Pickled Ramps Recipe

Ramp season forever.

By
J. Kenji López-Alt
Kenji Lopez Alt
J. Kenji López-Alt
Culinary Consultant
Kenji is the former culinary director for Serious Eats and a current culinary consultant for the site. He is also a New York Times food columnist and the author of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science.
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Updated Mar. 26, 2019

Pickling is our favorite way to extend ramp season by a few extra weeks or months—though we usually go through our reserve jars in several days. Fresh ramps pop up on menus during the spring and summer months, so we always load up when we see them at the farmers market. We'll reserve a big pile to grill, fold into risotto, and even add to mapo tofu.

We pack the rest of the ramps into little glass jars with a fragrant brine of vinegar, bay leaves, mustard seeds, allspice berries, red pepper flakes, and let the vinegar solution work its magic. The fragrant pickled ramps are ready to eat in as little as three weeks, or you can set them aside for up to a year.

Recipe Facts

Active: 15 mins
Total: 15 mins
Serves: 16 servings
Makes: 1 quart

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Ingredients

  • 1 pound ramps, carefully washed, ends trimmed

  • 1 1/2 cups white wine vinegar or rice vinegar

  • 1 1/2 cups water

  • 1 1/2 cups sugar

  • 1/4 cup salt

  • 3 bay leaves

  • 1 tablespoon yellow or black mustard seeds

  • 6 allspice berries

  • 1 pinch red pepper flakes

Directions

  1. Carefully pack ramps into a sterilized quart-sized jar with a screw-top lid. Combine remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium high heat and bring to a boil, whisking until sugar and salt are dissolved. Pour hot brine over ramps (it should fill the jar completely, if you have excess, discard). Screw on lid and allow to cool at room temperature. Transfer to refrigerator and allow to rest for at least 3 weeks and up to a year before consuming.

Special Equipment

Screw-top Jar

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
88 Calories
0g Fat
21g Carbs
1g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 16
Amount per serving
Calories 88
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 224mg 10%
Total Carbohydrate 21g 8%
Dietary Fiber 1g 3%
Total Sugars 19g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 5mg 27%
Calcium 24mg 2%
Iron 0mg 3%
Potassium 82mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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