Quick Pickled Cauliflower Recipe Ingredients

Here’s what you need to make this quick pickled cauliflower recipe:

• • Cauliflower, of course! I like white cauliflower here, but other varieties would work well too. I’ve experimented with green and purple cauliflower; green is a bit more mild and sweet and the purple variety is sweeter and nuttier and is packed with nutrients.
  • Hot peppers bring some heat and make this pickling recipe a little more complex than most.
  • White vinegar and water – They make up the zesty and tangy base of the brine. White vinegar, apple cider, white wine, and rice vinegar all work well. You can use these vinegars alone or in combination. Steer clear of aged or concentrated vinegars like balsamic or malt vinegar for pickling.
  • Cane sugar – It’s the perfect sweet complement to the vinegar, making these quick pickles well-balanced and tasty
  • Sea salt – It helps preserve the radishes and adds needed salty flavor.
  • Whole pink peppercorns and caraway seeds – They add a distinctive depth of flavor to this simple brine.

Load your jars with cauliflower florets, hot peppers, pink peppercorns, and any other spices you want to experiment with. I like to add colorful spices and complementary veggies that make the quick pickled cauliflower visually appealing as well. As they say, “We eat with our eyes!”

Let the brine cool to room temperature before pouring it over your packed jars. I like to have all the spices and other veggies already in the jar. But, if you find you prefer to add the spices after you pour the brine that’s okay too.

How to Make Quick Pickled Cauliflower

Don’t be afraid! This pickled cauliflower recipe is very simple to make! This is what you need to do:

• • Prepare your cauliflower. Wash the radishes well, trim the tops, and thinly slice or halve them. For getting beautifully thin and even slices, I recommend using a mandoline. This makes the preparation and overall time spent go way faster and yield even, paper-thin slices more quickly.
  • Divide or cut the cauliflower and arrange between 2 or 3 jars (I used Weck’s 1/2 liter jars (2.11 cups or 16+ounces)
  • Make the brine. Put the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar and salt dissolve. This should only take about 1 minute. The brine works best cool at room temperature, so let it cool down before pouring it over the cauliflower in the jars.
  • Pour the brine into the jars after it cools. Fill up enough to cover your cauliflower

This quick pickled cauliflower is ready to eat within about an hour. Waiting a bit longer gives the spices and peppers time to deepen and become more flavorful. You’ll find the longer your quick pickled cauliflower is refrigerated the better it tastes! Keep refrigerated and they will keep for up to two weeks.

Quick Pickled Cauliflower Serving Suggestions

You might want to dive right into one of the jars of quick pickled cauliflower – and that’s okay! LOL! But, there are many ways to eat it, and here are a few:

• • In a salad. This is pretty much a given! Replace the regular cauliflower in my Baby Beet Green Salad or Simple Pasta Salad. Pickled cauliflower brings some density to any salad
  • As a garnish. You can use quick pickled cauliflower to garnish meats or sandwiches. It would also be a fantastic addition to an antipasto platter or a cheese board. 
  • On a pizza. Pickled cauliflower holds up well under the heat of an oven when used on a pizza. It’s bring a zing to this favorite you’ll sure to enjoy.
  • In a grain bowl. They’d be excellent in my Buddha Bowl or Power Protein Bowl.

More Favorite Quick Pickled Recipes:

If you love this quick pickled cauliflower recipe you’re sure to appreciate these other pickling recipes.

• • Quick Pickled Radishes

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. Let me know in the comments below.