A super healthy snack that kids can help prepare and love to eat?
Yes please! Fermented carrot sticks are a big hit in our family.
My kids love to help in the kitchen so making fermented carrots is an easy recipe they can help prepare. Plus it is a great homeschool learning lesson about the science of fermentation!
Every fall, our friend gifts us a gigantic bag of seconds carrots from their organic farm. This generous gift feeds our family through late spring.
Carrots are the only vegetable that both of my kids will consistently eat without complaint. They devoured the homemade Curried Carrot Soup I made this week and my two-year-old even asked for seconds!
I’m always searching for ways to get my kids to eat natural probiotics. I do this by encouraging them to eat fermented foods.
Since my kids love carrots so much and we have a plethora of carrots, it was a no-brainer to make lacto-fermented carrot sticks! They’re so easy you need only three ingredients: water and sea salt to make a brine, and carrots!
Fermentation Tools
When making homemade fermented foods, I use a handmade ceramic crock as my fermentation vessel. This crock is the perfect size for making lacto-fermented carrot sticks and my Great Grandma’s Fermented Crock Pickles. If you don’t have a crock but would like to buy one, Wardee recommends the Ohio Stoneware crock, plus fermenting weights and lid.
If you don’t have a crock, you can use another type of fermentation vessel such as a glass jar with a loose lid or airlock lid. Wardee recommends either this airlock or this waterless airlock for fermentation in Mason jars. Fermenting weights that fit in glass jars are also helpful in keeping the carrots under the brine.
Lacto-Fermented Carrot Sticks (gut-healing probiotic snack for kids!)
Looking for a probiotic snack for kids? Learn how to make lacto-fermented carrot sticks -- a health food so simple you need only three ingredients (water and sea salt to make a brine, and carrots)! I make mine in a homemade crock, but you can use Mason jars. Feel free to tweak the basic recipe, too! My favorite is to make it spicy with pepper or ginger. Mmm! These fermented carrots are the perfect fermenting DIY for beginners and full of benefits for the gut!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds carrots
- 1 quart pure water
- 2 tablespoons sea salt
Instructions
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Peel the carrots and cut them into sticks. Set aside.
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Stir the salt into the water until the salt is dissolved.
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Pack the carrot sticks into a crock or jar.
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Pour the salt water over the carrots, leaving about an inch of head space. Weigh down the carrots with fermenting weights, if needed, to keep the carrots under the brine.
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Refrigerate once the carrot sticks reach the desired level of fermentation. They will keep for several months in the refrigerator, although at our house they never last that long!
Recipe Notes
Recipe Variations
My kids prefer the plain and simple fermented carrot sticks. The adults in our family love any combination of these add-ins:
- 1/4 teaspoon whole peppercorns for spice
- 2 to 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 small onion, sliced thinly
Lacto-fermented carrot sticks are a delicious, healthy snack kids will love. Here are some other fermented food recipes your kids may love:
- 43 Fermented & Probiotic Filled Condiments
- 56 Fermented & Probiotic Drinks Beyond Kombucha and Kefir
- 50 Fermented Salsas, Dips and Spreads
- 10 Easy Ways to Pack More Fermented Foods in Your Child’s Lunch
- Homemade Sauerkraut In A Stoneware Crock
- Simple, No-Pound Sauerkraut
- High Vitamin C Sauerkraut
- Homemade Kimchi: An Easy Korean Sauerkraut Recipe
- Old-Fashioned, Crunchy, Fermented Garlic-Dill Pickles
- 5-Spice Apple Chutney {lacto-fermented!}
- Spontaneously Fermented Sparkling Apple Cider {fall’s easiest ferment!}
- Homemade Raw Apple Cider Vinegar Recipe
...without giving up the foods you love or spending all day in the kitchen!
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can i use baby carrots instead of carrot sticks for this recipe?
Would Himalayan Pink Salt work instead of Sea Salt?
Himalayan salt seems to be saltier than Sea Salt so you might want to use less. I used an equal amount of Himalayan and my kraut is a bit too salty. I saw in a bread baking video where the guy said use 4 grams Himalayan but if you were using sea salt you could use 4, 5 or 6 grams so now I know why my kraut is too salty.
If there’s no cultures in the jar, how do these ferment?
Can these be placed in mason jars and canned? I really don’t have much fridge space.