Pickling Fresh Okra

About two weeks ago I pickled okra for the first time. I personally love okra so much that I can eat it any way it is made! We grew our own okra this year (and our so-kind neighbors have given us some of their fresh okra too!) and we had so much of it that I thought I would finally try my hand at pickling some. I looked up a few different "easy pickling" recipes to kind of get the idea of how to pickle something. Then, I created my own little recipe on how I thought I would like it. 

I would like to add how easy this was! You could literally get okra from the store if you don't want to grow your own to make this and from there this process took me about 30 minutes (tops!). This isn't a nactual canning process, just pickling. These do have to be refrigerated and you'll probably have them all eaten before they go bad, but these will be good for awhile! 

You want to make sure you still wash your jars with very hot water and I boiled my can tops to make sure they were very clean and sterilized. I also washed my okra really well. 

Ingredients:

• 2 c. apple cider vinegar 
• 1 c. water
•  3 tbsp. white sugar 
• 3-4 garlic cloves (minced)
• 2 tbsp. sea salt
• red pepper flakes (optional) 

This is so simple to make. Add all of your ingredients to your pot on high heat. As soon as your mixture starts to boil, reduce heat and let it set for about 10 minutes. 

Place your okra into your jars (you want to put as much okra as you can in each jar) and this is where I add sprinkles of red pepper flakes in between adding okra. I like mine spicy so I add quite a lot, but if you don't I still suggest you add a couple of pinches for added flavor. You have to add a lot to get it real spicy. Once your mixture has set for 10 minutes, you just pour it over your okra in their jars. This recipe made enough to fill up two of my 8 oz. jars. I made two batches and it filled up 4 (8 oz.) jars perfectly! Let them sit out until they are cooled down to room temperature and then keep them refrigerated. Now the hard part... Waiting a whole week until they're ready to eat! The longer you let them soak the softer, spicier, and better they are! I'm really happy with how mine turned out and I enjoyed being able to successfully pickle something! Let me know how yours turn out if you give this recipe a go!