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    The Purposeful Pantry » Food Storage

    Author: Darcy Baldwin • Published: Jul 2, 2021 · Modified: Sep 30, 2022

    4 Ways to Preserve Radishes

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe Pin Recipe

    Preserve radishes in these four ways and never waste a radish again!

    Do you have an overabundance of radishes coming from your garden this year? Or do you want to stretch your dinner choices for the vegetables you serve your family?  Here are easy ways to preserve radishes and go beyond the boring veggie plate.

    radish bunch on a wooden background

    Admit it. You are guilty of using radishes only to put some slivers on a salad or to add to a crudités platter to bulk it up? And you're left with so many extra radishes because you buy a whole bunch and don't use it all?

    I was like you. Then I learned that there were new and fascinating ways to enjoy radishes. And because I wanted more radishes in my life, I learned how to preserve radishes to enjoy for more than just salads and boring veggie plates.

    I love slicing them fresh to dip in homemade hummus, in stews to replace potatoes, or even roasted on their own as a side dish. I'm learning to love pickled radishes, especially if I make them sweet like my grandmother used to make, and frozen in the freezer lets me have radishes ready for any meal. And best of all, dehydrating radishes lets me use the whole plant, not just the root!

    4 Easy Ways to Preserve Radishes

    While radishes are fun to eat on their own, sometimes you want a way to use the bounty of the new spring harvest or take advantage of a grocery store sale! Here are some easy ways to preserve radishes.

    How to Freeze Radishes

    Yes, you can freeze radishes! If you typically purchase bags of radishes in hopes of incorporating into your family's diet, but find yourself throwing it out every few weeks, freezing is a great way to do it!

    Cooked or roasted radishes are a great way to replace the need for potatoes if you're trying to cut down on carbs. And freezing them ahead of time makes a quick meal prep idea that will help you out during the week.

    Stainless steel bowls - one blanching radishes and one with radishes in ice bath for preserving radishes

    1. Cut tops and roots from radishes - Be sure to save them -- radish leaves, tops, and roots can be dehydrated to use other ways.
    2. Wash well I make sure to wash in a large bowl of water to make sure to give them room. Use a vegetable brush to remove all grit and old leaves.
    3. Cut radishes into halves, slices or quarters.
    4. Blanch for 2-3 minutes - Blanching helps slow down the enzymatic process to save the plant tissue and keep the color vibrant.
    5. Place into an ice bath
    6. Flash Freeze
    7. Package for long-term freezing. Either in containers or zipper top bags or vacuum seal bags. Whatever works best for your freezer space.

    Place your radish pieces on cookie sheets and store in the freezer for at least six hours.

    Metal cookie tray full of parsnips to be flash frozen in order to preserve radishes.

    If you can tell, the radish pieces have a translucent look to them. They aren't fully cooked, but just enough. They'll cook through fully once put into your dish.

    TIP Alternatively, you can roast them and freeze them, as well!

    How to Pickle Radishes

    Quick Pickled Refrigerator Radishes are a great way to extend the life of your radishes, even if you aren't a canner. When I would go to visit in the summers, we'd make a batch at the first of the week and eat them all week long.

    Ingredients:

    • 1 pound of freshly washed and sliced radishes  (an average bunch from the grocery store)
    • 1 small onion, slivered (optional)
    • ½ Cup Vinegar
    • ½ Cup Filtered Water
    • 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt (I prefer the Real Salt brand)
    • 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar

    Directions:

    1. Make a brine with the water, vinegar, sugar, and salt.
    2. Pack a clean and dry mason jar with sliced radishes and onion slices.
    3. Pour brine into jar.
    4. Refrigerate and store for up to two weeks.

    * Canning radishes isn't recommended as the radishes will become mushy.

    You can use these on burgers in place of pickles or as a refreshing side dish.

    How to Ferment Garlicky Radishes

    Fermenting allows the process of the bacterial build-up to ferment the radishes (lactic acid), making them good for your gut and quite tasty! This is also known as lacto-fermenting. While this doesn't make your radishes shelf-stable for long-term, it does extend the storage capability of your radishes for up to two months.

    Ingredients

    • 4 Cups of filtered water
    • 2 Tablespoons of sea salt. I prefer the Real Salt brand.
    • 2 pounds of fresh radishes, washed and sliced
    • 1 Quart Wide Mouth Mason Jar
    • 6 cloves of garlic (more or less to your taste)

    Directions:

    1. Create a brine by mixing water and salt, stirring until salt is fully dissolved.
    2. Add radishes and garlic to a sterile, quart, wide-mouth mason jar, along with the garlic cloves.
    3. Fill a jar with brine, leaving 1 inch of headspace (usually to the neck of the jar).
    4. Add a glass weight to keep radishes submerged below the brine if necessary.
    5. Cover with an airlock lid. This lid allows the jars to release carbon dioxide automatically (meaning you don't have to babysit and burp them!)
    6. Set on the counter for 3-7 days - the longer you allow it to steep, the more intense the flavor is. The brine will turn cloudy after a few days.
    7. Once radishes come to the flavor you like, store in the refrigerator for up to two months. Be sure to replace the airlock lid with a regular mason jar lid.

    If you are more comfortable buying a fermenting kit to get started, this one contains jars, lids, and pump to burp your jars a few times a day.

    Would you like to see a more detailed tutorial on how to ferment radishes? Living Traditions on Youtube has a great recipe for Fermented Dill Radishes.

    How to Dehydrate Radishes

    Radish plant separated on a cutting board to show how to dehydrate radishes without wasting a piece

    To see a detailed example of using ALL the parts of a radish for creating vegetable powders, green powders and chips for snacking, read How to Dehydrate Radishes.

    1. Cut leaves from radish root. Don't toss them! You can do more with them.
    2. Wash radish thoroughly. You can use a vegetable brush for the radish to remove any debris and clean the skin.
    3. Slice the stem and root from the radish and set aside to use later by composting or dehydrating.
    4. Use a mandoline (please make sure to use a protective glove, even if your mandoline has a guard that can accommodate a small radish), and slice radishes into ¼" or ⅙" slices.
    5. Place evenly on dehydrator trays.
    6. Dehydrate at 125F for 2-4 hours.
    7. Cool and test for doneness. Crisp radish coins are what you want.
    8. Store in airtight containers.

    What do you think?

    So, which version is your favorite way to preserve radishes? Do you have other ways you like to preserve radishes? Let us know in the comments below!

    A bundle of rainbow radishes in varying shades of red, pink and white

    Pickled Radishes

    How to preserve radishes by pickling them for later!
    5 from 2 votes
    Print PIN THIS! Rate
    Course: Preserved Food
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Storage time: 14 days
    Total Time: 14 days 10 minutes
    Servings: 2
    Calories: 93kcal
    Author: Darcy Baldwin

    Equipment

    • canning jars
    • 1 Bowl
    • 1 Knife

    Ingredients

    • 1 pound of freshly washed and sliced radishes
    • 1 small onion , slivered (optional)
    • ½ Cup Vinegar
    • ½ Cup Filtered Water
    • 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
    • 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar

    Instructions

    • Make a brine with the water, vinegar, sugar, and salt.
    • Pack a clean and dry mason jar with sliced radishes and onion slices.
    • Pour brine into jar.
    • Refrigerate and store for up to two weeks.
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Darcy's Tips

    Serving ideas
    • Salads
    • Sandwiches
    • Ramen

    Nutrition

    Serving: 0.25cups | Calories: 93kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 0.3g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.04g | Sodium: 1839mg | Potassium: 610mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 17IU | Vitamin C: 38mg | Calcium: 76mg | Iron: 1mg

    Nutritional information is an estimation only. Nutrient information for dehydrated foods is based on fresh. Use ¼ of the servicing size for the same nutrient information. Thus 1 Cup of fresh fruit has the same sugars as ¼ dried.

    Tried this recipe?Mention @thepurposefulpantry or tag #thepurposefulpantry!

    ©ThePurposefulPantry. Photographs and content are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe's link is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.

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    Radish bunch on a table for encouraging preservation

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Anna says

      January 24, 2023 at 10:58 pm

      I would like to try your pickled radish recipe but I do not use sugar. Could I use Pyure granuals or liquid sweetener? What about using Swerve Granular? TY.

      Reply
      • Darcy Baldwin says

        January 25, 2023 at 10:54 am

        Swerve or Monkfruit will be fine. But not in canning - only in the refrigerator pickling.

        Reply
    2. Enrico Hoover says

      November 09, 2022 at 8:03 pm

      I have a great surplus of radishes at present, just looking for ways to preserve them. I've not tried roasted but will be doing that tomorrow. I use the whole plant in salads, grated and finely chopped with some spring onions and a bit of parmesan it's delicious. Thanks for the tips.

      Reply
      • Madeline Hall says

        November 26, 2022 at 2:34 pm

        5 stars
        Blessings from Chicago. Once I started roasting and stir frying radishes, I stopped eating them raw. I even dehydrate them to toss in soups.
        I also have started using many different kinds in different ethnic recipes.

        Reply
    3. June says

      May 20, 2022 at 12:09 pm

      5 stars
      My husband went crazy and planted way to many radish seeds didn’t know what to do with them and the neighbors and burnt out but now that I seen your suggestions I can use them all thank you.

      Reply
      • Darcy Baldwin says

        May 20, 2022 at 1:38 pm

        Hopefully the ideas here help!

        Reply
    4. Vicky says

      September 27, 2020 at 6:36 pm

      I planted a dozen Cherry Belle radish seeds this fall, just to try them out and we ended up loving them. I'm planning on planting more this spring and look forward to the different ways to cook them. The bunny gets the radish tops, it will save us money with not having to buy as much for her daily fresh green intake.

      Reply
      • Darcy says

        September 28, 2020 at 7:40 am

        yep- our rabbit costs more than the whole family for greens!

        Reply
    5. Connie Maine says

      September 17, 2019 at 9:29 pm

      Great ideas, thank you!

      Reply
      • Darcy says

        September 18, 2019 at 6:16 am

        Hope you'll give one a try!

        Reply
    6. Opal says

      August 08, 2019 at 1:15 pm

      Love this post. Made a jar today following your recipe 🙂 Thanks for the newly gained information on how to!

      Reply
      • Darcy says

        August 08, 2019 at 2:26 pm

        Glad you liked it! I'm snacking on some for lunch today!

        Reply

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    Darcy Baldwin of The Purposeful Pantry.

    Howdy! I'm Darcy! I've spent twenty years learning how to stretch our budget and stock our family's pantry by dehydrating food. You can do it, too!

    Learn how I can help you →

    You can get my new book, Dehydrating Basics & Journal to help you get started on your dehydrating journey!

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