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Fermenting Made Simple: Delicious Recipes to Improve Your Gut Health
Looking to improve your gut health in a fun and flavourful way? This collection of 80+ recipes is a friendly, no-fuss primer on the joys of fermented foods.
In this down-to-earth, no-fuss primer on fermented foods, Emillie Parrish introduces home cooks to deliciously easy DIY cultured foods and the principles of probiotics for health and well-being.
Organized into chapters on fermented vegetables; nuts, seeds, and beans; grains; dairy; sourdough; and beverages (plus ideas for adding your ferments to snacks and meals) the book’s 80+ recipes emphasize simplicity over specialized ingredients or equipment. The book is entirely vegetarian and includes a number of recipes specifically for gluten-free or vegan diets. From kimchi, pickles, and salsa to ginger bug, yogurt, and spreads, you'll soon have a kitchen full of tasty fermented foods.
With beautiful photography, thorough guidelines on sanitizing, advice on mould (it’s not all bad!), and best practices for storing your ferments for the short- and long-term, Fermenting Made Simple will teach you how to make affordable, no-cook and zero-waste pickles, condiments, snacks, and treats. All of your meals will burst with flavour!
In this down-to-earth, no-fuss primer on fermented foods, Emillie Parrish introduces home cooks to deliciously easy DIY cultured foods and the principles of probiotics for health and well-being.
Organized into chapters on fermented vegetables; nuts, seeds, and beans; grains; dairy; sourdough; and beverages (plus ideas for adding your ferments to snacks and meals) the book’s 80+ recipes emphasize simplicity over specialized ingredients or equipment. The book is entirely vegetarian and includes a number of recipes specifically for gluten-free or vegan diets. From kimchi, pickles, and salsa to ginger bug, yogurt, and spreads, you'll soon have a kitchen full of tasty fermented foods.
With beautiful photography, thorough guidelines on sanitizing, advice on mould (it’s not all bad!), and best practices for storing your ferments for the short- and long-term, Fermenting Made Simple will teach you how to make affordable, no-cook and zero-waste pickles, condiments, snacks, and treats. All of your meals will burst with flavour!
- GenresCookbooks
232 pages, Paperback
Published June 28, 2022
About the author
Emillie Parrish
2 books3 followersEmillie Parrish is a home cook and blogger who draws on her background in science and healthcare to fuel her interest in fermentation. She has a particular interest in Food Literacy and strives to create simple and delicious recipes, designed to inspire an interest in home-cooked meals. You can find more of her recipes on her blogs Fermenting For Foodies and Berries & Barnacles
She lives in Victoria, BC, with her husband and their two children.
She lives in Victoria, BC, with her husband and their two children.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 17, 2025
This book covers the basics of fermenting in a clear way and offers tons of delicious recipes. Beautiful photos, too.
May 25, 2022
Fermenting Made Simple is more than just a cookbook. Its also a health book and a sustainable living book. Fermented food can help heal the gut, ease digestive complaints, and contribute to greater health and longevity. It also tastes pretty good, with its complex sweet and sour flavors. Fermented food can also help you use up the scraps, the peelings, and the leftovers from garden and fridge, in a way that's delicious and economical.
Emillie Parrish proved the health giving benefits of fermented food in her own health and in the health of her children. That's reason enough to read this book, but it also has some pretty amazing traditional recipes made better because of the active bacterial cultures.
Some of the recipes come right out of the region that I live in, so reading it was like talking to an old friend over tea. Recipes like Doukhobor Cabbage Rolls, Winter Vinaigrette Salad, Eastern European Fermented Tomatoes, Brilliant Jam Factory Sandwich Bread, and Salty Beet Kvass, are ones I've made myself at home, without a recipe or sampled at a church potluck. But with this fermentation cookbook, it makes it even easier to make these cultured foods at home, with consistent results.
All the recipes in this book are vegetarian, though not necessarily vegan. There are some gluten-free recipes but not all recipes are gluten-free. Read recipes carefully if you or a family member have food allergies.
The biggest problem I have is which recipe to try first -- rhubarb because my garden rhubarb is abundant and ready to harvest, or ginger bug and ginger beer because I adore ginger and have bags of organic ginger right now in my pantry.
Emillie Parrish created an inspiring and approachable cookbook that turns a mysterious subject into an easy, step by step plan for success. Thanks for investing the time to write this welcome addition to the fermentation cookbook library, Emillie.
I was given access to a pre-publication copy of this book by the publisher for review.
Emillie Parrish proved the health giving benefits of fermented food in her own health and in the health of her children. That's reason enough to read this book, but it also has some pretty amazing traditional recipes made better because of the active bacterial cultures.
Some of the recipes come right out of the region that I live in, so reading it was like talking to an old friend over tea. Recipes like Doukhobor Cabbage Rolls, Winter Vinaigrette Salad, Eastern European Fermented Tomatoes, Brilliant Jam Factory Sandwich Bread, and Salty Beet Kvass, are ones I've made myself at home, without a recipe or sampled at a church potluck. But with this fermentation cookbook, it makes it even easier to make these cultured foods at home, with consistent results.
All the recipes in this book are vegetarian, though not necessarily vegan. There are some gluten-free recipes but not all recipes are gluten-free. Read recipes carefully if you or a family member have food allergies.
The biggest problem I have is which recipe to try first -- rhubarb because my garden rhubarb is abundant and ready to harvest, or ginger bug and ginger beer because I adore ginger and have bags of organic ginger right now in my pantry.
Emillie Parrish created an inspiring and approachable cookbook that turns a mysterious subject into an easy, step by step plan for success. Thanks for investing the time to write this welcome addition to the fermentation cookbook library, Emillie.
I was given access to a pre-publication copy of this book by the publisher for review.
March 24, 2023
See my full review here.
I liked this guide for first-timers so much I bought a copy for my own shelf. I found it at our library, and have been recommending it ever since. Parrish has a background in neuroscience and health, and opens with an explanation of the value of fermented food for the body. (Plus it's delicious.) She then moves into the fermentation process, from the science to the equipment you’ll need (not much). She explains what problems to watch for and how to address them, giving brand-new fermenters like me a boost of confidence. Then we move into the actual recipes, which number about 80. I tested two - cultured ketchup and fermented mango chutney. Both were very easy to follow recipes with clear step-by-step instructions, and tips on avoiding trouble, as well as how to use the final results. Both made more volume than Parrish indicated, but that's it. I have since made a simple sauerkraut and it is still in process, but the first two items are delicious and already disappearing out of the jars. My thanks to the Grand Forks (B.C.) & District Public Library for including a copy of this resource in its adult nonfiction collection.
I liked this guide for first-timers so much I bought a copy for my own shelf. I found it at our library, and have been recommending it ever since. Parrish has a background in neuroscience and health, and opens with an explanation of the value of fermented food for the body. (Plus it's delicious.) She then moves into the fermentation process, from the science to the equipment you’ll need (not much). She explains what problems to watch for and how to address them, giving brand-new fermenters like me a boost of confidence. Then we move into the actual recipes, which number about 80. I tested two - cultured ketchup and fermented mango chutney. Both were very easy to follow recipes with clear step-by-step instructions, and tips on avoiding trouble, as well as how to use the final results. Both made more volume than Parrish indicated, but that's it. I have since made a simple sauerkraut and it is still in process, but the first two items are delicious and already disappearing out of the jars. My thanks to the Grand Forks (B.C.) & District Public Library for including a copy of this resource in its adult nonfiction collection.
April 28, 2025
A very informative and easy to read/ understand guide on fermentation. I am excited to make your apricot mustard recipe and many others. Gut health is pretty popular on Vancouver island and I was happy to find out that the author is a local!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews