Hot & Spicy, Pickled Cauliflower
This is what I call a “stupid-simple” canning recipe. Anyone can make these…And they are a much healthier alternative to the artificially (toxic) bright yellow colored stuff at the store! However, if you don’t want to go through the canning process you can simple store your completed jars in the refrigerator… it will take a few weeks for the flavors to develop, but they will still be very good! You can also control the heat by adding more or less peppers.. I like to do all my jars with 1 cayenne pepper then add more peppers to some of the jars.. hungarian wax pepper, jalapeños, cherry bells, habaneros, etc. all work very well!! You can also add in thick slices of carrots for color and variety.
If you like these Spicy Pickled Cauliflower, try these other refrigerator pickle recipes next:
- Easy Refrigerator Pickled Beets
- Quick & Easy No Cook Refrigerator Pickles
- Pickled Roasted Red Peppers
- Pickled Maitake Mushrooms {aka Sheep’s Head or Hen of the Woods}
- Homemade Pickled Red Onions
Ingredients
- 2 medium heads cauliflower broken into bitesized pieces
- 6 banana peppers sliced or whole
- 6 cloves Garlic peeled
- 3 teaspoons mustard seed
- 3 teaspoons Whole Black Peppercorns
- 8 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
- 8 cups Water, filtered
- 1 cup Sea Salt
- canning jars with 2-piece lids
Instructions
- Combine vinegar, water and sea salt in a pot and bring to a simmer
- Pack sterilized jars with cauliflower, hot pepper, garlic clove, mustard seed and black peppercorns
- Fill jars with hot brine, leaving 1/2 in headspace & remove air bubbles
- Clean jar rims, and secure two-piece lids
- Process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.
Notes
A little jar-side reality check: I’m sharing my kitchen experience here, not a food-safety laboratory’s seal of approval. For pantry storage, use a current, research-tested recipe and follow its exact ingredients, acidity, jar size, headspace, canner type and altitude-adjusted process. A family tradition or a sealed lid does not establish safety. Improper canning can cause botulism, and you cannot reliably see, smell or taste the toxin. Read the CDC’s home-canning guidance before you begin.
About the older directions below: These record my personal method; they have not been verified as matching a tested process. Do not use them as stand-alone canning instructions. Use the linked tested guidance in full, or refrigerate promptly or freeze the food instead. A disclaimer does not make an untested method safe.
Tried this recipe?Mention @hayley_inthekitchen or tag #hayley_inthekitchen!
Going to make a hot cauliflower in1 litre jars. If using the pkg of pickling spice how much would you put in a jar?
I personally don’t love the flavor of the picking spices that you purchase, I would recommend 1 to 3 teaspoons, depending on how much of that flavor you would like to have.
Hi Hayley,
I’m excited to use this recipe but am trying to gather ingredients/supplies and have a few questions. If I were using pint jars, approx how many should I need? Are you using banana peppers and a cayenne pepper in each jar? Thanks in advance for your advice!
There are many variables to the quantity of jars you will need, ie how large you heads of cauliflower are and what size pieces of veggies you us. To be safe, I’d prepare 24 pint jars. My banana peppers were extra ripe (red) and I sliced them lengthwise. You can use any combination of hot or sweet peppers that you like.
Could you half the salt. I’m making these today and feel this is an awful lot of salt
pickling brines need salt, but you do you.
Do you know why some pickled vegetables are colored yellow? Do you know what is traditionally used to make those vegetables yellow? Hint: it`s not toxic and it’s “stupid-simple”.
This looks great! These may be dumb questions, but I’ve never pickled anything before! How do you remove the air bubbles from the jar, and what are you saying to process for 10 mins in a boiling water bath? Thank you!
If you aren’t canning them for shelf stable storage, you can just pack the goodies into a clean jar, cover and refrigerate.
Removing air bubbles is just moving the solids in the liquid (like mixing) so that there’s no bubbles.
As for the water bath canning, it’s boiling sealed/sterilized jars filled with your food for a set period of time.
I was wondering since you are packing the jars, how much of the peppercorn, garlic, and mustard seed do you put in each jar?????
Just a pinch or 2. it isn’t worth dirtying a measuring spoon 🙂 I use a few garlic cloves because we love garlic.
its like pickles. if you open and eat too soon all you taste is salt. let them pickle at least 2 months! I let mine go for 3-4 months before opening. if I pickle anything about the first of august I do not open until thanksgiving.
Just opened a bottle of these I made ~3 weeks ago. Nice & spicy but I’ve never tasted anything so salty in my life. Might as well have bottled them in seawater.
Doug, I’m sorry that your batch didn’t work out for you 🙁 We’ve been using that brine for refrigerator pickles of all sorts for over 10 years. Typically we let our go a few months before eating them. What brand of sea salt did you use?
LOL so funny! I do find it a bit salty (I use Himalayan Pink salt) when I tasted the simmering mixture. I actually added some good quality unrefined sugar which is out of the recipe. Hopefully it still taste good.
The bright yellow you see in some pickled cauliflower is made with Turmeric. That is what gives it the yellow color. I wouldn’t exactly consider it toxic unless you consider health benefits toxic. Which Turmeric has some very beneficial health benefits. Your recipe is great to though.
However MOST yellow pickled cauliflower has synthetic, toxic food coloring and should be avoided.
Working long hours and surviving on the fast food is one of the most important factors lead to deadly diseases. Our body requires all essential nutrients to function effectively and create a stronger immunity.
Great recipe! Thanks again for sharing. FYI, the yellow color usually comes from brine recipes that include turmeric. So not always bad; just a different flavor profile. Keep posting these!
I added turmeric powder to one of my jars. 🙂
just made a batch of this and was wondering how long do you recommend letting it sit before eating? Thank you!!
We get impatient and start tasting them about 2 weeks after we make them, but they keep for at least a year.
Dear Hayley, do you leave the jars in the fridge or in the cupboard for two weeks? Possible to put in the fridge, as I do not have any glass weights to hold the pickle down. I filled it up to the max I could and did all the sterilization. Thanks.
after the water bath canning, the jars are shelf-stable and do not need refrigeration.
Thank you very much. xx