Canned Sweet Pickled Carrots

I really like pickled carrots... I think. We used to go to this Vietnamese restaurant in Houston and I would get this pork/egg roll noodle thing. It was amazing, and it would come with shredded pickled carrots on it. I loved them. I've been trying to find a recipe for them, and I think I'll have to come up with it on my own. I think rice vinegar and sugar are involved. Anyway, this is not that recipe. It looked tasty, so I wanted to try it. I need to eat more carrots anyway.

Side note: If you know me, you may know my distaste for carrots. I've never been overly fond of carrots, especially not store bought carrots. Garden carrots are good, but I've never been too much of a fan. ...Until those pickled carrots...

So, I found this recipe from The Kitchen Magpie and it sounded good, and I hoped it would be something along the same lines as the other pickled carrots. I broke out the DSLR for these pictures, so they are all fancy. The following ingredients and directions are straight from The Kitchen Magpie.

Ingredients:

• 8 ½ cups peeled garden fresh baby carrots
• 5½ cups white distilled vinegar (5%)
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons canning salt
• 3 tbsp pickling spice

Directions:

1. Wash and rinse pint canning jars; keep hot until ready to use. Prepare lids and bands according to manufacturer’s directions.
2. Wash carrots well and peel, if necessary. Wash again after peeling.
3. Combine the vinegar, water, sugar and canning salt in an 8-quart Dutch oven or stockpot. Bring to a boil and boil gently 3 minutes. Add carrots and bring back to a boil. Then reduce heat to a simmer and heat until the carrots are half-cooked (about 10 minutes).
4. Divide the pickling spice evenly between 4 jars and place in the bottom of each clean, hot pint jar.
5. Fill hot jars with the hot carrots, leaving 1-inch headspace. Cover with hot pickling liquid, leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened, clean paper towel; adjust two-piece metal canning lids.
6. Process in a boiling water canner = 0 - 1,000 feet - process for 15 minutes, 1,001 - 6,000 feet process for 20 minutes and above 6,000 feet process 25 minutes. Let cool, undisturbed, 12 to 24 hours and check for seals.
7. Allow carrots to sit in processed jars for 3 to 5 days before consuming for best flavor development.

The jar on the left (filled with water) went through the water bath canning process with the carrots because I didn't have enough full jars for the whole basket. Our water is terrible here. Luckily all that gunk just wipes off, but I won't be drinking the water here until it gets heavily filtered. 

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Notes:
I didn't use baby carrots, I used the big carrots and sectioned them. I did also try this with baby carrots, and I think the baby carrots should have cooked a little longer. Maybe 12 minutes instead of 10. 

I always try to make extra liquid, just in case you don't have enough. I would make the pickling liquid and an extra half batch. I always run out of the liquid... I should really have learned by now. 

Review:
Let me just start with saying these: These are officially one of my favorite foods ever. 

If you like pickled things and pickling spice, try these. I even tested them out on a 4 year old and she ate a bunch! Seriously my favorite way to eat carrots now. 

​These do not taste like sweet pickles, they're different. I don't like sweet pickles. These are way better

My only warning goes along with anything sweet you're dealing with... things can get sticky. That's all. 

Total Score: 
Out of 5? 7. Okay, I know, 5 is the top, but seriously.