Pickled Peppers: How to Make these Spicy Preserves

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

That famous nursery rhyme so many of us learned as kids – yet what many people don’t realize is that the benefits of pickled peppers go far beyond just teaching us alliteration in elementary school.

Instead, pickled peppers – particularly canned pickled peppers – offer a host of nutritional benefits. Not to mention they’re delicious and super easy to make!

Are you ready to get started? Here are some tips to make pickled peppers so you can whip up a batch in no time. 

Are Pickled Peppers Good for You?

Not only are pickled peppers a flavorful addition to just about any dish, but they’re remarkably healthy for you, too.

They’re a great way to add more vegetables to your diet and to preserve a bountiful harvest from your garden. Pickles, including pickled peppers, are rich in vitamins, low in calories,and tout all kinds of digestive health benefits due to the probiotics found in pickled recipes.

Pickling not only perks up the flavor of an otherwise mundane veggie but also makes sure you can savor your peppers long after the harvest season ends.

How Long Do Pickled Peppers Last in a Jar?

When done correctly, pickled peppers have a shelf life of more than a year. 

Once the jars are opened, you will want to refrigerate your pickled peppers right away. They’ll last a few days in the fridge.

For unopened jars, a year to a year and a half in a cool,dark place is typically acceptable. 

How to Make Pickled Peppers: Step-by-Step Recipe

This recipe yields seven or eight pints of pickled peppers. Feel free to swap out any variety of pepper you’d prefer to use – it’s safe regardless of the type. It’s simply a matter of personal preference!

Ingredients

• 2 lbs banana peppers
• 2 lbs sweet peppers 
• 1 lb cherry peppers 
• 8 jalapenos 
• 8 cloves garlic
• 6 cups white vinegar
• 2 cups water
• 1 tbsp pickling salt 
• 1 tbsp sugar

Instructions

Begin by washing your peppers to remove any dirt or debris. You can leave small peppers whole, but you’ll want to cut your larger peppers into strips. Core the peppers and, for smaller peppers you’re leaving whole, slice two slits into the sides. 

Next, pack a clove of garlic and the peppers into sterilized jars. Pack them tightly, leaving half an inch of headspace.

Combine the water, vinegar, sugar, and pickling salt in a stockpot. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer for about ten minutes.

Next, pour the hot pickling solution over your peppers, making sure you still have that half-inch of headspace.

Remove any air bubbles in the jar, then double-check your headspace.

Wipe the rims of the jars to remove any food residue and adjust your headspace again if necessary. 

Finally, put the lids on the jars and tighten the bands until they’re fingertip tight. Load the jars into the canner and process pints for 15 minutes. 

When the time has finished, you can turn off the heat and remove the jars from the canner. Allow them to cool for 24 hours at room temperature.

You’re welcome to eat your pickled peppers right away, but for the best flavor, we recommend waiting five or six weeks. If any jars failed to seal during canning, pop them in the refrigerator and eat them up within the week.

A Few More Tips for Making Pickled Peppers

Here are a few additional tips to make sure your pickled pepper adventure goes off without a hitch. 

Start With Fresh, Blemish-Free Peppers

The beauty of this canning recipe is that you can use any kind of peppers you’d like. The most common – and the best-suited for canning – are those that are thick-fleshed and have firm,waxy skins. I like canning a variety of peppers in different colors for a rainbow of a jar – my favorites include yellow wax, banana, and sweet bell peppers.

Use 5% Acidity Vinegar

When you’re making your brine, you have a choice between vinegars. For peppers, white vinegar is typically the best. It helps prevent cloudiness and retains its color the best. The only thing to make sure you do is to choose a vinegar with at least 5% acidity for safety purposes.

If you don’t like the sharp, vinegary flavor, you can add a small amount of sugar to help offset it. 

Use a Water Bath Canner

Some people recommend using a pressure canner for pickling vegetables like peppers, but I always recommend steering clear. Pressure canners can cause the temperature in the jars to become too hot, making the vegetables mushy and unpalatable.

Plus, water bath canning is quicker, so there’s really no reason to switch to a pressure canner, anyway. 

Consider Adding Other Vegetables, but Find an Approved Recipe

Made this recipe a few times, and want to shake things up a bit? Why not add some other vegetables? 

This recipe can easily be modified to include other vegetables, like carrots or onions, but make sure you follow an approved recipe, like the ones published by the Ball Book of Canning or the National Center for Home Food Preservation. 

Use Non Iodized Canning or Pickling Salt

When you’re choosing the best kind of salt to use for your recipes, make sure you only use non iodized pickling or canning salt. Otherwise, you may find that you have some cloudiness in the brine.

Add Some Garlic

A classic pickling ingredient, garlic adds depth of flavor and has antibacterial properties. Just make sure you use mature, white-skinned garlic that’s free from blemishes. 

What About Oil?

Oil-pickled peppers are incredibly flavorful and delicious – not to mention fairly easy to create. However, you need to be careful when trying out oil in your recipe because it adds on to the processing time that’s required.

When you’re canning peppers in oil, you also need to make sure that no ingredients are able to touch the flat lid. The oil softens the rubber-based lining and can cause the seal to loosen over time, rendering all your hard work worthless. 

Therefore, you should make sure that you only use the recommended amount of oil and that you always follow an approved recipe to keep everyone safe.

Final Thoughts

Canning your own pickled peppers isn’t just satisfying – it’s incredibly simple. Not only does it allow you to enjoy the delicious taste of garden-fresh produce all year round, but it also taps into a centuries-old tradition of food preservation that’s hard to pass up.

Not to mention – pickled peppers are a wonderful, personalized gift that can give a touch of warmth and love to anyone on your gift list.

So why not try whipping up a batch today?

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