Easy Pickled Peppers Recipe
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This easy Pickled Peppers recipe makes a quick and easy way to preserve your banana, jalapeno and other kinds of peppers! Perfect for using throughout the year in so many dishes from pizzas to soups and salads!
I’ve mentioned before how my pepper plants have been producing so many peppers that I can barely keep up with them this year. While I’m certainly not complaining since I’ve gotten more than my money’s worth from those few little seeds we planted, I definitely don’t want them to go to waste!
All summer long, we’ve enjoyed them with our salads and just munching on them along with our suppers, but I knew I needed a way to preserve them so that I could use them throughout the winter and into the spring before next year’s plant gets up and going.
That’s when I pulled out my jars and decided to pickle my abundance of them. They are perfect to use to use in so many dishes! Some of my favorites are to use my pickled banana peppers on a Greek Salad, on even on a pizza, or sandwiches. I love to use my pickled jalapeno peppers on even on top of soups, chilis, tacos, hotdogs, and any recipe that calls for jalapenos. But really, the possibilities are just endless!
To make my pickled peppers, you begin with fresh peppers of any type you are pickling – banana peppers are shown here, but again, you can use jalapeno, serrano, etc. I’ve written my recipe based on making one quart of pickled peppers, you can easily scale the recipe based on your needs from that.
You’ll want to make sure that you clean your peppers extremely well and then slice them into rings. If you use this recipe for pickled jalapenos, make sure you take into account the heat of the peppers and their seeds when you make it. For banana peppers, I’ve always found it just fine to leave the seeds. If you’d prefer though, just remove them.
Meanwhile, you’ll want to have sterilized your jars and prepare your vinegar, sugar and salt. Once you have your pepper slices packed into your jar, carefully pour the hot liquid over the peppers and top with the lid and ring, leaving 1/2-inch of headspace.
Refrigerate up to 1 month or you can process the peppers in a boiling water bath according to the altitude where you live. You’ll want to place the jar in a cool place for 24 hours, until the jar has properly sealed. Once sealed, you can transfer the peppers to your pantry for up to a year and a half.
Here’s my Pickled Peppers recipe. If you love banana peppers as much as we do, make ’em soon!
Easy Pickled Peppers Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups peppers, banana, jalapenos, serrano, etc, cut into 1/4- inch rings
- 2 cups vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
Instructions
- Place pepper rings in a sterilized quart jar. Set aside.
- Place vinegar, sugar, and salt in medium non-reactive saucepan, stirring until salt and sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Pour over peppers, leaving 1/2-inch headspace in jar. Seal the jar.
- Refrigerate the peppers up to one month or process in boiling water bath for 15 minutes if you live in altitude below 6000 feet or 20 minutes if above 6000 feet.
- Allow at least 24 hours before opening the peppers for the best flavor.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
How long can you keep them in jars. Or do you have to eat them with in a certain time
What about adding cloves of garlic or fresh herbs (thyme, dill, etc)? Yes or no?
I’ve never added either of those to my pickled peppers, but others do.
Can you mix different kinds of peppers in one jar or do you need to separate and make one jar for each kind of pepper?
Cindy, you can mix the peppers if you want.
I used Yellow Banana, Jalapeño and Habanero peppers.
Very easy recipe. Can’t wait to see how they turn out. I’m sure their going to be spicy. I left all the seeds in. First time trying this recipe.
I hope you enjoy! Thanks!
Not sure I understand how the water bath works. Do I put peppers and brine in jar, seal with lid and then boil in a water bath for 15mins with lid on??? Do I let them just cool on counter after?
Scott, you will follow the recipe instructions through Step 2 where you seal the jar. If using a water bath, you would then place the sealed jars upright in a water bath canner and cover with 1 inch water. Place lid on the canner. Bring to a boil and boil for 15 minutes or according to your altitude. Remove from the canner and place upright on a dry towel and leave for at least 24 hours. Make sure the jars seal.
I made this recipe with regular peppers not hot peppers. When I went to eat them they were very hot. What makes them hot when all I put in them sugar, vinegar and salt. Could you please help me. Thanks
If they were all sweet peppers, Marie, they should not be hot. If there were any that were hot peppers in the ones you preserved, that could make them hot.
Have done over 20 500ml jars of jalapenos and hot Portugal, everyone loves them. I do have a question though, if I do them in a water bath for 15 minutes are they shelf stable then or still the refrigerator?
Penny, if you process them in the water bath, they should be shelf stable then and won’t need to be refrigerated. Just make sure they seal properly.
Love this recipe – made it twice this summer with both pepperocini and jalapeno peppers. Very easy and tasty. My new go to recipe for pickled peppers, thanks for sharing.
I’m so glad this recipe has worked so well for you, Vicki. Thanks!
My peppers became mushy. I used whole banana peppers because my husband prefers them. I followed the directions and put the jars into the water bath for 15 minutes. all the jars sealed within a couple of hours. One the jars cooled down, I opened one and the color was gray and the was very mushy. How can I improve for my next batch?
Dianna, I haven’t had a problem with my pickled peppers being soft or being off color. Some things that could cause these problems are using pan other than enamel or stainless steel to prepare the vinegar solution, using table salt or salt other than canning or kosher salt, using flavored or colored vinegar other than white vinegar, using sugar other than white granulated sugar, or adding ground spices to the brine. Be sure to remove at least 1/16th-inch from the blossom end of pepper because enzymes there can cause peppers to soften. Make sure the peppers are completely covered with the vinegar solution. Also, cutting slits in whole peppers to allow the vinegar solution to penetrate the entire pepper is recommended. I hope this helps.
Love this simple recipe! I add a dash of turmeric for color! Thank you!
Thanks for the tip, Vickie!