Mild Giardiniera Your Whole Family Will Love

This mild giardiniera is easy to make and much less expensive than buying it pre-made from the store.

In addition, it’s great to have on hand for when your fridge is starting to look pretty empty and you need to do a grocery run, but it’s snowing outside.

With giardiniera, your pantry staples like pasta (or frozen pizza) will have some crisp and zingy flavor to liven them up. At the same time, you still get the health benefits of eating your veggies!

I love pickled vegetables. This mild giardiniera is great as a side with just about anything. That being said, it especially complements heavier or starchier foods like pasta dishes, sandwiches, vegan corned beef, and pizza. It’s even great on its own for a TV watching snack!

I also enjoy spicy giardiniera. However, some of the ones you can buy at the grocery store become eye-wateringly hot after a few bites. This can lead to us eating fewer vegetables than we otherwise might, which is not ideal.

Chopping the veggies is the hardest part of this recipe. After that, it’s smooth sailing! You could buy a pre-cut stir fry mix at the grocery store to help do some of the heavy lifting if you’d like. Some of the veggies are a little tricky and/or time consuming, so I’m sharing some best practices as well.

This recipe is much closer to a northern Italian giardiniera. For an interesting look at the evolution of Chicago giardiniera, you can read this article. In short, their version is often spicier, and they pack it in oil rather than vinegar, as is traditional in Sicily.

How to cut a cauliflower

1. Wash the cauliflower and discard the green leaves at the bottom.
2. Cut in half or quarters with a large chef’s knife.
3. Work with the cauliflower, not against it, to reduce the amount of fallout. Cut the large florets apart, and then gently cut those into smaller florets. I cut the stalk where I think it would naturally break and then pull apart the halves of the floret by the stalk. Again, this just keeps more of the delicate outer white parts attached.

You can certainly muscle through and chop cauliflower like anything else, but you will have lots of the white outer layer crumble off. You can just throw it in the pot with the rest and add it to your giardiniera. It will be harder to fish out of the jar when it’s time to eat it, but it still tastes delicious.

How to peel pearl onions

1. Blanch them first. This is the easiest way. Turn on your teakettle, dump the pearl onions into a heat safe bowl (glass, ceramic, stainless steel, etc. just not plastic), and pour boiling water over them.
2. Let them sit for 30 seconds in the boiling water. Then dump the onions (over the sink!) into a strainer and flush with ice cold water for ten seconds or so.
3. Peel as usual, and appreciate how much easier it is!

A second option is essentially the usual way, but you cut off the top and use a knife to scrape the skin away down and away from you. This is slightly easier than peeling by hand but you still have to use your fingernails a little to completely get the skin off.

Peeling pearl onions the way you would peel a normal onion would take a fair bit of time. While doing it that way could be meditative and a lesson in patience, I’m assuming that’s not what led you to reading a recipe! Try it the easy way.

Mild Giardiniera Ingredients

Before you begin, you will need:

• 1/2 a cauliflower, washed and cut into small florets
• 3 carrots, washed (peeled if necessary) and cut into rounds or diagonally cut rounds
• 1 red bell pepper, washed, de-seeded, and cut into small strips
• 3 stalks of celery, washed and diagonally cut
• One 8-ounce package of pearl onions, peeled (or, if you’re short on time, a regular onion cut into long strips)
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and cut in half
• 1 quart of distilled white vinegar
• 2 cups of water
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1/2 tsp celery seeds
• 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• 4 pre-pickled pepperoncini peppers (optional)
• 4 pint jars with lids
• A large pot like a dutch oven
• Knife and cutting board
• A slotted spoon or something to fish the vegetables out of the vinegar mixture
• A large regular spoon, soup ladle, measuring cup, or something to pour the vinegar mix into the jars if your pot would make a mess pouring directly

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How to Make the Best Giardiniera

1. First, wash and chop all your veggies. For some tips, see above. I tried to get long strips of everything that would easily fit in a jar. Depending on the size of the vegetables, you can adjust the amounts. I tried to have equal parts of all the main ones. You can keep all the chopped vegetables in the same bowl.
2. When you have gotten most of the vegetables into small enough pieces to fit in jars, you can start the vinegar, water, and spices in a large pot over medium/high heat. Finish chopping.
3. Once the vinegar mixture comes to a boil, add the carrots, cauliflower, celery, peppers, and onions.
4. When the mixture returns to a boil, you can turn it down to a simmer.
5. Next, simmer the giardiniera for 15 minutes or so.
6. While it is simmering, get your jars ready and add a half a clove of raw garlic and a pepperoncini to each jar.
7. When the 15 minutes are up, use a slotted spoon to fish out the giardiniera and fill each jar with veggies.
8. Once the jars are full of veggies, pour the vinegar mixture over each jar until it comes to just below the top of the jar.
9. Finally, lid the jars, let them cool, and put them in the fridge. Let the giardiniera marinate for at least three days before eating for the best flavor. Enjoy!

If you try this recipe at home, please let me know how you like it by coming back and giving it a star rating, or leaving me a comment below!

Variations on Mild Giardiniera

This recipe easily lends itself to adaptation. Feel free to make a very simple version with just a few ingredients, or add in others you think would go well! Try adding asparagus, green olives, green beans, radishes, or anything firm enough to hold up well in the vinegar.

Go wild with spices: bay leaves, oregano, cumin, mustard seeds, fresh dill, or anything else you think would be good.

For a milder marinade, invert the ratios of water and vinegar, or adjust to your taste.

Add olive oil to the marinade for a richer flavor, or add a little sugar to help it keep longer in the fridge.

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Related Marinated Vegetables Posts

If you like this mild giardiniera, consider checking out my Arabic salad, another great option for eating marinated veggies in a zesty vinegar dressing!

You may also enjoy my fermented celery!

I hope you and your whole family love this mild giardiniera recipe!