Pickled Peppers, hot or sweet
Let us guide you through the basics of pickling peppers, covering everything from selecting the right ingredients to the step-by-step process of creating jars of crunchy, tangy peppers.
Whether you’re looking to spice up your sandwiches, add pizzazz to your pizzas, or simply savor the satisfaction of making something delicious from scratch, you’re in for a flavorful journey
Peppers are among the easiest vegetables for canning. They are so great with so many different foods.
At the end of the season, you end up with so many peppers. Even mid-season, you can make a jar or two at a time and enjoy them all winter.
This technique is called quick pickling, and there is no need to process them in a canning pot. Read on for important storage information.
Growing Peppers
Last year was a great year for growing peppers in upstate NY. It was hot and dry, which peppers are excessively fond of. The drier the year, the hotter the pepper. This year is turning out to be the same, so these peppers should be super hot, too!
Want to learn more about growing your own peppers? If you love growing your own produce, these posts are packed full of information about how to get that big harvest by the end of the season! Don’t miss our How to Start a Garden Series!
The first section is Planning Your Garden. Second is Preparing the Garden Site.
The third is Choosing Plants and Planting Your Garden. The fourth is Garden Maintenance.
The last is Harvesting a Garden and Preserving the Harvest, this article has over 100 FREE recipes for preserving your harvest!
What Types of Peppers to Use
- Jalapeños
- Hungarian wax
- Banana peppers
- Ghost peppers
- Scotch Bonnet
- Serrano
- Hatch peppers
- Bell peppers
- most hot and mild peppers will work well
How to use these peppers
These pickled peppers can be used in so many ways. They are great in sandwiches, stews, and soups. Add some to your chili for an added kick. I put a small ramekin of them on charcuterie boards.
We love them on pizzas, and they are great when added to salads for a spicy, briny kick.
You can add them to tacos, burritos, fajitas, and enchiladas. Mix them with tomatoes for a quick pico de gallo.
The above photo is the first major picking from this year, which is why there are no red or orange peppers. Some peppers turn from green to yellow to orange to red with age. Generally, the hottest peppers are the oldest, red peppers.
These are all Hungarian Wax Peppers and a couple of green bell peppers.
The Hungarian Wax peppers have a similar heat level to jalapeños but can even be hotter.
What you need
- apple cider vinegar or white vinegar (you can also substitute white wine vinegar)
- Kosher salt: USe plain kosher or pickling salt.
- fresh or dried oregano
- garlic
- optional: peppercorns, bay leaves
How to make pickled peppers
So, briefly, let’s go on to the technique. The first thing you want to do is wash the peppers. Also, wash and sterilize the jars and warm the lids (you must sterilize the jars since these are quick-pickled). Get the rest of your ingredients together.
Step One:
Remove one hot jar at a time and add whole or sliced peppers. Use a clean knife to arrange them so that you can squeeze as many in the jar as possible. (Save enough room to add the remaining ingredients while allowing for about ½-inch headspace.) Pro tip: Lay jars on their sides to make packing whole peppers a breeze.
Step Two:
Add dried or fresh oregano; we have used both. Then add two tablespoons of fresh oregano and the Kosher or canning salt to the jar.
Step Three:
Then, fill the jar halfway with cider vinegar (about a cup for pint jars or 2 cups for quart jars) and add a few crushed garlic cloves.
Step Four:
Fill the remainder of the jar with boiling water, preserving the ½-inch headspace.
Step Five:
You can slice the peppers, too; instead of leaving them whole, slice them and then add them to the jars.
** Be sure to wear protective, food-safe gloves when slicing hot peppers. It is very difficult to wash the capsaicin (the hot stuff) off of your hands. It can badly burn your mucous membranes, like your eyes.
Wipe the rim of the jar with a damp paper towel. Remove the hot lid from the water. Center the lid on top of the jar. Add the band. Tighten fingertip tight.
Sliced peppers take up less shelf and refrigerator space. IMPORTANT NOTE: Wear Gloves!
Use pint jars for sliced peppers or small peppers. Use quart jars for whole peppers and large peppers.
How to store jars
I have been making these for decades and have never had any problem with the shelf life of these peppers. They last for at least three years. I usually keep them in the basement, which is cool and dry.
Peppers are a low-acid fruit, so if you want to make these peppers shelf-stable, they need to be pressure-canned.
We refrigerate them if they aren’t pressure-canned. We’ve done some AB testing with the quick-canned and found them crispier when refrigerated. Even when compared to jars kept in our cool root cellar.
The ones stored in the refrigerator have retained more of their vibrant color than the ones in the basement or root cellar.
They last for quite a long time- even years.
Pro tips to ensure your success
-Important Note: Wear food-grade gloves when slicing hot peppers!!
-Depending on the heat of the peppers that you are canning, these peppers can be very hot! Remember that the peppers will be hotter in hot, dry years. Perhaps not for the faint of heart.
-Rinsing sliced peppers can reduce a little bit of their heat level, but this is risky because it sprays small particles of capsaicin around in the air and can literally asphyxiate you. It is probably not worth the small bit of capsaicin that you will remove. In a dry year, the peppers will be hot.
-A better way to reduce the heat level of your peppers is to pickle green jalapenos only. Orange and red jalapenos are older and will be hotter. Peppers that develop ribs (beige to brown stripes on the skin are said to be older and hotter.)
-Also, scoop out and remove the ribs and seeds; much of the heat resides there. You can do this with a small melon baller or paring knife.
-Using a Canning tool kit can save you from potential burns.
-Do not reuse single-use lids. They may not be safe.
This recipe is for Cold-Packed Peppers. They can also be processed in a canning pot, but they get soggy.
-We have done lots of testing on the storage of these peppers and found they are best stored in the refrigerator.
-Peppers are crispiest when used within six months or so.
-Many varieties of peppers can be canned. Jalapenos, serranos, habaneros, banana, Hungarian wax, red hot cherry, and many others.
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Other Delicious Pickles
- pickled onion
- candied jalepenos
- pickled garlic scapes
- pickled radishes
- Kosher pickles
- Crispy Sweet Pickles
- Homemade pickling spice
- pickled green tomatoes
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I hope you enjoyed the recipe today.
Enjoy. And have fun cooking!
Pickled Peppers
Ingredients
- 20 about hot peppers
- 2 c. cider vinegar
- water
- 2 tsp. oregano, dried
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 2-3 small garlic cloves, crushed
Instructions
- Place Peppers in a clean, sterilized 1 qt. canning jar.
- Fill jar 1/2 way with vinegar.
- Add, spices and garlic. Quantities are NOT critical! Just eye it!
- Fill remainder of the jar with boiling water.
- Wipe edges of jars.
- Place sterilized lid on jar and screw on band, fingertip tight.
- Store in the refrigerator. Can be stored for at least 1 year.
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Nutrition
Originally published March 10, 2017. Updated March 25, 2024
How soon are they ready to eat after refrigerating?
I usually just wait a couple of days. You can technically eat them right away but they are better if they sit for a bit. Thanks for trying the recipe Nadine!
Hi Beth,
I just finished pickling jalapeños, hot yellow banana peppers, onions and I sliced into strips and it was SO easy to do!! I prepped veggies the night before and just had to wash, sterilize jars and lids. I learned awhile ago after washing jars to sterilize them in a 270 degree oven and take out one at a time. DID NOT do hot water bath as them are mushy. I also used dried oregano, dried fresh dill and pickling spices and alternated the herbs. I used rubber gloves to mix all the veggie strips in a large, clear glass bowl and stuffed the mixture into the sterilized. I wanted to add a phot but it didn’t show how I can do that.
Many thanks again for another GREAT recipe!
Susan
Your welcome Susan. Yes I find they get soggy if they are water bathed. I refrigerate for long periods and they are still good.
Hello!
I am doing 4 oz jars of sliced pickled peppers and 1 quart of whole peppers and I don’t know how much salt to use per jar…can you help with that, I’m a stickler for measurements and havre a hard time with eyeballing it. Thank you!
For the quart use about a tablespoon, for the 4 ounce use a heaping 1/4 teaspoon. Honestly, the measurements are not crucial to the success though, so don’t stress about it too much!
I store them in the bottom of my tall cabinets then chill them a day before serving. Works every single time. Great and easy recipe!
You don’t mention how you seal your jars?
Hi, there Stewart. I have updated the recipe card. you need to wipe jar edge, sterilize the lids and place them on jar. Then, tightened the bands. Thanks for checking out the recipe!
I have to say, grew up with grandma and dad who both had huge gardens. And a basement filled in canned food from those gardens. So delicious. But alot of work! This, and all of your recipes, are amazing! So good, yet so easy!!!!! My family owned a restaurant and im all about food. Ive never commented on websites. Im not tech savvy, im a cook. Haha! But you are fabulous! I had to let u kno! Thank u!!!!!!! Take care!
Wow! Amanda! I’m touched! I’m glad you enjoy BCC! I is a great joy for me to help folks cook and prepare foods easily! Thank you so much! Xoxo
I LOVE your pickled pepper recipe!!! I made one quart because that was all I had left after following a different recipe. I kept them in the fridge and opened them the following week and I think I ate them all in 3 days! On salads and sandwiches. Yummm! My hot peppers produced again so I’m dedicating all the banana peppers to this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing!
Oh, that’s GREAT to hear Olivia! I’m so happy you are enjoying them! (I try to let them sit more than a week! They will be better after a month! 😂 ) Of course, I need to do a lot and keep my son off them! Thank you so much for stopping by! You may like this Pepper Relish or Candied Jalapenos, as well! They are great with so many things, as well! Have a great weekend!
I have seen other recipes that call for mustard seeds and celery seeds. You don’t use that in your recipe, what isn’t the reasoning for using these two ingredients in canning? I tried canning a batch of banana peppers and it called for sugar, mustard seed, celery seed and I wasn’t big on it!!! Thank you for your advice! I will be canning the rest of my peppers soon!
I use mustard seed and celery seeds for other things that I pickle. I don’t feel that the flavors are essential with hot peppers because they have so much flavor on their own. I prefer to have them as close to fresh as possible! I use celery seed and sugar in my Candied Jalapenos that makes them candied and sweet, though. That’s not what I’m looking for with the pickled peppers! I hope that helps! Thanks for stopping by!
Who knew pickling peppers was so easy!! Anything that can keep for 3 years is a total winner and a great way to use excess garden produce. Thanks for sharing this great post 🙂
It’s a lot of fun too! That you Anna!
There’s a pizza place near us that does a sausage and pickled banana pepper pizza, and whenever we get it my husband always says we need to try making our own pickled peppers so I can see this recipe coming in handy!
Haha! Super easy to do Caroline! Let me know how you like them! Banana peppers work great with this recipe too! Thanks!
I bet these are amazing. I love pickled peppers on salads, tacos, meats. So many ways to enjoy them. I think your photos are beautiful. So bright and cheery.
Thank you so much, Michelle! They are super versatile, aren’t they? I had a few comments on Instagram that asked what to do with them and I thought, what??