It’s that time of year where summer gardens are producing hot peppers in enormous quantities!
The thing about hot peppers though, is you can only eat so many before they go bad.
So what’s to be done with all the extra harvest!
Pickling to the rescue!
Pickling your extra hot peppers is a great way to make them last much longer, and it adds so much flavor!
We love to use pickled jalapeños on sandwiches, burgers, in salads, casseroles, and especially as a taco topping!
The best part about this pepper pickling recipe?
It only takes about ten minutes and doesn’t require any special equipment. If you have some basic spices and a ball jar, you can have pickled peppers!
The flavors in this recipe are simple and delicious, but what’s nice is they can be infinitely tweaked to your own tastebuds.
Any of the herbs and spices can be swapped for ones that you like better, and it’s fun to experiment with different styles!
These pickled peppers will last for up to six months in the refrigerator, but we doubt you’ll be able to go that long without eating them all!
For our pickled peppers we used a variety of Jalapeno, Cayenne, and Hungarian Wax peppers. You can use any mix of hot peppers for pickling, or choose just one variety.
To fill our one quart jar, we used approximately 5 Hungarian peppers, 12 jalapenos, and 2 cayennes.
Ingredients:
Peppers: 1.5 pounds of peppers, in any mixture.
- Jalapeños
- Hungarian Wax Peppers
- Cayenne
- Serrano
- Poblano
- Chili Pepper
- Tabasco Pepper
Brine:
- 1 quart filtered water
- 3 TB kosher salt
Flavorings:
- 1 ts Minced garlic
- 1/2 ts Coriander seed
- 2 ts Oregano
- 1 ts whole black peppercorns
- 1/2 ts ground black pepper
Step 1: Wash
Thoroughly wash and scrub all the peppers under cool running water.
Take time to get your quart sized jar and the lid super clean and sterilized. We like to scrub ours with hot soapy water, then send them through the sanitizing cycle in the dishwasher.
Step 2: Slice
Using a sharp knife, remove and compost the pepper hulls, then slice all the peppers into rings. There’s no need to de-seed and de-vein the peppers, but if you prefer to, you certainly can.
You may want to wear gloves for this step if you have sensitive skin, the oils from the peppers can cause burning and rashes.
Step 3: Prep the Brine
Set 1/2 cup of filtered water to boil, either in a tea kettle or a saucepan. Measure out three tablespoons of kosher or pickling salt and pour it into your quart sized jar. Measure out and add the flavorings listed above to the jar as well.
Once the water is boiling, pour it into the jar and stir vigorously with a spoon until the salt dissolves and everything is mixed.
Step 4: Pack the jar
Pack the sliced peppers carefully into the jar, pushing them down gently after each addition. Keep filling the jar until you reach the neck of the jar.
Pour clean, filtered water slowly into the jar until all the peppers are covered. Cover the jar tightly with the lid and keep in the refrigerator for at least a day before enjoying.
Do be aware, this is not a canning recipe, so you must keep the peppers in the fridge in order to keep them safe for consumption.
Your pickled peppers will keep in the refrigerator for around 6 months, and can be enjoyed on any number of dishes.
We like to use ours to add a little spice and flavor to stir fries, toss them into omelettes, and even put them on homemade pizza!
Don’t be too surprised if the hot peppers lose a little of their spice over time. This is a natural result of the pickling process, but we’ve found it to be quite nice! The more mellow flavor jives well with almost any dish.
Have fun with pickling your pepper harvest, and if you’ve come up with any fun new flavor varieties, we’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Homemade Quick Pickled Hot Peppers - No Canning Required!
Pickling your extra hot peppers is a great way to make them last much longer, and it adds so much flavor!
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds of peppers of any variety (Jalapeños, Hungarian Wax Peppers, Cayenne, Serrano, Poblano, Chili Pepper, Tabasco Pepper)
- 1 quart filtered water
- 3 TB kosher salt
- 1 ts minced garlic
- 1/2 ts coriander seed
- 2 ts oregano
- 1 ts whole black peppercorns
- 1/2 ts ground black pepper
Instructions
- Thoroughly wash and scrub all the peppers under cool running water.
- Clean and sterilize your quart sized jar.
- Using a sharp knife, remove and compost the pepper hulls, then slice all the peppers into rings
- Set 1/2 cup of filtered water to boil, either in a tea kettle or a saucepan.
- Measure out three tablespoons of kosher or pickling salt and pour it into your quart sized jar.
- Measure out and add the flavorings listed above to the jar as well.
- Once the water is boiling, pour it into the jar and stir vigorously with a spoon until the salt dissolves and everything is mixed.
- Pack the sliced peppers carefully into the jar, pushing them down gently after each addition. Keep filling the jar until you reach the neck of the jar.
- Pour clean, filtered water slowly into the jar until all the peppers are covered. Cover the jar tightly with the lid and keep in the refrigerator for at least a day before enjoying.
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