Mexican Pickled Carrots

Zanahorias En Escabeche, pickled carrots, is a delicious Mexican dish served at many Mexican restaurants. This recipe is easy and packed full of flavor, sure to rival any restaurant!

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We love to eat pickled carrots on tortilla chips at our favorite local Mexican restaurant. I was lucky enough to come up with this recipe that mimics the flavors pretty well. Now, we can enjoy this at home and I can share it with you all.

I’m sure this recipe will rival any restaurants, it’s that good!

Ingredients Needed:

• Organic Carrots: I like to use organic full size carrots but any carrots will work. You could even use baby carrots if you’d like. I like to cut them in quarter inch thick diagonal slices but you could cut them any way you like. Don’t bother peeling them, just make sure they are washed well.

• Sweet Onion: I like to use a sweet onion for this recipe but a red onion would also work. Really any onion would however the sweet or yellow onion is the best, in my opinion.

• Garlic Cloves: Peeled and then smashed with the side of your knife. I smash the garlic because it releases more flavor than just using the clove whole but it’s more mild than chopping or mincing.

• Peppers: I use jalapeño peppers. When picking jalapeños the smoother ones are less spicy than the ones with scars. If you like a spicier pepper, look for more scars. You can use a hotter pepper if you like more spice.

• Mexican Oregano: If you don’t have access to Mexican oregano you can use regular Italian oregano.

• Ground All Spice: Ground All Spice is an ingredient most other recipes don’t use, but this adds an incredible amount of flavor. Do not skip this!

• Whole Cloves: Whole cloves is another ingredient that most other recipes don’t include but this is the secret ingredient to making this recipe really taste good. I usually only add 5 or 6 whole cloves but you could add more if you like the flavor.

How to Make:

1. Chop all your veggies. Chop carrots diagonally in quarter inch slices. Peel and chop onion in half, top to bottom. You will only use 1/2 of it. Cut the onion half into quarters or into fifths and separate the layers. Chop the stem off the jalapeños, remove the membranes and seeds. slice lengthwise into 4-5 slices.

2. In a stock pot heat oil. Add the carrots and saute for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently.

3. Add onions, smashed garlic and jalapeños. Keep stirring frequently. Cook for another 5 minutes.

4. Add spices; Mexican oregano, ground all spice, whole cloves, and thyme. Saute for 2-3 minutes.

5. Add vinegar, water, brown sugar, salt, and peppercorns and cook until jalapenos are just a little soft. They will start to turn olive in color instead of bright green. Approximately 8-10 minutes.

6. Remove from heat and place veggies in two, quart size jars. Pour the remaining liquid equally into both jars. Let cool on the counter. Store in the refrigerator. You can strain the liquid when you add it to your jars to keep the spices from covering your veggies. I usually don’t because I don’t want to wash another dish plus I feel like it still gives off flavor but my husband prefers them strained.

Recipe Variations:

• ADD ADDITIONAL VEGGIES: You can add other veggies to the mix as well such as cauliflower or radishes.

• MAKE IT SPICIER: You can make it spicier by using different chilies such as serranos or habeneros.

• DIFFERENT ONIONS: You could use red onions, yellow onions, vidalia onions, or scallions instead of sweet onions.

How to Store:

Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container. A quart sized canning jar works great. It will last for 2 months in the refrigerator. (Note: this recipe makes 2 quarts)

Tools Needed:

If you try this recipe let me know what you think!

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