Nuclear Jalapeno Hot Pepper Relish

Hot Pepper Relish is a great way to preserve all of the peppers you have at the end of the season! Pepper relish is super easy to can and shelf stable!

My big sons’ review of this recipe is that it the best thing I have ever made!! 🙂 Well, I don’t know about that, but it sure is very tasty.

If you are not a huge fan of spicy heat, the Hot Pepper Relish is NOT for you. It is hot. Go for the sweet pepper relish, instead. It is very mild, containing only a few jalapeños.

At the end of the season, we always have bushels of peppers left. We have to come up with creative ways to use up a lot of peppers!

We have been making different relishes for ages, including, cucumber and zucchini, so why not try a relish with peppers? This relish does not disappoint. Honestly, you can’t have too many condiments, in my book. It takes a same old, same old boring meal to all new realms. Perfect.

What you need

• hot peppers – use any hot pepper you have access to. Jalapenos, Hungarian wax, habanero, serrano peppers, ghost pepper,
• vinegar
• sugar
• turmeric
• dry mustard
• pepper
• celery seed

How to make it

1. Wash peppers. Wear gloves!! Very important! If you don’t, you will have to wash your hands 100 times to get all of the pepper oils off your hands. Don’t touch eyes or any mucus membrane. Halve them and remove most of the seeds and ribs. You can technically leave them in if you want the heat level nuclear.
2. Chop up all of the peppers into fine pieces.
3. Chop up the onions fine. We used the food processor and just pulse until they were the size I wanted.
4. Add the vinegar, spices, salt and sugar.
5. Mix and bring the mixture to a boil.
6. Then reduce heat and simmer for at least 10 minutes, stir occasionally. Pack pepper mixture in jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Process for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude. See recipe below for process time altitude adjustment.

You can adjust the level of heat in this relish by the number of hot peppers included in the mix. If you like medium or hot salsas, add 2 more jalapeños for every degree of heat you would like to increase. I would call this Hot Pepper Relish hot.

As always, when making salsas or hot sauces, err on the side of caution. You can always add more but you can’t take it away. Always taste for heat before canning any sauces, bearing in mind that as it sits, it will gain heat, not lose it.

Hope you enjoyed the recipe today for pepper relish! Give it a try next month when you have peppers coming out of your ears. If you like this easy condiment, you have to give our Oscar Relish a try. It is one of my favorites. The recipe for Sweet Pepper Relish is here.

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Enjoy! And have fun cooking!

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