How To Make Fermented Ginger Carrot Sticks With Lemon

Add some fun flavor to carrots by fermenting them with ginger and lemon to make these delicious ginger carrots!

Carrots, ginger, lemon are yellow-orange foods. Adding more color to your diet increases your dietary diversity. This in turn increases the diversity in your gut microbiome and improves gut health, which will improve overall health and immunity. Not bad, right?

Not only are there tons of phytonutrients (lutein, zeaxanthin), vitamins  (vitamin A, beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin K), and minerals (calcium, potassium) in the carrots and ginger. Through the fermentation process, lactic acid bacteria makes it both delicious and are great for your gut. Don’t just take my word for it on why eating more fermented foods is supportive, check out this randomized controlled trial published in Cell in 2021 on fermented foods, microbiome diversity, and immune health.

Lacto-fermentation, the process by which these carrots are fermented, comes with loads of health benefits. It increases the bio-availability of nutrients in your food, meaning that all the various vitamins and nutrients in your carrots and ginger will be easier for your body to absorb and use. Consuming fermented foods is huge for the health of your gut microbiome, which in turn has a major impact on your overall health, including your immune system.

Ginger is also known for being particularly good for digestive health, as are raw carrots! Between the fresh ginger, the carrots, and all the good bacteria, these fermented carrot & ginger sticks are a true digestive powerhouse.

TO MAKE THESE GINGER AND LEMON FERMENTED CARROT STICKS, YOU’LL NEED:

• Glass jar with lid (I used a regular quart jar but you could use two pint jars as well)
• Approximately 1.5 lbs organic carrots
• 1″ chunk of ginger root
• 1 fresh lemon
• 2 cups filtered water
• 1 1/2 tsp sea salt

Step by Step

To make the Carrot Ginger sticks, start by collecting these simple ingredients. You’ll need some carrots (preferably organic from your garden, farmer’s market or store), a knob of ginger (fresh or frozen), 1 lemon (preferably organic, you’ll use the outside peel), and some sea salt. For the salt, unrefined sea salt works great. Kosher salt (fine) also works well. Don’t use salt that has added iodine as it will negatively impact the taste of your ferment. My go-to sea salt for cooking and fermenting is Redmond Real Salt which is mined from ancient salt beds in Utah and contains loads of trace minerals.

Next, gather your equipment. You’ll need a large mixing bowl, a cutting board, a chef’s knife, and the tools of fermenting such as a crock or 1 quart mason jar, fermentation weight, and a fermentation airlock (like a pickle pipe) or clean towel to cover.

First, dissolve the sea salt in the filtered water and set aside.

Then peel and trim the carrots and cut into sticks. You’ll want the length of your sticks to be short enough, so they fit just under the rim of the jar.

Next, slice the ginger. and then slice the lemons.

Now it’s time to pack your jar. Start with turning your jar on its side. This will make it easier to stack the carrot sticks. First add in half of the ginger, lemon and then fill halfway with sticks.

Add in the rest of the ginger and lemon. Then fill the remaining space with sticks. You’ll want to pack in the carrot sticks until you absolutely cannot fit anymore in. This helps with keeping the sticks submerged in brine.

Once you have filled your jar with the carrot sticks, turn it right side up and fill with the salt water you had set aside. Make sure all sticks are covered. Fermentation weights or some kind of weight are key to keeping the fermented food submerged. Finally, add the cap to the jar. Be sure to write the name of the ferment and the date on the bottle or write it on a posted note and stick it to the top of the jar.

Let sit at room temperature for 2-3 days in a dark place (avoiding direct sunlight). Depending how sour you want the carrots you can ferment for up to 5 days.  Enjoy! Be sure to open carefully the first time as this food is alive and the brine might try escaping (AKA: overflow out of the jar and make a mess).

Once fully fermented, store them on a shelf in your refrigerator. Remember that the carrots will continue to ferment in the fridge though they will still ferment, the colder temperature will slow the process way down.

Also, fermented carrot with ginger and lemon make a delicious snack because of the sweetness of the carrots and the tartness of the ferment!

Great Option

If you want to use grated carrots instead of carrot sticks, you can make this recipe like kraut by adding the salt directly to the carrots and ginger and packing it tight and covering it to keep out the air. You can simply us a food processor keep in mind you’ll likely need more carrots! You may need to add a little brine to the top of the carrots.  Since carrots aren’t as juicy as cabbage keeping the ferment submerged is the key to success. 

Tips 

Remember, when fermenting vegetables, keep the air out (this is a big deal)! That means keep the veggies under the brine. Lacto-fermentation is anaerobic- the bacteria produces lactic acid and other acids plus byproducts like carbon dioxide NOT in the presence of oxygen.

You can store the fresh ginger in the freezer to use whenever you’d like. If you store ginger at room temp or in the fridge, it will eventually shrivel up and dry out. Use a microplane to easily grate frozen ginger.

The thicker your carrot sticks, the longer the ferment will take. The thinner you slice them, the less time the ferment will take. You can also cut the carrots into slices if you prefer. Honestly anything goes, experiment with what you like.

If you are looking for other ways to help your gut out. Then try this bone broth recipe to your diet.

After you make theses fermented carrots with ginger and lemon Let me know how it went for you in the comments below! What will you change next time in these easy fermented carrots with ginger and lemon recipe? What is your favorite thing to ferment in your kitchen?

XO

Shirlene RN BSN