After making enough Jalapeno Pepper Jelly to feed a small army, I still had more jalapenos than I could handle. I then dehydrated a large freezer bag full and then blanched another freezer bag full.
But, I still had at least six more pounds of jalapeno’s to deal with. Since you can pickle cucumbers, okra and just about anything else, I decided I would try it on my jalapenos. So stinkin’ glad that I did.
(This tutorial may look like a lot of steps, but I am also showing the canning process that is applicable to any type of water bath canning-just in case you aren’t familiar.)
Pickled Jalapeno Peppers are tasty, a little hot and still crunchy. Throw a few in your chili, on top of nachos, hot dogs or even a pizza to add a little pizzaz. (If you don’t want them to be hot, simply remove the seeds and membranes).
The best part? They look fancy inside a mason jar and make inexpensive gifts!
Here’s what you’ll need to make your very own Pickled Jalapeno Peppers (this recipe makes the 4 quarts shown):
3 C Water
9 C Distilled White Vinegar
2 TBS Kosher Salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
8 cloves of Garlic, peeled and left whole
6 Lbs Jalapeno Peppers-green & red (that’s about 180 small peppers or 60 large)
4 Quart Jars with lids and rings
Canner & canning utensils
Gloves
First things first, wash your jars, rings and lids in soapy water.
I am super particular about bacteria, so after I wash my jars, rings and lids-I put them in a large pot of boiling water, turn down the heat and let them simmer while I am making the jars’ contents.
Slap on your rubber gloves and de-stem the jalapenos. At this point, if you want less hot jalapeno’s, cut out the membrane and the seeds.
Slice the jalapeno’s to be about 1/4-1/2″ thick.
Peel the garlic gloves and apply slight pressure to each clove with your thumb. Don’t smash them to smithereenes-this is just to release a bit of flavor.
Now for the brine: Pour the 3 cups of water into a large stainless steel pot. Place the pot on a large burner on the stove.
Add the 9 cups of vinegar to the pot.
Add the 2 TBS of Kosher salt.
Finally, add the 1 1/2 tsp of ground Cumin.
Whisk all of these ingredients together and bring to a boil. Stir until the Kosher salt dissolves completely.
While you are waiting on the brine to boil, remove the hot jars, lids and rings with tongs.
Also, while you are waiting on the brine to boil, fill the canner up with water, about 3/4 of the way up. Turn the burner on high, set the canner lid loosely on top-don’t screw the lid on as pictured here!.
Put a clove of garlic (or two if the clove is small) in the bottom of the sterilized jars.
While wearing gloves, pack each jar completely full of jalapeno pepper slices.
Place the canning funnel over each jar. Fill the jar full of the hot brine, leaving a 1/4″ at the top of the jar.
Use a knife to remove any air bubbles.
Remove any excess liquid from the mouth of the jar with a clean cloth.
Place the lids on the jars and hand tighten the rings.
Using tongs, place the jars inside of your water bath canner.
Place the canner lid and process the jars for 10 to 15 minutes.
Remove the jars with the tongs, and set on clean dish towels on the counter. As the jars cool, you can hear a ‘ping’ which tells you the jars were processed correctly.
Store for 3+ weeks in a dark area. This allows all the flavors to get to know each other, mingle around, have some alone time and in turn-makes your jalapenos super yummy.
Keep opened jars for 6 months in the fridge-use only clean utensils to remove peppers. No fingers, please.
Keep unopened jars for a year.
This means you can make Pickled Jalapeno Peppers this summer after the jalapeno harvest and give to that special someone as Christmas gifts months later.
Easy, peasy, cheap and pleasy.
