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Home » Recipes » Pikliz (Spicy Haitian Pickled Slaw)

Pikliz (Spicy Haitian Pickled Slaw)

by Mike Hultquist · Jun 29, 2022 · 27 Comments

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Haitian Pikliz Recipe

This pikliz recipe is made with shredded cabbage, carrots, bell pepper, and fiery Scotch Bonnets in a simple brine, the perfect crunchy-spicy condiment!

Haitian Pikliz Recipe

Pikliz Recipe

If you are a lover of spicy food, Haitian Pikliz is a recipe you need in your recipe collection.

It's perfect for spicing up sandwiches and grilled meats, and can even be served as a simple side dish.

It's also very easy to make, and you can spice it up as much as you'd like.

What is Pikliz?

Pikliz is a Haitian condiment of pickled cabbage with carrot, bell peppers and fiery Scotch bonnet peppers. It is often served with traditional Haitian dishes to balance out fatty meats, or as a complimentary spicy crunch factor.

It's a must for Haitian cuisine, with a wonderful balance of crispy-crunchy vegetables, tartness from the vinegar, and a vigorous spicy kick from the hot peppers.

It's great with Haitian food, but you can enjoy this on many, many dishes. I think this is a recipe you're going to love.

Let's talk about how to make pikliz, shall we?

Pikliz Ingredients

Haitian Pikliz Ingredients

  • PIKLIZ VEGETABLES
  • Cabbage. Shredded or thinly sliced.
  • Bell Pepper. I'm using red bell pepper for color.
  • Carrot.
  • Scotch Bonnets. Scotch bonnet peppers are quite fiery, with a heat equal to the habanero pepper, about 300,000 Scoville Heat Units.
  • Onion. Shallot is good, too.
  • Garlic.
  • FOR THE PIKLIZ BRINE
  • White Vinegar. I use distilled white vinegar, or use apple cider vinegar for more sweet-tart.
  • Lime Juice.
  • Salt.

How to Make Pikliz - the Recipe Method

Shred or Chop the Vegetables. Mix the pikliz vegetables - cabbage, carrot, bell pepper, sliced Scotch bonnet peppers, onion, and garlic - in a large bowl.

Shredded vegetables in a bowl for making Pikliz

Jar Them Up. Transfer the vegetables to a large Ball jar.

Stuffing the vegetables into the jar to make Pikliz

Make the Pikliz Brine. Whisk together the brine ingredients - vinegar, lime juice, salt, and optional black pepper - then pour it into the jar. Be sure to completely cover the vegetables with the brine.

Pouring the brine into the jar of vegetables to make Pikliz

Let the Flavors Develop. Secure the lid and refrigerate for 3 days or longer to let the flavors mingle.

Pikliz in a bowl, ready to serve, with a jar of Pikliz behind it

Boom! Done! Your pikliz is ready to serve. Easy enough to make, isn't it? This is fantastic on grilled meats, or as a spicy slaw for your sandwiches, sausages, and burgers.

Recipe Tips & Notes

  • Scotch Bonnets. If you're unable to find these peppers, use habanero peppers, which are very similar in heat and flavor. Consider other hot peppers as well, or use milder peppers for a less fiery version.
  • Other Vegetables. Add other vegetables to your preference for flavor variations, like other hot peppers, cucumber, asparagus and others.
  • Seasonings and Herbs. Make this pikliz your own by adding your favorite herbs and seasonings, like fresh basil or thyme, cumin seeds, whole peppercorns, cloves, lemon, or others. Pikliz is very customizable.

Serving Pikliz

Serve Pikliz with fried foods to balance out the greasiness. It is great piled on to grilled meats and sandwiches for a nice spicy crunch factor. Try it on your next shrimp po' boy sandwich!

Try it with your favorite rice and beans recipe, like Jamaican rice and peas. I love it on smoked pulled pork, and on fish tacos.

Storage

Store your pikliz in the refrigerator, properly sealed. Because it is pickled, it will last a month or longer. Vinegar is a preservative as well as a flavoring agent.

That's it, my friends. I hope you enjoy the pikliz!. Let me know if you make it, and if you enjoyed it. Might be your new favorite condiment!

Tools Used For This Recipe

Amazon Affiliate links, my friends!

Ball Jars - Makes pickling easy, with large enough jars to accommodate a good sized batch of vegetables or peppers.

Try Some of My Other Popular Recipes

  • Vinegar Coleslaw
  • Spicy Creamy Coleslaw
  • Curtido (Salvadoran Cabbage Slaw)
Mike holding a jar of spicy Pikliz

Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.

Haitian Pikliz Recipe
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Pikliz Recipe (Spicy Haitian Pickled Slaw)

This pikliz recipe is made with shredded cabbage, carrots, bell pepper, and fiery Scotch Bonnets in a simple brine, the perfect crunchy-spicy condiment!
Save Recipe Saved!
Course: Condiment, Salad
Cuisine: Haitian
Keyword: bell peppers, cabbage, pickled, scotch bonnet
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes minutes
Calories: 27kcal
Author: Mike Hultquist
Servings: 8
Tap or hover to scale
5 from 11 votes
Leave a Review

Ingredients

PIKLIZ VEGETABLES

  • 1.5 cups shredded or thinly sliced cabbage
  • 1 medium red bell pepper thinly sliced
  • 1 medium carrot grated (about 1/2 cup)
  • 1 medium onion thinly sliced (about 3/4 cup)
  • 2-4 Scotch Bonnet peppers sliced (use habanero as a sub)
  • 3-4 cloves garlic minced

FOR THE PICKLING BRINE

  • 1.5 cups white vinegar use apple cider vinegar for more sweet-tart
  • Juice from 1/2 large lime
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Black pepper to taste optional

Instructions

  • Mix the pikliz vegetables - cabbage, carrot, bell pepper, Scotch bonnet peppers, onion, and garlic - in a large bowl.
  • Transfer the vegetables to a large Ball jar.
  • Whisk together the brine ingredients - vinegar, lime juice, salt, and optional black pepper - then pour it into the jar. Be sure to completely cover the vegetables with the brine.
  • Secure the lid and refrigerate for 3 days or longer to let the flavors mingle.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 27kcal   Carbohydrates: 4g   Protein: 1g   Fat: 1g   Saturated Fat: 1g   Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g   Monounsaturated Fat: 1g   Sodium: 301mg   Potassium: 112mg   Fiber: 1g   Sugar: 2g   Vitamin A: 1777IU   Vitamin C: 29mg   Calcium: 17mg   Iron: 1mg
Haitian Pikliz Recipe
Did You Enjoy This Recipe?I love hearing how you like it and how you made it your own. Leave a comment below and tag @ChiliPepperMadness on social media.

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Dylan says

    October 01, 2024 at 8:01 pm

    5 stars
    I wanted to make something Hatian for my neighbor, who is from Haiti, that I swap dishes with. This was a great baseline. I didn't nail the salt to acidity ratio the first time, but j got better. I made a double batch and used some peach ghosts, bohemian goats, scotch bonnets, golden habanero, and primatalli's. It came out great with a heck of a lot of bite to it. This will be a condiment I keep on hand from now on. Thanks for the help!

    Reply
    • Mike H. says

      October 02, 2024 at 4:59 am

      You are very welcome, Dylan. Glad I could be helpful!

      Reply
  2. Janice says

    September 23, 2024 at 2:13 pm

    5 stars
    Hello Mike,
    This was a wonderful recipe. I used 50% brine from fermented carrots and 50% cider vinegar as, 100% vinegar too tart for me. I am new to this and cannot find out how to sterilize plastic mason jar lids. I did put them in boiling water for 10mins and I am having a problem screwing them on to the mason jars so I am wondering if I should not have boiled them. Searched the internet and could find nothing about plastick lids. I also boiled the plastic airlock parts and they all melted basically into strange shapes? I have ruined a few things making sure everything was sterilized. The only think I did not sterilize was me but, I did consider a hazmat suit when making recipes with ghost and scorpion peppers LOL. Sorry to ramble but just wondered what you think of plastic mason jar lids. Should I put them in boiling water and can I rub some oil or something on the screw part so I can get them on and off the jars? Once I do get them on, I cannot open them.
    Thanks Janice

    Reply
    • Mike Hultquist says

      September 23, 2024 at 2:22 pm

      Thanks, Janice. Right, it's not a good idea to boil plastic lids for that reason. You can use the metallic Ball jar lids, which work well.

      Reply
    • Janice says

      September 24, 2024 at 1:24 pm

      5 stars
      Thanks Mike. I have just found out that not all wide mouthed mason jars are 'exactly' the same in size.

      Reply
      • Mike Hultquist says

        September 24, 2024 at 1:35 pm

        Sure thing! Yes, I have some wide and some not-so-wide. We like the wider ones, especially for Patty's kombucha.

        Reply
  3. Janice says

    September 14, 2024 at 12:05 pm

    This was way too vinegar tasting for me. I used apple cider vinegar. Can I pour out 1/2 the vinegar and add distilled water. ? Or what can I do to tone it down?
    Thanks Janice

    Reply
    • Mike Hultquist says

      September 14, 2024 at 1:55 pm

      Janice, yes, you can pour off vinegar and add water, or make another batch without vinegar and combine.

      Reply
  4. Beth says

    August 08, 2024 at 3:37 pm

    5 stars
    Just made this, but used the bottom half of a reaper diced up as small as I could (my sb and habs are not ripe yet). It is delicious. Great easy recipe!

    Reply
    • Mike Hultquist says

      August 08, 2024 at 4:10 pm

      Boom! That's some nice heat, Beth! I love it! Glad you're enjoying it!

      Reply
  5. eric p says

    February 25, 2024 at 7:35 pm

    5 stars
    yummy! I bought broccoli slaw, 2 habaneros, brine mostly as directed. great on tacos.

    Reply
    • Mike H. says

      February 26, 2024 at 4:44 am

      Love it. Thank you for sharing!

      Reply
  6. Kurt M says

    July 31, 2023 at 12:24 pm

    5 stars
    Been making pikliz for over 15 years when I moved to south Florida. There were no recipes on the net at the time, so I reverse engineered it from a batch that I got at a Caribbean store in Deerfield Beach. Basically the same, except no red bell pepper (but I like the idea for color) and I use at least 12 Scotch Bonnet/Habaneros for a 2 quart batch. We use it in place of sauerkraut on hot dogs. Just did some dogs last week for International Hot Dog Day. Running low, so it is on my to-do list. Just pulled a dozen orange datils from our pepper plants, so I will give it a try with those.

    Reply
    • Mike Hultquist says

      July 31, 2023 at 1:06 pm

      Awesome, Kurt! I think this will be fantastic with datil peppers. Enjoy! Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
  7. Lorna Wiens says

    August 10, 2022 at 7:05 am

    Can I process this in a hot water bath to keep it longer?

    Reply
    • Mike Hultquist says

      August 10, 2022 at 7:13 am

      You should be able to, though I've never tried it. You'll need to make sure the acidity is high enough - shoot for pH of 3.5 or lower for home water bath preserving. You could make sure it's all covered in brine.

      Reply
      • Lorna says

        August 10, 2022 at 10:13 am

        5 stars
        I did increased the lime and salt amount. It looks so pretty with all the different colours. Thank you. I will let you know how it turns out.

        Reply
  8. Margaret says

    July 11, 2022 at 11:27 am

    5 stars
    Good stuffs

    Reply
    • Mike Hultquist says

      July 11, 2022 at 12:38 pm

      Thanks!

      Reply
  9. Connie Davis says

    July 09, 2022 at 2:25 pm

    5 stars
    OK this was a total win with my husband. Had all the factors he enjoys......pickled, crunch, & spicy heat

    Reply
    • Mike Hultquist says

      July 10, 2022 at 12:58 pm

      Awesome! Glad to hear it, Connie! I love it.

      Reply
  10. Dave says

    July 06, 2022 at 9:53 am

    5 stars
    Best I’ve ever had used jalapeños

    Reply
    • Mike Hultquist says

      July 08, 2022 at 7:17 am

      Awesome!

      Reply
  11. Bill says

    June 29, 2022 at 4:07 pm

    I'm thinkin' this would go well on a banh mi sandwich!

    Reply
    • Mike Hultquist says

      June 29, 2022 at 8:45 pm

      Yes!! Perfection right there, Bill.

      Reply
  12. Jérémie says

    June 29, 2022 at 11:17 am

    5 stars
    Hey Mike, nice recipe! very similar to mine. Love pikliz and haitian dishes!
    I recommand you to use it in Poul Ak Nwa (Haitian chicken with cashews) which is also made with Ti Malis sauce, a magnificent and very mustardy hot sauce ...that I also recommend, if you do not know it!

    Reply
    • Mike Hultquist says

      June 29, 2022 at 11:41 am

      Thanks, Jérémie! Thanks for the suggestions! I love it! Very nice.

      Reply

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