Easy Peasy Pickled Ramps

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These quick pickled ramps are so easy to keep the special flavour of wild leeks all year round.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, when ramps poke through the spring soil and it’s time to go foraging. 
 

  

 
But like all great things ramps are only around for a short time, just a few weeks.

This is why I absolutely adore pickling ramps.

Instead of going foraging and eating only ramps every day for two weeks because you don’t want them to spoil, you can relax and enjoy them all year long. 

 
27 DELICIOUS: Ramp Recipes
 

I’ve also included a few other ramp recipes below, but if you have a lot you’re going to need to read this post…
 

Wild ramp still in tact in the ground, with dirt removed around it so you can see whole plant.

What are Ramps?

Ramps, or allium tricoccum, are also known as wild leeks or wild garlic.

While they are very popular in Canada and northern US States, they also are known in other countries as wild spring onions, ramson and wood leeks.

In Ontario they grow wild and it’s legal to pick them.

But that’s not the case in Nova Scotia or Quebec where over foraging has led to them becoming close to extinction.

For this reason you need to be careful careful that you buy from ethical foragers or forage ramps yourself.

 
BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO: Foraging Wild Edible Plants
 

You can use them in these easy ramp recipes:

Pickled ramps are so easy to make and you can preserve the wild leek flavour all year long.

How Long Do Ramps Last

Not only is the ramp season short, they don’t last long in the fridge.

You have four days to consume them fresh.

Like many greens you need to keep in the a damp paper towel in a plastic bag in the fridge, but don’t seal it.

Make sure everything else in the fridge is sealed as ramps are very pungent. As soon as you open the door you’ll be hit with that delicious garlic-onion smell.

   

While ramp season is short, luckily pickled ramps are easy to make at home and they hold up better than freezing ramps.

Freezing wild ramps works if you’re just going to puree them, but I don’t like the texture when they thaw.

To freeze ramps, blanch them first then put them in a single layer on a sheet of wax paper.

Make sure they are separated. After a couple hours you can then transfer to a container or heavy duty freezer bag.

Freezing ramps preserves them for a few months.
 
 

Ayngelina foraging for wild ramps, sitting on forest floor.

Foraging Wild Edible Food

My first time foraging wild food was mushrooms in Spain (here’s a video of it) and I was hooked.

I brought that love to Canada and was able to forage in Ontario for a few years, mostly ramps and wild ginger in the spring and then mushrooms in the winter.

I was lucky to be able to forage on private land, where no one had previously foraged so once you found a patch of ramps it would go on for ages.

Foragers closely guard their spots more than anyone I have ever seen because it’s so special to find something.

The only reason I was able to go foraging for mushrooms with friends in Spain is because they knew I couldn’t find the place on my own!

If you can’t find ramps on your own a lot of farmers markets will have them during the season.

Many people who make their business from foraged and wild plants are actually now scattering seeds in Ontario to help prevent against over-foraging.
 
 

Pickled ramps are so easy to make and you can preserve the wild leek flavor all year long.

Pickled Ramps Recipe

If you have a quick pickles recipe it’s easy to use that recipe. Simply pour the liquid over ramps and refrigerate.

Ramps work perfectly with the leaves, there’s no need to remove them.

However, after the first time pickling ramps a reader pointed out that he blanches the ramps first to fit more into a jar.

Thank you for that tip.

Canning jars be expensive and this means you can fit far more ramps into a quart jar.

Once you clean the ramps and remove any roots that may be attached you can put them directly into the jar.

This recipe uses cider vinegar but red wine vinegar is also great and makes the jars a pretty pink colour. Ingredients are so flexible in a pickle recipe.

Red pepper flakes or bay leaves are also a great addition.

Once you’re done using the pickled ramps don’t even think of throwing out all that tasty pickling liquid.

It is fantastic to use in recipes that call for vinegar and has a nice mild onion flavour.
 
 

wild ramps in a canning jars to become pickled ramps

How Long Do Pickled Ramps Last? 

A quick pickle with last in the fridge a few weeks to a couple months.

You must make sure you put a clean utensil into the jar each time or you’ll spoil the ramps.

Water bathed canned pickled will last a year in a cool, dark area. They are fantastic in this snow crab cakes recipe.

Where to Buy Pickled Ramps?

If you have no desire to make your own pickled ramps head out to the country.

A lot of country farm stores like Lynn River Farm in Perth County sell their own preserves.

Farmer’s markets are also a good spot, especially right after ramp season.

But if you don’t buy them in the spring it’s unlikely you’ll find them as the are very popular.

Pickled ramps placed in a jar for canning ramps are so easy to make and you can preserve the wild leek flavor all year long.

Pickled Ramps

Yield: 12 small jars
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Additional Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

These quick pickled ramps are so easy to keep the special flavour of wild leeks all year round.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 lb ramps
  • 2 cups cider vinegar
  • 1.5 cup white vinegar
  • 1.5 cup water
  • 1.25 teapsoon Kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon pickling spice
  • 2 bay leaves

Instructions

  1. Blanch ramps and place in jars.
  2. Bring all ingredients to a boil and pour over ramps in jars
  3. Process ramps jars through water bath canning
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 Amount Per Serving: Calories: 14Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 64mgCarbohydrates: 0gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 0g

Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although BaconisMagic.ca attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

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Join the Conversation

  1. Wow this looks delicious!!! I really want to try some.

  2. Valen-Eating The Globe says:

    I’ve never thought of pickling ramps, but these look amazing. One recipe I will definitely try!

  3. This recipe look fantastic! I salivate just to see. Thank you for sharing this recipe!

  4. Hi, What is the processing time for these?

  5. Barry J Dmytro says:

    I would really like to know how these turn out after heat processing. Every Time I’ve subjected ramps to heat, they lose their distinctive spice, leaving me with a bland mushy green. If I add them to a cooked dish, I don’t add them till I take the dish off of the heat. Do they have that distinct ramp flavor that lingers on your pallet?

    1. Ayngelina Author says:

      Anytime you process vegetables you’re sure to change the flavour. That fresh flavour is only going to exist while they are fresh – which is why ramp season is so special. So I would eat as much as you can fresh (recipe ideas here – https://www.baconismagic.ca/canada/ramp-recipes/) and then pickle the others for a slightly different flavour – I love the pickled ramp recipe with kimchi mayo but its very different than say the fresh ramp pesto recipe.

  6. Terri Smith says:

    1.25 cups of salt???
    Do you mean 1-1/4 teaspoon??

    1. Ayngelina Author says:

      What a typo!! Thank you for asking. I just revised the recipe.

  7. Flower power! says:

    I have pickled leeks for years. I have never water bathed them. !

    1. Ayngelina Author says:

      What’s your method, do you pressure can them?

  8. stuart ellis says:

    I haven’t pressure canned, have looked into it, but plan on it. I vacuum pack freeze mine. I am going digging in about a week, and usually end up with 30 one gallon freezer bags full of ramps. They last well over a year freezing them, and still retain their flavor! I’ll send pics and video if you would like.

    1. Ayngelina Author says:

      That would be awesome. You can send it to Ayngelina At Baconismagic dot ca

  9. been canning wild leeks my whole life im 64 . i never seen a bigger patch than i got. i work with alot of guys from wv. i showed them pictures, they never seen a bigger one.plan on selling them soon.

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