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Add a kick of fresh flavor to your tacos and other Mexican dishes with these Pickled Taco Vegetables.
We love adding these Pickled Taco Vegetables to our fish tacos – but these easy, bright veggies are also a great topping for lots of other dishes. Hot dogs, burgers, stir fry dishes, salads – you name it – just add these pickled vegetables anytime you’re looking for a kick of delicious flavor!
This Pickled Taco Vegetables recipe makes a large batch. We ate some, and canned the rest to enjoy for later.
How do you make Pickled Taco Vegetables?
Pickled vegetables are super easy to make – and once you make this recipe, you’ll be thinking about lots of other foods you can pickle.
You’ll shred and dice a variety of vegetables including red bell peppers, red and green cabbage, red onion, jalapenos, fresh cilantro and garlic. Stir together in a large bowl. I should also point out that we included some pineapple among the rest of our Pickled Taco Vegetables, but you can leave those out if you’d like.
Then you’ll combine fresh lime juice, both cider vinegar and white vinegar, sugar, pickling salt, and cumin and coriander in a pot – bringing it to a boil.
Place the vegetable mixture into sterilized jars, then pour the pickling liquid into each jar. Cover, then use the water bath canning method to preserve your Pickled Taco Vegetables.
You can easily cut the recipe in half to make a smaller amount, and you can vary the vegetables based on what you have on hand.
Serve on tacos made with our Tempura Fish Nuggets recipe from earlier this week.
You may enjoy these other pickled vegetables:
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Pickled Taco Vegetables
Ingredients
2 ripe pineapples, cleaned and cut into small pieces
2 large red bell peppers, cleaned and cut into small pieces
1 small head red cabbage, shredded
1 medium head green cabbage, shredded
1 large red onion, diced
6 jalapenos seeded, stemmed and minced (more or less depending on how hot you like it)
1 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
6 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup fresh lime juice, about 6 limes
3 cups cider vinegar
3 cups white vinegar
2 cups water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons pickling salt
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
Instructions
Prepare a large pot or canner with boiling water (see here).
Place eight 1-pint jars in the pot, sanitize and hold at a slight boil.
In a very large bowl, mix pineapple, bell pepper, both cabbages, onion, jalapeno, cilantro and garlic.
Place lime juice, both vinegars, water, sugar, pickling salt, cumin and coriander in a medium pot and bring to a boil then hold on a simmer.
Remove sterilized jars from the pot and fill using a canning funnel to one inch from top with the vegetable mixture, using the handle of a wooden spoon to press down. You should fill eight jars.
Bring the canning water back to a boil.
Ladle the hot vinegar liquid into each jar to one inch from the top, poking the mixture with the handle of a wooden spoon to release any air bubbles.
Take the lids and place in a strainer and dip for 30 seconds into the boiling water to sanitize.
Place on the tops and twist on the lids finger tight and place into the boiling water for ten minutes.
Remove and let sit until lids pop and store at room temperature for up to six months.
To use, drain and use to top tacos or other Mexican dishes. Especially good over fish tacos.
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I really love the idea of this, but am thinking it would lose any crunchiness in the canning process. Am I mistaken?
Hi Jill – I guess I would compare the texture to jarred pickles or sauerkraut that you’d buy at the supermarket – those are both processed food items that retain a little bit of crunch/texture even after canning. Hope that helps!
Thanks so much, Martha. That makes sense. Gonna have to try them!
Looks fabulous. I would need to divided this by 8 in order to make it and not be wasteful. Approximately, how many cups of pineapple and red peppers were used? Same with cabbages. Thank you
Without buying a pineapple and a red pepper and measuring in cups, I don’t know off the top of my head Brenda. Sorry I can’t be more immediate help.
I really liked the idea of this recipe. Yesterday I made half a recipe without the pineapple and got five pints. You really need the pineapple! Otherwise it’s way too vinegary. I sprinkled some white sugar over a tablespoon or so of the vegetables and that helped a lot. You need that touch of sweetness. I’m going to add a teaspoon of brown sugar to my opened jar to see how that works. Although the instructions say you can make without the pineapple the recipes needs some adjustment. Otherwise, good flavor when more sweetness is added.
Thanks for your feedback Cindi!
I haven’t made this yet. I’m going to sounds delicious.
Hope you enjoy the recipe!
This looks so delicious! I pickle jalapenos from my garden to put on tacos but I never thought about adding the rest of these veggies. Can’t wait to try!
Reading over the recipe to make tomorrow and I am wondering if I must wait 6 months before eating, or if I can open before.
Thank you!
Hi Caroline – These are pickled and not fermented, so you can eat them as soon as you make them. The six months is only in reference to how long you can store them after they’ve been canned.
Can you use canned pineapple?
Hi Rose-Marie – You can, but just be aware that the canned pineapple is much sweeter than fresh and processed, so making this recipe as written, the pineapple could taste extra sweet and also perhaps a softer texture.