Pickled Okra

Delicious, crunchy, puckery chunks of okra in a murky, tart, lemony brine.

This USDA recipe makes a lot, so you may wish to cut it in half.

Use small pods 2 to 4 inches (7 to 12 cm) in size. Longer ones often come out stringy and are just not worth pickling, and no, the vinegar won’t make them less stringy.

See also: Other okra recipes for canning.

The recipe

If you wish to adjust batch size, do the math first on paper.

Jar size choices: Half-litre (1 US pint / 500 ml/ 16 oz) [Ed: for litre / quart sizes, see Ball’s Pickled Okra recipe which uses 100% vinegar.)

Processing method: Either water-bath or steam canning

Yield: 9 x half-litre (US pint) jars

Headspace: 2 cm (1/2 inch)

Processing time: 10 minutes

4.67 from 3 votes

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Pickled okra

How to can pickled okra, following tested USDA methods

Course Pickles

Cuisine American

Keyword Okra

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Yield 9 x half-litre (US pint) jars

Calories 19 kcal

Ingredients

• 3 kg okra (small, whole, trimmed. Approx 7 pounds / 30 cups after prep.)
• 6 hot peppers (small)
• 9 cloves garlic (washed, peeled)
• 1 1/2 litres vinegar (5% acidity or higher. 6 cups / 48 oz)
• 1 1/2 litres water (6 cups / 48oz)
• 4 teaspoons dill seed
• 2 teaspoons mustard seed (optional)
• 2/3 cup pickling salt

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

1. Wash and trim the okra without slicing into the pods. Set aside.

2. Wash, trim (seed if desired) and slice thinly the hot peppers; set aside.
3. In each jar, put a peeled clove of garlic.

4. Leaving 2 cm (1/2 inch) head space, divide the okra out amongst the jars, packing it in firmly. Cut up the okra into large chunks if you have to, to get them to fit.

5. Put the vinegar, water, dill seed, mustard seed (optional), salt and hot pepper slices in a microwave-safe jug and zap until boiling. Mind the surge when removing. (Or put in a pot on the stove and bring to the boil.)
6. Fill each jar with the vinegar solution, leaving 2 cm (1/2 inch) head space.
7. Debubble, adjust headspace.
8. Wipe rims.
9. Put lids on.
10. Process in a water bath or steam canner.
11. Process jars for 10 minutes; increase time as needed for your altitude.
12. Best after at least a month of jar time.

Reference information

How to water bath process.

How to steam can.

When water-bath canning or steam canning, you must adjust the processing time for your altitude.

Australia and New Zealand vinegar strength special notes.

Recipe notes

• Instead of the salt, you can use a non-bitter, non-clouding salt sub. We have found Herbamare Sodium-Free performs well in that regard.

Recipe Source

Pickled Dilled Okra. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Complete guide to home canning. Agriculture information bulletin No. 539. 2015. Page 6-19.

Also referenced:

Okra Pickles. Ball Blue Book. Muncie, Indiana: Healthmark LLC / Jarden Home Brands. Edition 37. 2014. Page 92. (50 / 50 water / vinegar. 15 minutes processing)

Pickled Okra. Ball online. Calls for US Quart jars. (100% vinegar. 10 minutes processing.) Accessed June 2019 at https://www.freshpreserving.com/pickled-okra—ball-recipes-br1469.html (removed from online in 2020).

Modifications made:

• Added mustard seed and Pickle Crisp, which are Ball’s ideas.
• USDA wants 10 minutes processing; Ball wants 15 minutes in its 37th edition. Went with USDA’s 10 minute requirement.
• Added salt sub option.

Nutrition information

Regular version

Per 1/4 jar:

• 19 calories, 170 mg sodium

Salt-free version

Per 1/4 jar:

• 19 calories, 3 mg sodium.
• Weight Watchers PointsPlus®: 1 point.

* Nutrition info provided by https://caloriecount.about.com

* PointsPlus™ calculated by healthycanning.com. Not endorsed by Weight Watchers® International, Inc, which is the owner of the PointsPlus® registered trademark.

* Herbamare ® is a registered trademark of the A. Vogel Corporation.

These ones were pickled subbing bottled lemon juice for some of the vinegar.