Hello!
Anyone that has been to a party where my mom, Teresa, makes her spicy pickled carrots, knows they are the best! This simple garnish goes well on many foods and is so easy to make (a big batch).
This has the perfect amount of sweetness from the carrots and spice from the jalapeño peppers. If you see this at one of our Mexican parties, it’s most likely being served on top of carnitas or some sort of delicious tacos. Whenever my mom would send me home with a tupperware filled with them, I throw them on a big salad or my morning scrambled eggs.
My mom was generous enough to share her recipe with me, and she hopes you enjoy it. The only changes I made were the cooking oil I used, and the brand of jalapeños. Truth is, you cannot always get your Mexican parents to stop using Mazola. The traditional jalapeños are brands like La Costena or La Morena, but some of these use soybean or corn oil. It’s not the end of the world and feel free to use those if you want to keep the recipe traditional. I used “Rio Luna” (pictured bellow) found at Whole Foods (can they pay me for the shoutout?).
You can store the pickled carrots in small jars like the ones bellow or large “mason jars” for up to a week. This recipe makes a lot of carrots, enough for your next party! Unless you are my mother who makes twice the amount here and has leftovers for days.
Alright now, go on and step-up your taco night game! Enjoy!
Teresa’s Mexican Pickled Carrots
Ingredients
- 15 Carrots, peeled and shredded
- 1 Medium onion, thinly sliced
- 4 Garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp Extra light olive oil
- 2 tsp Oregano
- 5 Dried bay leaves
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 12oz Jalapeños jars, include liquid
Instructions
- Start by peeling and washing the carrots.
- Once the carrots are prepped, using a shredder, shred all the carrots. If you do not have a shredder, you can cut the carrots into 1/2 inch pieces.
- Heat a large pot. Add the oil.
- While the pot is heating, thinly slice onion and roughly chop garlic.
- Once the oil is hot, add the onion and garlic, stir for about 30 seconds.
- Quickly add all of the carrots, mix well.
- Add the oregano, bay leaves, and salt. Do not over stir. Let it cook for about 10 minutes.
- Turn the heat off and add the two 12 oz jars of jalapeños, liquid included DO NOT MIX. The sweetness of the carrots will bring the heat down but feel free to add more or less jalapeños.
- After about 5 minutes, gently mix the jalapeños throughout the carrots. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes.
- Once cooled, store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
