Pickled Asparagus

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This recipe for Pickled Asparagus is so simple but yields delicious results every time! Great for serving on an appetizer plate or in a Caesar or Bloody Mary as a garnish, Pickled Asparagus is a real treat. These are zingy, snappy and crunchy awesome!

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

Asparagus may seem like a strange choice to pickle, but once you try this recipe you’ll be changing your tune! If you like asparagus, this recipe is for you. That delicious green flavor infused with dill, cayenne pepper, garlic, and more is absolutely delicious.

You can use a pickled asparagus spear in drinks in place of celery stalks for a burst of flavor, or serve them with appetizers to impress your guests!

Simple to make and easy to store, this pickled asparagus recipe is something you’ll revisit over and over!

Pickled asparagus makes a healthy snack, full of vitamins and fiber.

How to Make Pickled Asparagus

(Note: 1 pound of Asparagus makes 1 pint jar, with asparagus left over!)

Harvest 1 pound of fresh asparagus. Have one whole cayenne pepper on hand.
Put the pickling ingredients (cider vinegar, coarse salt, sugar) in a saucepan and bring to a boil on the stove, using medium heat. You can use white vinegar instead of cider vinegar if you like. Give this mixture a good stir while it is on the stove. Once it has boiled, remove from stove and let it cool.
Into your clean jar,add2 or 3garlic cloves, along with the dill weed and pickling spice.
Now pack in your asparagus spears, nice and tight.
Then add your cayenne pepper, making sure you can see it from the outside of the jar. It adds such a nice pop of red colour to those bright green spears.
Using a canning funnel, pour the cooled pickling liquid over the spears. Wipe the rim of the jar, cover with a canning seal and tighten the canning ring.

How to Trim Asparagus Spears for Pickling

Hold a spear up against your jar so you get a rough idea of how much stalk to cut off.
You want them to be standing up in the jar – it looks so nice this way! Put one spear right in the jar to see how much further trimming you need to do. Then use that one spear as a guideline for cutting the rest.
The bottom of the Asparagus stalk can be nibbled raw, lightly steamed or turned into some delicious Asparagus Soup.

Tips for Pickled Asparagus

These Asparagus Pickles can be eaten after about 5 days, but are even better if you can leave them in the fridge for two weeks.
They will keep in the refrigerator for about 3 months, if they last that long. You may find they get eaten up pretty quickly!
To save some for the winter, just can them. Water bath can your Asparagus Pickles for 10 minutes – here’s how to do that!
NOTE: To make these shelf stable they MUST be canned in a boiling water bath.
For some extra heat and flavor, you could also include jalapeno peppers. Or, toss in an extra garlic clove!
If you don’t have any pickling spice on hand or can’t find it in stores, you can use a combination of these ingredients to achieve the same effect: dill seed, black peppercorns, crushed red pepper flakes, bay leaves, mustard seeds, allspice berries, coriander seeds, ground ginger, cloves, and cinnamon. Add/subtract ingredients to taste!

More Pickle Recipes

Our entire Country Living in a Cariboo Valley Recipe Collection can be found here, and here are some more pickled recipes!

Check out this guide on how to make and preserve Pickled Beets.
Pickled Eggs are another tasty and nutritious pickled food!
Forage young ferns and make a batch of Pickled Fiddleheads.
Another green vegetable, Pickled Brussels Sprouts are an interesting and delicious twist on the classic pickle.
For some information on how to use a pressure canner, you can also check out this post!