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!! 🙂 He’s so complimentary! 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, I always have bushels of peppers left! I had to come up with something that used up a lot of peppers! I have been making different relishes for ages, including, cucumber and zucchini, so I thought I would 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!
How to Make Hot Pepper Relish
- 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!
- Chop up all of the peppers into fine pieces! (This photo is from the Sweet Pepper Relish)
- Chop up the onions fine. I used the food processor and just pulsed until they were the size I wanted.
- Add the vinegar, spices, salt and sugar.
- Mix and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Then reduce heat and simmer for at least 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pack in jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Process for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude!
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 Xtra 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 my 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!
Nuclear Jalapeño Hot Pepper Relish
He’s so complimentary! 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.Ingredients
- 5.5 cups peppers, stems removed, chopped fine in food processor use jalapeno, serrano, habanero, Hungarian wax, or any other hot pepper you have access to.
- 2 cups onion, chopped fine in food processor
- 1.5 cups cider vinegar
- 1.5 cups Sugar
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp dry mustard
- 1.5 tsp celery seed
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Heat to boiling, then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until thickened, the consistency of pickle relish.
- Process in hot jars for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude. For the method for canning, see this recipe
- Sweet Pepper Relish If you are making hot Pepper Relish, use all hot peppers!!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Angela
I canned one batch last summer and we finished it within a very short time. This year I will make more! Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe!
Beth Neels
Thanks so much for sharing that! I’m so glad you liked it! It’s a favorite with my family and friends too! Have a great weekend Angela!
Jan
I am so glad I discovered this recipe! I made several batches of this nuclear hot version, using mostly jalapeños- but added poblanos when I had some. I didn’t remove the seeds in ~1/2 of the jalapeños in one batch, and that was declared the ‘favorite’ by my heat loving son and his wife. I am still aging my cowboy candy, but am confident we will enjoy that too. Thank you so much for some excellent recipes. I will never throw jalapeños out again!
Beth Neels
Thank you so much for letting me know! That makes my day! I’m so glad you liked the relish! I’m sure you’ll like the cowboy candy too! The waiting is the hardest part! 🙂
Jan
I am wondering if this relish could be preserved in the freezer vs canning. It is impossible to buy / find flat canning lids this year! I ordered some lids from Amazon that (supposedly) shipped from China last week, but the projected delivery date has come and gone already, so I am losing hope. Help! We love this stuff and want to have it available year round!
Beth Neels
I have honestly not tried freezing it. My thoughts are that the texture may get a little funky, after thawing. Why don’t try a small batch and freeze it overnight, then thaw it the next day and see what you think. I know what you mean about the lids. It’s impossible to find them atm. I just ordered some yesterday. Hoping they get here sometimes soon! Thanks Jan! If you try freezing it. Get back to me with the results. I’ll do some myself this year! Thanks for checking out the recipe!
Denmis Barnes
Very good. We took all the seeds out so it wasn’t very hot. Try my receipe for pickled carrots.
2 serano peppers slit lengthways on one side
1 clove of garlic crushed
As many snack carrots as you can pack in a pint jar
Mix 1cup vinager half cup of water bring to boil
Fill jar almost to top, it will go down
Add lids and rings process 10 min
4-5 days and enjoy
Beth Neels
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the recipe.
Shannon
Hi! Was wondering if I had to process the jars after simmering? How long is the shelf life if I just put them in the fridge without canning?
Thanks!
Beth Neels
I would say the shelf life is fairly long. Certainly months. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly, depending on your refrigerator temp and such. 6 months is not unreasonable. I have had opened jars in the refrigerator for 6 months. Unopened will last longer. Thanks for checking out the recipe, Shannon!
Keith Lampard
How many pints or 1/2 pints does this recipe make. I love the sound of it for my Pub.
Beth Neels
It makes 4 half pints Keith. So about 128 tablespoons! It is one of my most requested recipes. Thanks for checking out the recipe! Let me know how you like it!
Tammy Red
Hello, I know this is an older post but hopefully you are still answering questions. for your 5.5 cups of peppers (1st ingredient on your list) what type peppers are you using?
I notice that there is just .5 cup of jalapenos…does just this amount provide enough heat?
Thanks for your time!
Beth Neels
Hi Tammy, For this recipe I use any hot pepper I have at the moment. I have used Hungarian Wax, Serrano, Habanero, or simply all jalapenos. If you prefer it not so hot, add any sweet pepper. Bell, Pablano, you name it. All of the different peppers will give you slight variations in flavor, but all are equally good! Thanks for stopping by!
sheila
I will try not to rattle off about this Relish too much. But save your time looking for any other
THIS IS IT people! Just think you can be make Sweet jalapeno Pepper Relish right now. I have done 34 1/2 pints. I am waiting
for a batch to get done now.
I did the Nuclear Jalapeño & Sweet Pepper Relish. You just can’t go wrong.
Some of mine will go in my Christmas gift baskets
Have you started yet ? What are you waiting for.
Binky
Wow! Thank you sooo much, Sheila! I am so glad you are enjoying them! My son eats it as fast as I can make it! I have about 15 more quarts of peppers that I am going to do today!
Julie Running in a SKirt
Ohhhh I love spicy food! This looks right up my alley. The flavors in this look so tasty. Can’t wait to try.
Binky
It’s really good! I think you will like it! Thanks Julie!
Amanda
I love relish and this recipe sounds AMAZING! Thanks for sharing!
Binky
Thanks Amanda! It’s pretty awesome!
Tristin Rieken
Oooh lucky you having all those peppers! I had to buy them but got a good deal at my local Mexican market and it was so worth it for this pepper relish! Yumm!!
Binky
Oh, great! I’m so glad you enjoyed it Tristen! Thank you for letting me know!
Elaine
This relish looks absolutely delicious! I have a relative that LOVES anything nuclear hot! He grew these peppers and had me try them because I love spicy things as well and my head almost exploded!! I can’t wait to share this recipe with him!
Binky
This one isn’t that hot because the hottest pepper that I have in here is jalapeño. If I had habanero, or ghost pepper, it would be a different story! Thanks so much for the comment Elaine!
Patty
Oh yum! I must absolutely try this nuclear hot relish, it has everything I love in it plus I love the heat, hot sauces occupy a whole shelf in my pantry!
Binky
Haha! Me too! And the refrigerator has an entire shelf! Thank you so much Patty!
Caroline
Sounds perfect for the chili lovers! Our neighbor grow a range of chili peppers, I’ll have to pass on this recipe as an idea to use them up!
Binky
Thank you Caroline! I would appreciate that! Ask them to let me know how they like it!
Anvita
I am sure this relish is full of flavors. You had me at the name of this relish.
Binky
Haha! Catchy title, isn’t it? Thank you Anvita!
Lisa | Garlic & Zest
You had me at “nuclear”. The flavors in this relish are POPPING!
Binky
Haha! Thanks Lisa! I really appreciate your comment!
Zahra
This looks hot hot hot!!!! I like it and would love to use it on a hotdog. I will try this, but I would reduce the amount of pepper just to be on the save side the first time.
Binky
Just use the sweet pepper relish recipe and add as much heat as your family likes! The recipe for the sweet pepper relish is very mild with the 3 jalapeños added to it! Thanks Zahra!
Sally Humeniuk
Wow! These recipes sound amazing and I’m super interested in the “nuclear hot” (love that title, lol). I’m in canning mode right now so these are perfect timing at my house. Nice recipes, Binky. Thanks for sharing! I’ll let you know how they turn out for me.
Binky
Do, please, let me know how you like them! Thanks so much Sally!
Sues
I LOVE that this is nuclear hot!! My husband would go crazy for it and so would I. Pretty sure we’d be putting it on everything 🙂
Binky
It is hard not to! We have used up both the hot and sweet from last year! I can’t wait to make some more! Thanks Sues!
Sherri
I have never made my own relish from scratch but now I want to try it! I just picked my first jalapeno so I know there will be more coming! Can’t wait to try! 🙂
Binky
The hardest part is waiting for at least 4-6 weeks for the flavors to develop! Thanks Sherri!
Jake
This is totally the best thing you make!!! No kidding!
Binky
I’m so glad you like it, son! You’ll have to come home this summer to get some more! 🙂