Learn how to make homemade giardiniera for canning with this easy-to-follow recipe! This Italian relish is a delicious mix of pickled vegetables, including cauliflower, carrots, and peppers, and is perfect for adding flavor to sandwiches, salads, and more.
What you’ll love about this recipe:
- Low-carb friendly. If you’re watching your carb intake, or following a keto diet, this recipe is perfect for you! Giardiniera is a great way to add flavor and texture to your meals.
- Easy. Don’t let the idea of canning intimidate you. This recipe is simple and easy to follow, and the end result is a delicious and healthy snack that you can enjoy all year round.
- Preserve summer produce. This recipe allows you to use up all the fresh summer vegetables in your garden or at the farmer’s market before they go bad. The canning process ensures that you can enjoy the taste of summer all year round.
Giardiniera: The Summer Snack That’ll Keep You Cool
A few weeks ago there was a free Zombies concert on the plaza downtown (once in a while Albany can be kind of cool).
Since it started right after work, there wasn’t time to go home for dinner so we had to eat there. I fully expected to be stuck eating a hot dog or something, but it turns out that the vendors really upped their game this year!
I got a “Chicago sandwich” – roast beef dipped in jus filed high on a soft roll and topped with spicy pickled giardiniera – and I immediately fell in love.
I’m declaring it the sandwich of summer.
This week, the theme of Sunday Supper is “Preserving the Harvest” so I thought making my own spicy giardiniera would be perfect.
I’ve never really been big on canning and it surprised me how easy the giardiniera was to make!
It’s also crazy delicious – so much better than the stuff I’ve always gotten at the grocery store. With three jars of it tucked away in my cabinets, I should be all set for the rest of the summer.
Pile it on a sandwich with thinly sliced rump roast or roast beef from the deli counter and serve it was a side of au jus for dipping.
Serve the sandwiches with a side of salt and vinegar chips for what I think is pretty much the perfect no-fuss dinner on a hot night.
This vegetable giardiniera is also amazing thrown on an antipasto salad!
Hot Italian Giardiniera
Ingredients
- 3 cups white wine vinegar 6% acidity
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 teaspoons salt
- 1 small cauliflower cut into small florets
- 4 stalks stalks sliced
- 2 red bell peppers sliced
- 2 carrots peeled and cut into rounds
- 3 serrano chilis sliced into thin rounds
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon peppercorns
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Sterilize 3 pint-sized canning jars and their lids.
- Add the vinegar, water, and salt to a nonreactive saucepan. Bring to a boil.
- Divide the vegetables and seasonings between the jars, filling them to within 1-inch of the rims. Ladle the brine into the jars, leaving 1/2-inch of headspace (add more vinegar if needed).
- Add 1 tablespoon of oil to each jar. Wipe clean and replace lids. (At this point you can throw them into the fridge and call it a day if you want, otherwise continue on to process them and make them shelf-stable.)
- Process the jars in boiling water for 10 minutes. Remove from the water bath and let sit undisturbed for 24 hours; test the seals. Any jars that did not seal properly can be kept in the refrigerator for about 1 week; sealed jars can be kept at room temperature for about 1 year.
Looks great. Is the recipe actually available anywhere? I see a couple of pics of the finished product, a write-up about it, and lots of comments – all of which have made me quite curious – but I don’t see a recipe anywhere.
Whoops! I just fixed it. Sometimes the site glitches and things go missing. It’s super obnoxious. Thanks for letting me know!
I’ve never eaten giardiniera before (what rock have I been living under, right?!). It looks so flavourful and refreshing and I bet it tasted amazing with that sandwich.
That is one tasty looking sandwich! Such a lovely combination of flavours!
I love pickled condiments and giardiniera is one of my favorites because of the heat it packs. Who knew it was so easy to make at home!?