Pickled Vegetable Sandwich Slaw

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These colors look amazingly delicious … and I’ll let you in on a little-known secret – this pickled vegetable sandwich slaw IS delicious! In the past Deb from Smitten Kitchen posted pictures and her take on a pickled vegetable sandwich slaw recipe for vegetable slaw.  Let me tell you this, it’s a poetic food explosion when one discovers sandwiches, salads, and tacos dressed with sweet and sour crunchy toppings also known as pickled veggies!

best sandwich slaw

My frig was over-flowing with carrots, red, yellow and orange sweet peppers, and cabbage.  But what started dancing in my head was the rationalization that this healthy veggie slaw would easily give an air of credibility to a finely grilled all-beef hotdog!  One of my worst traits – that I am very good at, is rationalization!

sliced peppers

Veggie slaw can consist of anything you want it to.  Radishes, red, orange and yellow bell peppers, carrots, onions, fresh sugar snaps and Kirby cucumbers, are a few suggestions, but you can use any firm, crunchy vegetable you think will pickle well.

sliced peppers bowl

After slicing up 4 to 5 cups of veggies, I heated up white vinegar, sugar, salt, and mustard seeds.  I divided up the veggie mix into jars and poured the cooled-down mixture over my new crunchy slaw mix.

sliced veggies bowl

How else can I explain what happened when I kicked the veggies into high gear, pickled the heck out of them and then served them on wonderfully grilled hotdogs for dinner?!!  Just say, YUM!

hot pickled veggies plate

The vegetables will be lightly pickled after an hour or so and wonderfully pickled within a day.  The good news is it will keep in the refrigerator for up to a month or longer.  The bad news is once you start eating this slaw on whatever you fix for lunch –it won’t last that long!  🙂

No canning, vacuum seals, or sterilized jars necessary.  When storing in the refrigerator make sure the vegetables are completely covered in the brine solution.

I used a sharp vegetable knife and cut up my veggies by hand.  But a simple mandoline that has julienne blades, a julienne peeler or a food processor with slicing blades will do the trick as well.

pickled slaw on rye

Before I had this post written we gobbled up the slaw on a turkey and cheese sandwich on rye bread.  My Chief Culinary Consultant said of his first bite, “this is an explosion of flavors!”  Well put.  Oh ya, I also put some hot pepper flakes in one jar for him!

veggie slaw jars

Let this pickled slaw be the crowning taste for your picnic lunch!

What is your favorite thing to put pickled vegetable sandwich slaw on?

Let us know in the comments below.  Happy Pickling!

Pickled Vegetable Sandwich Slaw

Pickled Vegetable Sandwich Slaw

This tasty slaw is the crowning taste for sandwiches, hot dogs, tacos, salads, the list is endless. Pack it along on picnics -- it goes with almost anything!

Ingredients

Slaw Mixture

  • 4 to 5 cups mixed slivered or julienned firm, raw vegetables
  • Optional: a few slivers of jalapeno or hot pepper flakes

Pickling Mixture

  • 1 cup Distilled white vinegar
  • 6 tablespoons sugar
  • 3 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons mustard seeds
  • 1 cup of cold water

Instructions

  1. Heat vinegar, sugar, salt, and mustard seeds to a simmer in a small, non-reactive* pot over moderate heat, stirring only until sugar and salt dissolve. Remove from heat and stir in cold water, which brings down the mixture's temperature. Let cool to lukewarm.
  2. Divide vegetables between 3 or 4-pint jars (or two-quart jars). Pour cooled vinegar mixture over the vegetables and refrigerate until needed. Slaw will be lightly pickled within 1 hour and fully pickled within 1 day.

Notes

Choose your favorite firm vegetables for the slaw: radishes, red, orange, yellow, green bell peppers, carrots, fresh sugar snap peas, cucumbers, cabbage or onions!

* Non-reactive pot - do not use an aluminum pot. Stainless steel or a pot sealed with Teflon works well.

The vegetables can be sliced by hand or with a mandoline or julienne peeler works well too!

No canning/vacuum seals/sterilized jars needed. Your pickled slaw can be stored in the refrigerator up to a month. Make sure the brine completely covers the vegetables to keep them fresh.

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 70Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 312mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 5gSugar: 15gProtein: 4g

Nutrition may vary depending on your exact ingredients.

pickled vegetable sandwich slaw

genesis 1-29 pickled slaw

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38 thoughts on “Pickled Vegetable Sandwich Slaw”

  1. I use this recipe to pickle califlawer and it’s the winner! Everyone loves it and it’s so easy to make. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  2. I just made this for the second time. My husband loves it. I used half apple cider vinegar and half white vinegar the first time and cut the sugar in half. My veggies were cabbage, carrots, celery, radishes and a little onion. I didn’t have any fresh hot peppers and my husband loves things hot, so I added a pint of pickled jalapeños I canned last year, drained and chopped. I ended up adding a Tbs of curry powder after I pickled the slaw because my husband wanted even more heat and spice.

    This time, I used all ACV and about a third of the sugar, drained pickled jalapeños, cabbage, carrots, and added the curry powder into the jars. I also put the mustard seed into the jars instead of the brine to get them more evenly distributed. Thank you for this recipe. It will be used regularly at our house.

    Reply
      • Hi. I was wondering could I can this slaw? Its just the 2 of us and we’ll i suffer from alot of pain its easier to just can abunch at once. Also alot of people are changing up the recipe, i thought that was a no no due to botchulisim? I know I botched the spelling. Lol

        Reply
  3. I can’t wait to grill some hot dogs or brautworsts and put some of this on them! I would also cut back on the salt. I’m sure some is needed for the pickling and for the flavor, but I’m used to very little salty tastes. Thanks for the idea!

    Linda

    Reply
  4. I made this recipe over the weekend. 4 cups of mixed veggies only filled one quart jar. I found the recipe too salty for myself and my family. If I tried this again, I would use 3 teaspoons of salt instead of 3 tablespoons.

    Reply
    • I’m thinking the broccoli slaw Publix carries would be perfect. Regular cole slaw mix wouldn’t have the same crunch appeal. I buy the broccoli mix for stir fries. It saves all sorts of prep time since all the slicing and diving is already done.

      Reply
  5. I wonder if I could use leftover pickle juice left over from store-bought pickles? Every time I pour the juice down the sink I think its a waste of something I could use it for. This looks so good I would probably use it like in a bake taco shell for a sandwich with chicken breast. They have slaw grilled chicken taco shell at Applebees and it’s really good. Sue

    Reply
  6. Hello Catherine,
    What an absolute delight it was to come across your recipe. I put up about a dozen jars after finding this gem and what pretty jars they make sitting on my canning shelf. I did use a hot water bath for 10 minutes to answer the question on canning. I also am a HUGE fan of grilled beef hot dogs so it’s nice to know I can make them healthier when indulging.. tee hee.
    I truly enjoyed your page and absolutely love the photo of your sous chef Mom. It was my Mom that taught me how to can when I was very young and am still doing it 50 years later. My Mom is also my helper. Mom’s are the greatest!!!
    Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes. Take care and God Bless!
    RobbieSue

    Reply
    • Hi RobbieSue, you just made my morning! It’s been a while since I posted this recipe and I used up all the slaw I put up. I need to do it again! We used it on every kind of sandwich, hamburger, and dog. Thanks for sharing that you canned it. God Bless you and your mom in the kitchen!

      Reply

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