Looking for that special something to jazz up your toss salad or sandwich? Why not try a few spoonfuls of giardiniera.
If you love eating muffalatta, try our giardiniera in a muffalatta sandwich. It's an ingredient in our olive salad recipe.
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About
This dish originated in Italy as a way for Italians to preserve their garden vegetables for the wintertime. In Italian, giardiniera means from the garden. Basically, giardiniera is a pickled vegetables or a relish, and is commonly used as an appetizer or a condiment. It is pronounced JAR-di-NAIR-ah.
Homemade giardiniera is super simple to make and tastes a lot better then store bought. If you have never made any pickled vegetables before, I encourage you to start with this recipe.
Ingredients
The ingredients for our giardiniera or pickled vegetables are all basic pantry staples. Let's talk about the key ingredients.
- Vegetables: We used cauliflower, carrots, red bell pepper and shallots.
- Spices: Since this is a sweet giardiniera and not a spicy one, my spices were cloves, celery seeds, mustard seeds, fennel seeds, black peppercorns, and a bay leaf.
- Pickling Liquid: The pickling liquid is pretty straightforward: equal parts water to vinegar and equal parts sugar to salt.
- Sweetener: We used white granulated sugar, but you can use another sweetener of your choice.
How to Make
- Pour the brine ingredients in a big pot. Over medium high heat, stir until the sugar is dissolved, then add the pickling spices and the fresh veggies.
- Put the lid on and bring the mixture to a boil. Let it boil for a minute then remove it from the heat. Keep the lid on, and let the giardiniera or pickled vegetables cool to room temperature, about 3 hours. With this technique, the vegetables will continue to cook while the pot cools, but they will still be a bit crunchy--and that's a good thing.
3. With a slotted spoon, transfer the cooled vegetables into clean canning jars making sure to leave some head space.
4. Strain the pickling spices from the pickling liquid and reserve them. Pour in the pickling liquid into a large measuring cup to make it easier to pour into the canning jars. Make sure the vegetables are totally submerged in the pickling liquid. This will ensure that the vegetables will be pickled in a couple of days.
5. Add a ½ teaspoon of pickling spices, that have been strained and reserved, into each canning jar. This will help give the vegetables a wonderful flavor.
6. Screw a lid onto each jar, invert it and shake it so the spices get mixed into the pickling liquid. Store the jars in the fridge for a minimum of 48 hours before using. Shake the jars once a day until ready to use.
The flavor does intensify the longer it sits, so patience is needed. Really, the only hard part of this recipe is the waiting. This recipe is for refrigerator giardiniera and is not shelf stable. It's totally foolproof, so it's guaranteed to turn out. Buon Appetito!
Recipe FAQs
No, even though it is very popular there. It originated in Italy and means pickles or a female gardener.
Our recipe needs to be refrigerated, but store bought giardiniera that is kept in olive oil can be stored on the shelf for up to 6 months after opening.
It can be used as a condiment on hot dogs, burgers, and sandwiches, especially in the Chicago area, but that wasn't it's original intent. In Italy, it is more commonly used as an antipasto and served with olives, cheese and sliced meats.
Since it has a sour, spicy, herbal taste it's best to substitute it for other sour pickled vegetables that are coarsely chopped. But why substitute when you can make our homemade recipe for pickled vegetables?
Serve
Some ways you can use giardiniera are:
- Italians use it as an antipasto, and serve it with olives, cheeses, and sliced meats.
- In Chicago, it is used as a condiment on top of Italian beef or Italian sub sandwiches.
- In New Orleans, it is used in olive salad and is served in a muffaletta sandwich.
- Try giardiniera in a salad, on pizza, with bread and cheese, and with scrambled eggs.
Store
Make Ahead: Why certainly, it is recommended that you make this recipe at least two days before you want to use it as the brine will start to soak into the vegetables. This waiting period will make the vegetables softer and more flavorful.
Leftovers: Store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks, in an airtight sealed container like a mason jar.
Expert Tips
- Make sure to use cauliflower, as it easily soaks up the pickling liquid.
- For a Northern Italian giardiniera, use the one step pickling process described in the recipe card.
- For a Sicilian giardiniera, use a two step process: pickle the vegetables for 3 days, then drain and store in oil.
- For a Chicago style giardiniera, add two serrano peppers and some red pepper flakes.
- Feel free to customize this recipe by adding different kinds of vegetables.
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Recipe
Giardiniera Pickled Vegetables
Ingredients
For the Brine
- 3 cups filtered water
- 3 cups distilled white vinegar
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 whole cloves
- 1 teaspoon celery seeds
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
For the Vegetables
- 1 ¾ cup celery, sliced on the bias (4 stalks)
- 1 ½ cup carrots, peeled and sliced on the bias (4 carrots)
- 2 cups red bell pepper, cut in 1 inch strips (1 large pepper)
- 5 cups cauliflower, cut in bite-sized florets (1 large head)
- ¾ cup shallots, peeled and quartered
Instructions
- Pour the water and vinegar into a large Dutch oven. Turn the heat to medium high and sprinkle in the sugar and salt, then stir until the sugar has dissolved.
- Stir in the spices, then add the veggies. Put the lid on and bring to a boil for 1 minute.
- Take the pot off the heat, let the pot cool to room temperature with the lid on. The goal is to slowly cook the veggies so they are still a bit crunchy. This can take 3 hours.
- Once cool, spoon the veggies into 7 clean canning jars (don't worry about sterilizing them). Leave an inch of head space.
- Transfer the pickling liquid from the pot into a 4-cup measuring cup, strain and reserve the pickling spices. Pour the pickling liquid into the jars. Using a ½ teaspoon, distribute the strained and reserved pickling spices into each of the seven jars. Screw the lids on tightly, then invert and shake the jars. Store upright in the fridge for 2 to 3 days before using.
- Serve the giardiniera as an appetizer with cheese and salami, in an olive salad for muffaletta, or on an Italian beef sandwich, hot dog, sub sandwich, as a pizza topping, or with bratwurst sausage.
Notes
- Store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks, in an airtight sealed container like mason jars.
- Make sure to use cauliflower as it easily soaks up the pickling liquid.
- For a Northern Italian giardiniera, use the one step pickling process described in the recipe card.
- For a Sicilian giardiniera, use a two step process. Pickle the vegetables for 3 days, then drain and store in oil. Keep refrigerated.
- For a Chicago style giardiniera, use two serrano peppers and some red pepper flakes.
Nutrition
This post was orignally published on August 17, 2018 and was republished on May 6, 2022 with resized photos and updated content.
Alex
The giardiniera is tangy, and especially good on a muffaletta sandwich. I like the cauliflower in it the best.
Emma
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Alex! Thank you for your kind words!
Beth
The carrots and the cauliflower are my favorite veggies in this pungent assortment of pickled vegetables. I like it very much on muffaletta sandwiches.
Emma
Giardiniera is such a great topping for sandwiches or just eating plain! Enjoy!