Lacto-Fermented Pickles

the easiest gut-friendly fermented pickle recipe!

Don’t mind me, I’m just over here fermenting all my veggie scraps from now on because I realized how friggin easy it is and my gut health depends on those little bacteria buggers.

Lacto-fermentation is the process by which bacteria breaks down sugars in foods to form lactic acid. Sometimes known as salt-based vegetable fermentation, although it can also be used for milk products and some cured meats. You can lacto ferment ant vegetable that is safe to eat raw and it’s actually so easy! Most of the common ferments are lacto fermented- yogurt, olives, saerkraut, kimchi and PICKLES.

Fermented pickles, that is. Pickling is actually a separate process that doesn’t require fermenting at all and while it is super yummy, preserves food and is still good for you, pickling doesn’t provide the same onslaught of gut-healthy bacteria that fermentation will.

This is a simple recipe for fermented pickles but the same method can be used for any vegetables that are edible raw- cabbage, beets, carrots, tomatoes- it’s worth experimenting!

It’s a great option for using vegetables that are about to go bad in your fridge- that way, if you have some bumps in the road while figuring it out, you aren’t to bummed about it, but if it works perfectly then you’ve avoided some food waste!