Middle Eastern Pickled Turnips (2024)

Published: Jun 28, 2022 by Shadi HasanzadeNemati · This post may contain affiliate links .

Pickled turnips are a Middle Eastern staple and take only 15 minutes to make. They're crisp and delicious with a subtle heat and the beautiful color comes from beets. You can add them to sandwiches or salads for flavor.

Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines use pickles and condiments in many different ways. We love our torshi (Persian pickles), quick pickled cabbage, pickled red onion, preserved lemons and of course, our pickled turnips. You can make these pickled at home with a handful of ingredients and enjoy them in so many ways.

All About Pickled Turnips

Lebanese pickled turnips are crunchy, sour, slightly hot and so easy to make. You need a few turnips (which are naturally white), some beets (for the color), a quick brine and 10 minutes on your hands to make these refrigerated pickles.

It only takes a few minutes to prepare this recipe and you can keep it in the fridge for a while. If you've tried chicken shawarma, shish tawook or shish kabab, you know they're best served in a pita wrap with some toum and pink pickled turnips!

Potential Benefits Of Turnips

As humble and simple as turnips may look, they come with many benefits. Here are some to name a few:

• They are high in fiber, antioxidants and vitamin C.
• Studies have shown that turnips might control blood sugar and lower glucose production by the liver.
• Turnips may improve blood circulation because they have iron.

It's a good idea to add turnips to your diet. You can add them to roasted vegetables or soups as well.

Ingredients And Substitutions

Turnips: When shopping for turnips, make sure they are bright and firm and have no brown or soft spot. Larger turnips have sharper flavor while smaller ones are sweeter. You can use any size for this recipe.

Beet: You only need a small beet for this recipe since that's all it takes for the turnips to turn pink.

Vinegar: White vinegar preserves the turnips and is perfect to make the brine.

Flavors: I used peppercorn and sliced garlic for this batch but you can use dried chili, bay leaves or oregano.

How To Make Pickled Turnips

1. Bring the water to a simmer over medium high heat. Add in the salt and sugar and stir to dissolve. Add the vinegar and cook for another 2 minutes. Turn the heat off and let the mixture come to room temperature.
2. Place the turnips in a clean and dry jar. Add the garlic slices and peppercorn as well. Top with the beet chunks.
3. Pour in the brine and fill to the top. Seal the lid and refrigerate for 6 days.
4. The pickled turnips are ready to be served after 6 days and you can serve them with sandwiches or kabobs.

Variations

To enhance flavor, you can add bay leaves, different colors of peppercorn or garlic. While not traditional, you can also use fresh herbs such as oregano, dill and thyme.

Serving Suggestion

We love serving these Lebanese turnip pickles with beef shawarma, falafel, kofta kebab, shish kabob and shish tawook with some pita, lavash, tahini sauce, batat harra, and toum.

Pink turnips can also be added to salads such as Mediterranean salad or chicken shawarma salad for more flavor. They also can be a part of a vibrant mezze platter with labneh and hummus .

Frequently Asked Questions

More Middle Eastern Condiments

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