An easy tutorial on how to make pickled peppers at home. This fun and simple recipe is perfect for those who are new to canning and enjoy a little spice, or for canning aficionados as well as those who grow their own vegetable garden.Â
Once upon a time, I wrote A Guide to Hot Sauces for the website, Oh My Veggies, which was quite the spicy episode.
I procured an armful of hot sauces and chilies so that I could snap photos for the post, which resulted in lots of excess hot sauce…and chilies.
Because hot sauce keeps for eternity and I use it frequently, I had no question about how all the bottles would be used. Put it on everything. Drink it down, son!
I did, however, wonder what to do with all the chilies. Stuff them, similar to my Cream Cheese Stuffed Baby Bell Peppers?Â
What about the habaneros? What in the world will I do with the habaneros?
I came across this recipe from Eating Well (formerly Cooking Light) for Hot Pepper Vinegar, which is what inspired me to make quick pickled peppers.
The process of making quick pickles is simple.
All you need is some mild or hot peppers like jalapeno peppers, banana peppers, red chiles, etc., some garlic cloves, a couple cups vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and storage jars like mason jars.
If you grow a garden, making pickled peppers is a great way of preserving your garden goodies.
Let’s dive into the details.
I promise I won’t make any Peter Piper jokes.
Ingredients for Pickled Peppers:
Peppers and Chiles: Choose your favorite small peppers based on your heat preference. Banana peppers and jalapeño peppers are relatively mild compared to the fire that is the hotter peppers like habaneros and serrano peppers, so chose wisely. Â
As you can see in the photos, I chose several varieties of peppers. You can go with different types of peppers or stick with one variety.
For large peppers like green peppers or red bell peppers, simply cut the peppers into smaller chunks so that they will fit into the jar easily.
Vinegar and Water: The liquid we use to preserve the pickled peppers is a combination of white vinegar (rice vinegar works too) and water. The ratio of vinegar does matter for preservation purposes.Â
Garlic Cloves: A few fresh cloves garlic adds lovely flavor to this home canning project! You can also add red onions or yellow onions to this easy recipe if you’d like.
Kosher Salt: A natural preservative, you can add sea salt or iodized salt to your personal taste. I only add about 1/2 teaspoon.
Sugar and Pickling Spices: While optional, both sugar and pickling spices bring flavor to quick pickle brines. Pickling spices include whole peppercorns, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, and sometimes cloves.
How to Make Pickled Peppers:
Begin by preparing the hot brine. Add the vinegar, water, sugar and any pickling seasonings to a small saucepan and bring it to a full boil. Remove the brine liquid from the stove top and allow it to cool.Â
Put on some disposable gloves and wash peppers well under lukewarm water. You can either leave the peppers whole, slice them in half, or slice peppers into small pieces using a paring knife on a cutting board.
If you’re minimizing the spice level, be sure to remove the seeds and membranes of the peppers. You won’t need to worry about this when using sweet peppers like shishito peppers.
Pre-cook the peppers to open up the flavor of the chilis and ensure they soften up during the pickling process. To do so, heat 1 to 2 tablespoons of avocado oil or olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Place peppers (either whole peppers or sliced peppers) on the hot skillet and sauté, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, and the skin begins to turn brown.
As an alternative, you can roast the chilis in the oven on a baking sheet at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes in the hot oven. You can also use the broiler method and broil the peppers for 5 to 8 minutes in the oven.
Pack peppers into two 1-quart sanitized jars, or four sterile half pints. Add in the remaining ingredients (sliced garlic and pickling spices).
Pour the vinegar solution mixture over the peppers, filling the jars up to the top. Seal the jars tightly with an airtight lid, then refrigerate.
I usually give them at least a couple of days before cracking into the jar, but the prepared peppers taste even better after they have been sitting for a week or so.Â
Tips for Preparing This Recipe:
Before you handle any hot peppers, be sure to wear gloves. If you’ve ever gotten capsaicin on your hands, you know it has a tendency to stay even after thoroughly washing your hands.
It can cause your eyes (and other body parts) to burn when touched, so be sure to put on those rubber gloves and wash hands very well after preparing the recipe.
While you can pickle the peppers raw, I don’t recommend this as they will stay very snappy and the flavor won’t be quite as developed.
For the best results, give the peppers a little pre-cook, be it a quick sauté in the skillet or a roast in the oven.
The longer you allow the pickled peppers to sit in the refrigerator, the softer they become.
How to Store Pickled Peppers:
Make sure you’re using a sanitized jar (or jars) for pickling the peppers. Once the peppers are in the jars with the pickling liquid and are nice and sealed, you can store them in the refrigerator for several months unopened, or up to 1 month if you continuously open the jar to use the peppers.
This recipe is similar to refrigerator pickles and is not intended for long-term storage.
If you’re familiar with the canning process, you can go through your typical steps of using a boiling water bath to sanitize jars so that the pickles last even longer in the pantry.
What to Do with Pickled Peppers:
I use pickled peppers almost exclusively for sandwiches because I find them to be so tasty on a good sandwich!
I also love having pickled peppers as an option for charcuterie boards for my friends who love lots of flavor or spice.
Here are some more ideas for what you can do with your pickled peppers:
- Chop them up (if they aren’t chopped already) and put them in a quesadilla, burrito, or taco.
- Blend pickled peppers with other ingredients such as fresh tomatoes and onion to make salsa.
- Chop them up and put them on pizza or flatbread.
- Add pickled peppers to a salad.
- Make your own hot sauce.
Looking for ways you can customize your own pickling experience? Here are some ideas.
Recipe Adaptations:
- Add 1 tablespoon of a store-bought pickling spice blend, or any combination of the following: 1 tsp whole cloves, 2 tsp whole mustard seed, 2 tsp coriander seed, 1 bay leaf, 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes.
- You may also add more sugar for sweeter pickled peppers or omit the sugar altogether. You can also replace the sugar with coconut sugar or pure maple syrup.
- Sauté up an onion for a two-in-one pickled pepper and pickled onion fiesta.
- Omit the garlic if you don’t have any on hand.
- Add a few nubs of fresh ginger.
Let your hair down and enjoy the pickling process! Get creative with your additions to make the best pickled peppers on this green Earth.
Have fun adding these spice nuggets to any dish to spice it up! Whatever tickles your pickle. Couldn’t resist.
How to Make Pickled Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil*
- 12 ounces chilies of choice about 4 cups
- 6 cloves garlic sliced in half
- 2 cups white vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 Tbsp sugar**
- ½ teaspoon salt
You Will Also Need:
- 1 to 2 1- Quart Mason Jar
Optional Add-Ins:
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 to 2 tsp whole coriander seed
- 1 to 2 tsp cloves
- 1 to 2 tsp peppercorns
- 1 to 2 tsp whole cumin seed
- 1 to 2 tsp whole mustard seed
Instructions
- Heat the vinegar, water, sugar and salt in a small saucepan until sugar and salt is dissolved. Once the sugar has dissolved, remove the pickling liquid from the stove top and allow it to cool while you're preparing the rest of the recipe.
- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high and add the chilies and garlic. Sauté, stirring frequently until softened, about 5 minutes. Allow the chilies to cool enough to handle.
- Add the chilies and garlic to a sanitized 1-quart sized jar (or 4 smaller mason jars).
- Note: If desired, slice some of the chilies in half length-wise in order to infuse the vinegar with chili spice and flavor.
- Pour the water/vinegar mixture over the chilis and allow the contents of the jar to cool to room temperature. Seal the jar and refrigerate. Pickled peppers will stay fresh in an air-tight jar for up to 1 month.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.
I originally published this recipe on June 25, 2014. I updated the photographs and added more information to make the recipe even easier to follow.
i kept waiting for the Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers line. But, then and again, you probably didn’t have a whack-a-doodle dad that taught you things like this at the dinner table. Ah, well. Jerry would love these.
We definitely did the peter piper rhyme said 10 times fast 🙂 I thought about doing the whole rhyme for my post but then realized I’d get some sweet peter piper comments if I left it out, and I’m so happy you obliged! ;D
I like the idea of this…but if I have to ask what to use the pickled peppers for, am I just not the kind of person who would enjoy them? :\
I eat pickled peppers plain, and also use them in salsa. I like putting pickled jalapeños on sandwiches and on too of eggs. If you’re not super into pickled peppers, I could see why you’d resist the process of making them 🙂
I have a few jalapeno plants in my garden, which means if all goes well it won’t be long before I’ll have more peppers than I’d normally know what to do with. Now I know what I’m doing with them 🙂 Never thought to saute before pickling, so I’m definitely looking forward to trying that out.
My husband’s a fan of pickled peppers. I may have to give this a try for him!
I’m ready to pick a peck to make pickled peppers. Sorry, couldn’t resist,
So…. DID peter piper pick the peck of pickled peppers??? I was waiting on the edge of my seat to find out. I figured with Julie’s question you may have shed some light on the topic, but alas, no light.
Literally, the first thing I thought of when I saw this in my inbox was the Peter Piper tongue twister. I’m a 30 year old trapped in a 5 year old’s body!
These look awesome.
Shoot, I’m 55 and that was the first thing that came to mind!
I love peppers and I can’t get enough of anything and everything that is pickled, so these pickled peppers are really speaking to me!! I want to eat them by themselves and put them on everything! They also look so beautiful in the jar together! I think I just found my new favorite condiment 🙂
I love spice, but pickled peppers are just way way way better than raw peppers. I’ve never really thought to pickle peppers other than jalapenos…but hey! Why not?!
Can you use this recipe for roasted red bell peppers? I like to use those when I make my hot sauce. I’ve got jalapenos and Fresno reds growing now in my garden and this will be a great recipe to utilize the overabundance of peppers in the next few weeks.
I was wondering if I could mail these or do they have to stay in the refrigerator the whole time.
Hi Natasha, as long as you seal the jar really well, I think the peppers would stay perfectly preserved, and should do fine in the mail 🙂 Best of luck!
Hi, I sealed my jars when the contents was still very hot. Is this a problem?
Why does it have to be at room temp before sealing, will it make my batch go bad if I sealed it hot?
How long do they last in the refrigerator?
Never mind! I just saw up to a month.
Seems like one month is extremely conservative for how long they’ll last refrigerated, no? Another question is how long to wait for a sufficient pickle to be ready to eat?
I can process these in a hot water bath and put them on the shelf, can’t I? I have A LOT of peppers,
Made homemade pickled red peppers, 1 cup water,1/2 cup vinegar ,1/3 cup sugar and salt 2 taste., put thm in sterilized mason jar, let cool 2 room temperature, and putnin fridge, confident they will taste good, but how long will they keep in fridge?
Hi Allan! As long as they’re tightly sealed, they should keep for upwards of 2 months…often longer, but I don’t want to make guarantees 😉
Your recipe is great. I like it. but I want ask you that Can I use this recipe for roasted red bell peppers? thanks you!
Do I have to refrigerate them. I want to store them in the pantry. Is this okay?
Hi Kimberly!
As long as you go through the proper sanitized canning procedures, you can store them in your pantry. I don’t provide canning instructions in my post, so I don’t recommend storing them in the pantry unless you’re familiar with canning and do so using the proper sanitization procedures. Let me know if you have any other questions! xoxo
I’m a big fan of pickled jalapenos, and always have a batch going in my fridge. But I’ve never tried using honey in the brine! This may have now pushed me to pickle more hot peppers.
I’m so thrilled to hear it, Angelica! They’re so fun!
It must be a great recipe, I love this picked much. Thank you for sharing!
My pleasure! Enjoy!
I grow the peppers and vegetables I use. The problem is everything comes in at different times. Is there anything wrong with jarring as they come in and mixing/ re-jarring at the end? This way everything is being jarred at peak freshness. Thanks!
Hi Lesslie,
Oooh that’s great you have a vegetable garden! If you’re keeping them at room temperature in the cupboard, I wouldn’t recommend the jar-as-you-go approach. But if you’re keeping the jar sealed and refrigerated, I think it could work. I would just be very mindful about the total time the same batch is in the refrigerator…I wouldn’t keep it longer than 3 to 4 weeks total if it’s going to be opened fairly regularly. xoxox
Your recipe is great. I like it.
I have a pepper plant that has some ridiculously hot and some not at all on it (don’t know what kind it is). Do you think if I chop and pickle the heat would even out throughout the jar?
Really want to try this, we love a good pickle of any kind!
Hi Caroline,
That’s a great question! I would think the heat would distribute throughout, but I’m not positive. You could even try to pickle some cucumbers with the peppers so that your jar isn’t out-of-this-world spicy! I hope you enjoy!! xo
I’ve used this recipe many times & it always turns out great! The most difficult thing for me is step one: clean your kitchen! LOL!
LOL too funny…I’m so happy you like it, Dandre!! Many thanks for the sweet note! xoxo
This looks so delicious! Thank you for sharing your recipe. I want to start pickling peppers more – the only things I’ve really stuck to are pickles, onions and carrots. I think throwing in peppers adds at the very least a great variety of color to dishes when used as a side dish or condiment. Super excited to try this at home. Thanks again for sharing!
My pleasure, Ana! I agree, peppers are such a nice, vibrant addition to a dish! I hope you enjoy the recipe, and let me know if you have any questions! xo
Hi if you swap sugar for maple syrup, how much please?
Hi Michelle! I would use 1 tablespoon of pure maple syrup. Hope you love the recipe! xoxo
Thank you I’m sure I will
With my Cayennes, Gypsy, Hot Banana, & Jalapeño peppers, I include Sliced carrots, onions, and cauliflower. My question is how long do I leave them sealed in the white vinegar to get the best flavor transferred to the carrots and cauliflower?
It seems so spicy hot to me. But it also looks great!
Do you take the seeds out of the peppers before pickling? You don’t mention it specifically, but the peppers in your jars don’t have seeds. I’m thinking of giving this a whirl! I found a recipe for tuna with pickled peppers.
Hi Claire,
Remove the seeds if you want the pickled peppers/chilies to be mild, and leave them in if you like them spicy 🙂
As my family has started to eat our way though jars of peppers, I was wondering, is it worthwhile to save the brine, in the refrigerator and use it again next years, as long as it has been crystal clear, as it has been. I know the brine is pretty inexpensive to make, so I do not know if it is worth the space it would take up in the frig.
I await your great advise! The recipe posted above and directions we used turn out great and tha5 is why I am asking you! Thank You!
Bruce
I’m so happy the recipe has worked out so well for you and your family! I personally wouldn’t save the brine just to ensure the next batch tastes nice and fresh. While the liquid may not go bad per se, it also may have just a less fresh taste. Hope that helps!! xoxoxo 😀
Doesn’t this dish usually have Onions, Carrots and Cauliflower?? At least I am thinking of a Pickled Dish I have seen in Mexican Restaurants
Hi there! It can include whatever you would like. 🙂 This recipe isn’t meant to follow after an authentic Mexican recipe, but instead is an easy way of pickling a variety of peppers. I imagine adding onions, carrots and cauliflower would be absolutely delicious too! xo
Rice vinegar does not have enough acidity level to safely can with!
Hi there! Thanks so much for the input! As I mention in the blog post, this recipe isn’t designed for long-term storage, but rather for a short period of time in the refrigerator 🙂 I appreciate the information though, as it is helpful to those who want to turn the recipe into a long term storage canning recipe!