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Pickled peppers are a great way to add spice and variety to winter meals without adding food miles to your plate. We toss them into chili, use them to top tacos, and make a truly amazing salsa or chimichurri in no time flat. Once you’ve mastered summertime dill pickles, try your hand at pickling peppers at home to preserve the heat of summer the whole year round.
You can adjust the heat of this pickled hot pepper mix by adding more sweet peppers to the mix. Even the heat from a single hot pepper will infuse through the entire batch and add spice to every bite. Unless you really like to feel the burn, use hot peppers sparingly. I tend to chop my pickled hot peppers relatively small, so they can be used as a topping for summer hot dogs.
If by chance you overdo it, use them in small amounts, adding a finely minced pepper or two to a soup or salsa for just a little heat. The pickling juice will also pick up the flavors, and a dash of it is a great way to add salt, heat, and flavor to dishes as well.
When I’m pickling sweet peppers, I like to can them in slices. The long slices will add extra flavor to sandwiches, and they’re heaven on a homemade Italian sub.
Pints or half pints both work for pickled peppers. Process either size for 10 minutes in a water bath canner, with more time above 1,000 feet (the recipe card has the altitude chart). When the time is up, turn off the heat, take the lid off the canner, and let the jars sit in the water for 5 minutes before lifting them out. That short rest helps prevent siphoning.
If you’re giving them out as gifts, consider some cute labels. Chalkboard labels are all the rage these days, but I stick to Ball’s dissolvable labels because they’re easy to remove so that you can reuse the jar once it’s empty.
If you really want to save money on pickling, buy your canning supplies in bulk. While rings and jars can be reused, lids should be new each time to ensure a good seal. We buy our canning lids in bulk online and bring our canning unit costs down considerably.
While pickled peppers are a staple in our cooking year-round, our pantry wouldn’t be the same without our other summertime canning favorites:
This summer, we added a few wild foraged pickles to our pickle pantry as well:
Get creative! There are a lot of wonderful pickles out there, and making your own homemade pickled peppers is just the beginning. You’ll find more than 100 ideas in my list of canning recipes.
Pickled Pepper Recipe for Home Canning
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 cups Peppers, diced, a mix of hot and sweet
- 5 cloves Garlic
- 2 cups Cider Vinegar, 5% acidity
- 1 Cup Water
- 2 tsp Canning Salt
- 1 tsp Sugar
Instructions
- Heat the water in your water bath canner to about 140 degrees F, and keep the jars hot.
- Divide the diced peppers between 5 hot half pint jars, or pint jars (see notes), and top each jar with a garlic clove.
- Bring the vinegar, water, salt, and sugar to a boil in a saucepan.
- Pour the hot brine over the peppers, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles, wipe the rims, and add the lids and bands.
- Process half pints or pints in a water bath canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude (see notes).
- Turn off the heat, take the lid off the canner, and let the jars sit in the water for 5 minutes before lifting them out.
Notes
- 0 to 1,000 feet: 10 minutes
- 1,001 to 6,000 feet: 15 minutes
- Above 6,000 feet: 20 minutes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Pickling Recipes
Here are a few more simple water bath canning recipes for pickled vegetables:
Source for Processing Times:
National Center for Home Food Preservation, Pickled Hot Peppers
Looking for other options?
Try these great pickled pepper recipes:
State Extension Recipes
Clemson University Pickled Peppers Recipe
Fancy Food Magazine Recipes
Bon Appetit Pickled Peppers
Saveur Mexico Pickled Peppers
Hi, I was wanting to make this recipe but I’m a bit confused because it calls for half pint jars but it looks like you’re using pint jars?
You can use pints or half pints, and the processing time is the same for both. Most people make pickled peppers in half pints, but my husband really loves them, so I put them up in pints. I should retake those pictures!
Thank you! Very easy to prepare and use the abundance of peppers in my garden!
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it! Pickled peppers are such a good way to keep up with a big pepper harvest. Happy canning!
I plan on making this for Christmas gifts, but i was wondering if I could use fresh garlic cloves plus jarred minced garlic as I only have 2 fresh ones left.
I’d stick with fresh cloves only. Jarred minced garlic isn’t something I’ve tested in this recipe, and some brands are packed in oil or have other ingredients added. Using less garlic is fine, though, so you can put your two fresh cloves in two of the jars and leave it out of the rest (or pick up another head of garlic). They’ll make great gifts!
I’ve not made them yet but I have no doubt they’ll be five star. We spend a stupid amount on pickled banana peppers. This will be awesome for us.
I will go off script *and I am not recommending this to anyone* but with each batch I’ll bring some to a boil in the brine and store them in the fridge and they’ll be gone in a week. The rest will be processed as listed. Sliced, diced, halved, minced-so many uses for them.
All your recipes and info have been rock solid for all the time I’ve been following you. You’re the best. Thanks so much.
I’m so glad to hear it Diane!
Hi Ashley,
I am growing Sweet Banana Peppers and Sweet Bell Peppers(Red&Chocolate). Am I allowed to mix these ones together or do I have to add a “hot” variety like a hot jalapeno?
Can I also add some Sweet Onions to this recipe? If so, can I totally play that by ear and measure with heart correct? I just want to make sure its preservation is safe!
Thank you!
This one’s a really flexible recipe, provided you don’t decrease the amount of vinegar (or increase the water). That vinegar/water ratio is important. Other than that, you can use any type of pepper (hot or sweet) and it’s also fine to add in onions. Enjoy!
Hi Ashley,
I live off grid as well. So My question is, why can’t I just easily download your recipe? I didn’t mark a star rating on your recipe, because I havent applied it . I have horses and an acre garden. If I were a vegan or vegetarian I could truly live from my garden.
I was just looking for an actual recipe for the 20lbs of peppers that I grew this year.
I do not want to seem without respect in my comments, and I appreciate your written recipe It may well be better than my own…Lol. Thank you, out Jeffrey
Hi Jeffrey,
You should be able to push the “print” button on the recipe card and then download it as a PDF. If that’s not working, please do let me know. You can also push the icon at the top of the post that looks like a printer, and that will give you the whole post. When the printer screen comes up, you can either print it out or select save to pdf. Hope this helps!
Can I put olive oil in with my sweet peppers
There is a tested recipe for marinated sweet peppers that includes olive oil. You can see it here: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/pickle/vegetable-pickles/marinated-peppers/
The horseradish and oregano seasoning, and the onions are optional and you can use other seasonings (or none at all), but you do need to use the vinegar and lemon juice in order to safely add the oil. Enjoy!
Hello,
I will be having an abundance of fresno peppers any day now, and I was wondering if the sugar is necessary in the pickled pepper recipe. Can I follow your recipe without the sugar with success?
thank you
The sugar is optional in this recipe. The only thing that’s doing the preservation here is the vinegar, so don’t reduce the vinegar or change the vinegar to water ratio. You can alter the spices, salt or sugar as you like. Enjoy!