Lesya 
We fell in love with marinated carrots a long time ago. We serve them as an appetizer or salad, and it goes well with practically all dishes, with a small exception – desserts. Not authentically Ukrainian, the crispy, spicy, sour-sweet stripes of carrots came to Ukraine from Korea. The pickled carrots, also known as Korean carrots, were available at every Ukrainian farmer’s market, along with sauerkraut and pickled cucumbers. However, if you know the recipe, you can easily make this spicy and delicious appetizer at home.
There was an exciting episode in our lives connected to marinated carrots. When we lived in Ukraine, we hosted a small party for our close friends. Ukrainians like to cook and prepare a lot of homemade food for their guests. One of the appetizers on the table was marinated carrots, but we had only a small plate of carrots as we focused more on preparing the main course. Surprisingly, the pickled carrots were a big hit at the party and disappeared quickly. Our guests asked if we had more. To make long story short, all of us ended up in the kitchen shredding the carrots and working on a marinade. The recipe requires the carrots to stay in marinade for at least 6-8 hours. But if you don’t have time to wait and want them immediately, the freshly prepared carrots will also satisfy you. Please watch our video on Youtube that shows how we marinate carrots in a few easy steps.
To make marinated carrots, you can use a grater or a peeler to shred them or even a food processor. In our recipe, the stripes need to be relatively long and thin – this is how we remember the Korean carrots looked like. That is why we use a spiralizer to make thin carrot noodles, and then we cut them. Don’t cut the long noodles if you want your carrots to look fancy and curly. The marinated carrots need a day to mature. Let your carrots sit in the marinade for at least eight hours and absorb the bouquet of spices. Refrigerate your marinated carrots in an air-tight container to preserve their quality and freshness. Also, marinated carrots are best when served cold.
In this recipe, as in all other recipes, we use apple cider vinegar only when vinegar is required. This is definitely a healthier choice and will make this spicy and curly appetizer not only a great addition to your table but also a healthy addition to your diet or menu.
Marinated Carrots
Equipment
- Spiral Slicer (Manual Spiralizer)
- Chef's knife
Ingredients
- 4 big carrots, washed and peeled
- 1 onion
- 5 garlic cloves
- 100 g apple cider vinegar
- 1 tspn ground coriander seeds
- 1 tspn black pepper
- 1/3 tspn teaspoon cayenne pepper or chilli
- 1 tspn salt
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Insert the washed and peeled carrots into the manual spiralizer and turn the holder. This way, you should be able to make curly carrot noodles. Adjust the thickness of the noodles by selecting a fine spiral blade or a standard (medium) spiral blade. (In our recipe, we used a fine spiral blade.)
- Cut the carrot noodles to make them shorter and transfer them to a medium-sized bowl.
- Chop onions finely and grate the garlic. Saute onion in a skillet over a medium heat until golden. Then combine the fried onion and fresh garlic with the carrots.
- Add apple cider vinegar, salt, and spices to the carrot noodles. Mix well all ingredients. Mixing and squeezing all the ingredients with hand is better so the carrots release the juice.
- Refrigerate for one day and serve cold.
Another Variation of the Recipe
We have changed the original recipe slightly and believe these changes made this recipe better and healthier. Instead of fried onion, we add fresh onion. This way, we don’t use processed oil at all. You may want to add a tablespoon of fresh olive oil. We grate the onion, squeeze the garlic, add some sugar and spices, combine this mixture with the carrot noodles, and then add the apple cider vinegar. Try this variation, too and see if it works for you!
What are the health benefits of carrots?
The health benefits of carrots are numerous and include improvement of vision, skin, and cardiovascular system; they promote weight loss and prevent cancer. It is because carrots are a fantastic source of beta-carotene, vitamin K, and potassium and are loaded with antioxidants. Raw carrots are the best, and carrots juice is an undeniable leader in delivering excellent results. You can also use raw carrots in salads or marinate them, just like we did in this recipe. We have more healthy recipes that can interest you, for example, Black Radish Salad (Ukrainian recipe) and How to Marinate Raw Beets. Please check them out too!
How to serve marinated carrots?
Serve marinated carrots cold and pair them with rice, fried or mashed potatoes, green salads, cabbage rolls, roasted meat or meat cutlets, fish, soft white cheese, omelets, and various spreads. Pickled carrots, as well as pickled cucumbers, go very well with Salo or Salo Spread. Marinated carrots are a great appetizer or snack you can make any time of the year. They will also garnish your salads or side dishes.
Thank you!
Thank you for visiting our pages! The recipe for marinated carrots is an excellent example of how you can make an exciting and healthy dish from a common vegetable, such as carrots. Please leave your comments if you like this recipe and visit our other pages. Eat nourishing natural foods and stay healthy and happy!
