Fermentation and pickling have got to be some of my favorite food related pastimes. It’s so much fun to watch the transformation of a food product into another using microbial action, and taste all the flavors that change and develop along the process. These beet greens were the scraps from the beets I used to make the beet tartare, and I decided to pickle them with a little spicy red pepper to make pickled beet greens!
These are the real fermentation pickles, using only the natural juices from the greens and whey from strained yogurt to top it off. If you don’t have whey on hand, you can top off the pickles with filtered water. The great part about using whey is that it is already bountiful with good bacteria from the yogurt culture which will help the pickles to ferment with the tasty helpful microbes instead of introducing new microbes that might have off flavors. The whey jump starts the fermentation process in the right direction.
The steps to this recipe are pretty simple and can be applied to any sturdy dark green. Mustard greens, collard greens, and chard could all provide a slightly different flavor in the final product. Generously salt the greens a bit saltier than to taste. Try a bit of the raw greens with salt to test the salt level. It should be salty, but still edible.
Once the greens are salted, massage the greens with your hands until they are bruised (darker in color) and juicy. You should hopefully get a fair amount of liquid out that you can use to cover the packed greens.
Pack the greens tightly into a glass jar, pressing them down. I used a pint sized jar for one bunch of greens. Top off with whey or filtered water to cover the greens completely. Cover the jar with a piece of clean cloth or coffee filter. If you have fermentation weights, use these here to keep the greens below the liquid.
Let your future pickled beet greens sit in a cool place for at least a day, and up to 7 days. Taste the greens every few days, and cap it and put it in the fridge once it has fermented to your liking. The pickled beet greens should be a darker, “cooked greens” color and have a pleasantly sour taste.
Enjoy these pickled beet greens with any rich meat dish, like pulled pork, or roasted pork belly. More simply, they are a great accompaniment to a fried egg for breakfast!
Fermented beet greens using only the beet greens, salt, and whey. Real pickles that are pleasantly sour and great as a condiment for rich meat dishes. Fermentation takes 1-7 days.
- 1 bunch beet greens washed and chopped, about 2 cups
- 1 tsp coarse grain salt
- ¼ cup whey or filtered water
- ½ tsp dried spicy red pepper optional
- Pint size glass jar
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Salt the greens and massage with your hands until they are bruised and juices start to run.
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Mix in red pepper.
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Pack tightly into a pint size glass jar, pressing down with your fingers to compress the greens as tightly as possible. Almost no air bubbles should be showing.
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Top off the jar with whey from strained yogurt, or filtered water. The greens should be completely submerged. Top with a fermentation weight if you have one.
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Cover jar with a coffee filter or clean cloth secured with a rubber band. Ferment at room temperature for 1-7 days. Taste occasionally and ferment until desired sourness/funkiness.
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Put the jar in the fridge for storage once it is finished fermenting.
The pickled beet greens should taste earthy, pleasantly sour, slightly funky, and spicy (if you added red peppers). They may even be bubbly with carbon dioxide from fermentation! If you see mold growing, best to throw away and try again another time. If there is no mold, and the beet greens taste good, consider it a grand pickling success!