Any tips on how to approach adding the salt and water to the vegetables?

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sourdough discard 🤝 cottage cheese combined tw sourdough discard 🤝 cottage cheese

combined two of the best fermented foods to make the best pancakes. And yes, you can ferment the batter overnight in the fridge for easier digestion. 

My recipe makes 15 pancakes and each serving of 3 pancakes had 17 grams of protein! 

Get the recipe from my recipe index, linked in my profile✨

#sourdough #cottagecheese #pancakes #fermentation
It can suppress overgrowth of Candida albicans, wh It can suppress overgrowth of Candida albicans, while boosting good bacteria in your gut! 

Roasting garlic increases beneficial garlic compounds like diallyl sulfide and diallyl disulfide — or DADS, for short. Both of these compounds have been studied for their anti-inflammatory (anti-cancer), antioxidant, and antifungal properties.

It’s definitely a sauerkraut you should keep in your rotation.

To get the recipe google “garlic sauerkraut.” and you’ll see mine it’s the first one.

Sources:
PMC8777027 (Diallyl Disulfide (DADS) Ameliorates Intestinal Candida albicansInfection by Modulating the Gut microbiota and Metabolites and Providing Intestinal Protection)

https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes9100401 (diallyl disulfide (DADS) shows a substantial increase, with concentrations rising from 1.6 mg/g in non-fermented garlic to 4.8 mg/g in its fermented counterpart, suggesting enhanced bioactivity through fermentation)
✨Cottage Cheese Ice Cream✨with Brown Butter an ✨Cottage Cheese Ice Cream✨with Brown Butter and Vanilla

I know, I know, I’m making everything with cottage cheese right now. But how can I not? Cottage cheese is one of the most protein-rich fermented foods.

If you love ice cream and cheesecake-like flavor, you’ll love this recipe. it’s high in protein, requires only four simple ingredients, and does not require churning. So, you do not need an ice cream maker!

A half-cup serving of this ice cream has 12 grams of protein, making it a healthy and balanced sweet snack. Get the recipe from the recipe index linked in my profile. 

#cottagecheese #icecream
Baked ✨Cottage Cheese✨ Queso Dip It’s crea Baked ✨Cottage Cheese✨ Queso Dip 

It’s creamy, cheesy, and packed with protein, but with fewer calories thanks to the cottage cheese base. And it’s only 6 ingredients +toppings! 

I love it topped with cilantro, diced tomatoes, onions and fresh jalapeños! 

Get the full recipe from my recipe index, linked in my bio. 

#queso #cheese #cottagecheese
Why do you add water to sauerkraut? To that I as Why do you add water to sauerkraut? 

To that I ask: who told y’all you can’t add water to sauerkraut? 

Adding water standardizes my recipes, making sure everyone gets enough brine, regardless of cabbage variability. 

Google “cultured guru sauerkraut” and you’ll see my recipes! 

#sauerkraut #fermentation
Bok choy is similar in texture to Napa cabbage and Bok choy is similar in texture to Napa cabbage and lovely for fermentation. 

Since bok choy and all cabbages grow low and very close to the soil, their microbiome composition is wonderful! This makes all cabbages easy vegetables to ferment, and fermented bok choy is one of my absolute favorites.

Google fermented bok choy and you’ll see my recipe, it’s the first one. ☝🏼 #cabbage #fermentation #homestead 

Ps. I used some tiny weck jar lids for weights in my bigger weck jar and it worked great!
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