Homemade Escabeche (Mexican Pickled Vegetables) are a perfect quick pickle condiment for your Mexican food! Great on tacos, burritos, and more!
This post contains affiliate links.
I am a huge lover of Mexican food, only second to Italian, and this Homemade Escabeche is a great Mexican condiment to have on hand! Typically, escabeche is made with red onion, carrot, and jalapeno peppers in a quick pickle. But you can add any other favorite vegetables, such as cauliflower (which I have seen a good amount of!). If you want it super spicy, add either more jalapeno or a spicier pepper like serrano or even habanero. Also use more or less of any ingredient as you prefer. I personally love LOTS of onion and less carrot, so go with what you love! And we also have a traditional quick pickled red onion if you prefer that.
The pickling is very similar to Vietnamese Banh Mi pickles or classic cucumber pickles, but with Mexican spices of cumin and coriander. Coriander is the seed of the cilantro plant but tastes rather different, so if you are one of the people that things cilantro tastes like soap (which is hereditary, and fortunately not a problem I have), you might still like coriander! The coriander seed and cumin seed are technically better options for a pickle, but if you are like me and do not want to buy an entire spice for one recipe, ground coriander and ground cumin are great as well. The recipe includes amounts for both. Just know the ground spices might make the brine a little cloudy but otherwise the flavor should still be the same.
It literally takes just a few minutes to make Mexican Pickled Vegetables with a apple cider vinegar base. And I recommend storing the escabeche in a mason jar so you can see the contents. Cut up your vegetables and place them in two mason jars. Heat your brine ingredients and then pour them over the vegetables. Let the pickles soak for at least 30 minutes and they are ready! Just pop them in the refrigerator once the jars are cool enough to handle.
Ingredients
- 1 small red onion sliced thin
- 2 medium carrots sliced thin
- 1 large jalapeno sliced into thin rings
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (or 3/4 teaspoon coriander seeds)
- 1/4 heaping teaspoon ground cumin (or 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds)
- 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Cut the vegetables and place them in a pint sized mason jar (or two). Use more or less of any vegetable as desired.
- If using whole seeds, toast them in a small pot over medium heat until fragrant, approximately 2 minutes.
- Add the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt to the pot (and add the ground spices here if using ground instead) and bring to a boil.
- Remove the pot from the heat and pour the vinegar mixture into the jars over the vegetables. Let cool and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
Leave a Reply