Radishes are some of my favorite pickling vegetables – they provide a nice sweet, crunchy side to any meal (not just Korean banchan). Korean pickled radish tends to use a white-yellow radish and can sometimes be hard to find in the US, so I’ve made this a pickled daikon radish instead.
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💭 Why you’ll love this recipe
- Five ingredient recipe: You’ll need five ingredients, four of which are likely already in your house!
- Ready in a day, and stays fresh for a week: It takes just 15 minutes of active preparation, and then chill in a fridge for it to get delish!
- Great side dish and taco topper: This dish is served in most traditional “banchan” (Korean side-dishes). I also love throwing this on tacos (like my gochujang cauliflower tacos) and sandwiches (like Korean Gilgeori toast) with reckless abandon!
📋 Ingredients and notes
You need Korean radishes or daikon radishes, distilled white vinegar, sugar, salt and water for this recipe. You can totally use other types of vinegar, but I find that white vinegar (either distilled or rice vinegar) is best for this recipe.
Notes and Variations
- Using red radishes: if you can’t find a daikon radish, you could use a traditional red radish in this recipe as well.
- Using Korean spices: I love to sometimes add gochugaru, Korean red pepper flakes, to my pickling jar to provide a hint of heat to the pickles
📖 Step-by-step instructions
Prepare the radishes
Start by slicing off the ends of the radishes and then peeling them. Then, slice them into roughly even sized cubes. I used roughly 0.8 ounces of radish for this recipe.
Prepare the pickling liquid
In a small saucepan, add half cup of white vinegar, half cup of water, three tablespoons of sugar and one teaspoon of salt. Heat this until it dissolves, then allow it to cool to room temperature.
Pickle the radishes
Add the radish cubes to an airtight glass jar. You can also add garlic cloves or Korean gochugaru (red pepper flakes) for enhancing the flavor if you desire. Then, pour the pickling liquid over the radishes until it covers all of them fully.
Refrigerate overnight or for a day, and then your pickled radishes will be ready to go the next day. The flavor typically builds over time so you’ll get more pronounced notes after 48 to 54 hours, and it’ll stay fresh for up to a week!
👩🏽🍳Top tips and FAQs
Korean radish is available at most Asian grocery stores and has a unique flavor profile. However, if you can’t find Korean radishes, this recipe also works with daikon or even regular red radishes!
Technically, you can pickle this for as little as an hour. However, I recommend pickling at least overnight, ideally 24 to 48 hours before consumption. I find that the flavors build over time, all the way up to 2-3 days.
Daikon is an incredible source of so many nutrients – calcium, magnesium, potassium, copper, vitamin C and folate (B-9 vitamin). And I find that pickling them makes it so much easier to just add them to anything and everything!
🍴 Serving and storage suggestions
Korean pickled radishes tend to stay fresh for up to a week. I love serving them up on both traditional Korean and non-traditional dishes. For instance:
- Serve as “banchan” or a typical Korean side dish to traditional dishes like bibimbap, or jjigae (i.e., stews)
- Add as toppers to your favorite sandwiches – sometimes, I’ll thinly slice the radishes instead of cubes and add them to Gilgeori toast!
- Just consume as a regular old snack!
If you like this recipe, try out my other quick pickle recipes:
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If you tried this recipe, don’t forget to comment and rate! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Korean Pickled Radish (Pickled Daikon Radish)
Ingredients
- 1 lb Korean radish, or Daikon radish
- ½ cup distilled white vinegar
- ½ cup water
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 garlic cloves, optional
- 1 teaspoon gochugaru, optional, substitute red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Rinse one pound of radish (either Daikon or Korean radish). Then, slice the ends of the radishes and peel them. Finally, slice them into roughly even sized cubes. Add the radish cubes to an airtight glass jar.
- Then, prepare the pickling liquid. Add half cup of distilled white vinegar, half cup of water, three tablespoons of sugar and one teaspoon of salt to a small saucepan. Heat this until it dissolves, then allow it to cool to room temperature.
- Add two cloves of garlic and a teaspoon of Korean gochugaru (optional) to the jar with the radish cubes. Then, pour the pickling liquid over the radishes until it covers all of them fully.
- Close the jar tightly and refrigerate overnight. Your pickled radishes will be ready to go the next day.
Notes
- Chilling time: The flavor typically builds over time so you’ll get more pronounced notes after 48 to 54 hours, and it’ll stay fresh for up to a week! You can start nibbling on them even an hour after preparing, but I suggest letting them sit overnight at the very least.
- Types of radishes: I prefer using Korean radish or Daikon in this recipe, but you can also make it work with traditional red radish!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I loved these pickles. So easy to make!!!
Can you use Stevia for the sugar ingredient for this recipe?
I haven’t tried using Stevia, but I have tried monk fruit sugar and it works well with that! Stevia could work, but I am not sure if the vinegar + stevia might leave a bitter residue.
This recipe is so simple yet SO amazing and full of flavor (sour, sweet, and a bit of heat). A staple in my side dishes/toppings for sure. Making it again today, and I can’t say that with many recipes. Well done!! I like to switch it up with rice vinegar or distilled white vinegar depending on the flavor profile I’m feeling.
I haven’t eaten them yet but I like the recipe. Very simple and they look great!
I found your pickled onions and then found these pickled radishes; they are easy to make and delicious with tacos and nachos.
I agree, it is delicious. I love how crunchy it is.
Served this Korean pickled radish to our samgyupsal night. It was so perfectly seasoned, a great and delicious side. Everyone was filled and enjoyed!
I love everything picked but I’d never tried daikon. Man was this good! I will be keeping a jar on hand all summer.
I used the red pepper flake option and this came out great! Better than I’ve had at our local restaurant. 🙂 I just made them and they’re already delicious! Excited to try them again over the next few days.
I seriously cannot stop eating these! They are so addicting. I made mine for a large grazing table set up at my girl’s night. Everyone loved them. Definitely a keeper recipe!
We prepare a lot of Asian food at my house and your Korean pickled radish has a permanent spot in the refrigerator.
We love that it is not too spicy, but perfect, at least to me.
Thank you for the recipe.
This was so easy to make!! I thought it must be tricky as they are always so expensive at the store! But it really wasn’t and it tastes amazing!!
I have been using it in my poke bowls (bit of infusion cooking 😉) and it had been lovely.
Next batch I am going to try slicing, like you suggest so I can put it onto sandwiches.
My middle son is obsessed with it too!
Great idea to use it in poke bowls!
I love radishes and am always interested in new ways to serve them! Love this recipe, thank you so much for posting.
I am a major pickle fan and this is a new favorite! I loved the addition of gochugaru. Added the perfect little bite!
This was absolutely delicious! The gochugaru added a delightful flavor. Will make again! 🙂
This is the first time I made it from scratch, and I was pleasantly surprised with all the flavors. I will never buy ready-made again.