These sweet and spicy pickled radishes play an unusual twist to typical radishes. They are easy to make and perfect on tacos!
Tacos are everything here in our family.
Forget Taco Tuesday, my kids could have tacos every day of the week. Tacos with beans, tacos with fish, cauliflower and even tacos with potatoes. They are easy to make and a kid favorite no matter what I hide inside.
I always have a bunch of radishes too – they are easy to grow, and oddly enough, our girls like to eat them as they are – just like an apple. A small apple. Next time you find yourself with a bunch of radishes to use up quickly, these pickled radishes are the way to go.
They are the perfect mix of spicy, sweet and pickled and are perfect for tacos and sandwiches. Or eat as they are – straight from the jar.
Sweet & Spicy Pickled Radishes
Start by slicing a pound of radishes thin, and tossing in a bowl with chopped cilantro and a half jalapeño. The radishes get their kick from the diced jalapeño ~ so if you love things a little extra spicy, toss in more of the pepper.
Heat up your vinegar, sugar and salt on the stove top – stir until dissolved, and bring to a low boil. Turn off the heat and allow to cool (the fridge is wonderful for making this happen quickly!) Stuff your radishes, cilantro and jalapeño in a wide-mouth quart canning jar, packing tightly.
Sprinkle with pepper flakes and mustard seeds, and pour the cooled vinegar over. If you are short on liquid, top off with vinegar and a pinch of salt.
Allow the flavors to do their thing for 24 hours before throwing them in the refrigerator.
Since there is no formal canning process to make these shelf stable, it’s important to refrigerate them and use them within 7-10 days.
Sweet and Spicy Pickled Radishes
Ingredients
- 1 lb radishes sliced thin
- 1/4 C. cilantro chopped
- 1 ea. jalapeno stem removed, finely diced
- 1 C. distilled white vinegar or more as needed
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 2 Tbsp. kosher salt
- 1 tsp. red pepper flakes optional
- 1 Tbsp mustard seed
Instructions
- Wash and dry the radishes - slice thin and add to a large bowl along with the chopped cilantro and jalapeño - set aside.
- In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar with the sugar and salt and stir until dissolved. Bring to a low boil on the stove, then turn off and allow to cool completely (you can also toss in the fridge if you are in a hurry).
- Grab a wide-mouth quart canning jar and pack it to the top with the radish/cilantro/jalapeño mixture. Pack tightly. Sprinkle the red pepper flakes and mustard seed on the top of the packed radishes.
- Pour the cooled vinegar mixture over the top of the mixture in the jar, if needed, top off with additional vinegar and a pinch of salt.
- Place the lid and ring tightly on the jar and allow to sit at room temperature for 24 hours before placing in the refrigerator.
- Consume within 7-10 days.
Notes
Looking for more unique ways to use an abundance of radishes from the garden? Try this delicious veggie salt or yummy radish relish!
What kind of vinegar do you use?
White vinegar
Is this you 🥰😘?
Heinz apple cider vinegar works best for me!
Would this work with stevia?
Julie, I’m not sure. I haven’t ever used Stevia.
What kind of vinegar? It doesn’t specify?
Diana, distilled white vinegar. Hope that helps!
Any good if you forgo the sugar? (Diabetic)
I haven’t tried.. but give it a go!
The balance of sweet and tangy is what makes this recipe interesting. Monkfruit sweetener is an expensive, but excellent sugar replacement, and doesn’t have the bitter aftertaste of stevia. It has the same texture as sugar and is substituted 1/1.
So am I and I’m going to use trivia.
Also curious about how it would taste without the sugar or with monk fruit or the like used for the sugar!
Karen, I haven’t ever tried Monkfruit! I have tried Stevia and that has a bit of an aftertaste (to me anyways…) – it’s worth a try!
Swanson stevia does not have an after taste
Ive used monk fruit to pickle beets and it worked great!!
Can you keep using the brine to toss in more radishes once the first batch are gone?
Absolutely!
The ingredients list mustard seed, but the directions say ground mustard. Just wanted to let you know.
Looking forward to trying the recipe.
The recipe says 1 each jalapeño… 1 each what?
Christine, the recipe card requires me to put “each”. So that means 1 jalapeno.
My vinegar has a pinkish tint, is that normal? Your pic looked crystal clear!
Yes that’s normal – I grabbed pictures immediately after I jarred it. Once it sits for a bit it turns pink from the radishes!
Recipe list mustard seed, but directions say ground mustard…???
I made this last weekend. They are very simple to make. I would reccomend sticking withbdistilled white vinegar as the apple cider vinegar gave them a bownish tint. I also made the pickeled green onions. I like those with eggs or a sandwich
08.01.20 ~ what a great recipe, and I don’t even like radishes. My husband, loves radishes and I knew when I found this recipe I had to give it a try. What a fun and different twist to use with radishes. It is definitely a little sweet and spicy. We have yet to try them on tacos, but we’ve eaten them on all types of sandwiches and just as a side dish. I am making my third batch today. One batch I have left in the fridge for three weeks to see if they hold up. They still have a crunch to them. I will be making these year round. Thanks Sheryl, for sharing your recipe. It is delicious!
So glad you love them, Molly! They are my favorite way to use them … the kids love them, I love them and they keep for such a long time (which is super handy!).
Can you can these like pickles ect
I haven’t canned them because we tend to eat them super fast (six of us here) but.. if you do, you might want to contact Ball canning helpline and run the recipe by them first just to make sure. They’re pretty helpful.
Any luck with canning them?
I haven’t tried, Jen!
My husband loves radishes as well…so I had to make him some. He loved it…and asked if I would add sliced carrots in with the radishes, etc. I used apple cider vinegar.
What is the best way to steralise a jar? Thank You.
You can do it one of several ways – boil them for 15 minutes, or pop them in the oven on a cookie sheet and bake them for 20 minutes at 225. Some people use their dishwasher to do it, I never have though.
can you use pickling spring instead of mustard seeds? Or will ground mustard work? Thank you
Sure you can.. I’d use pickling spice instead of ground mustard because ground mustard will cloud up the brine.
These are delicious!! Thank you for this recipe!
So glad you enjoyed them, Jami!