Taking a break from sourdough this time and stepping into something I have been craving for a few weeks now. I love spicy and I think it’s a great compliment to many dishes as long as it’s not an uncomfortable heat. Keeping that in mind I decided to try my hand at some sweet & spicy pickled jalapeños.
To say that this has become my new favorite thing to add to basically everything I have been eating lately would be an understatement. These babies are perfect on sandwiches, burgers, salads, tacos, and even just straight from the jar if you can stand it.
I made a boatload of these as they keep well for about a month in the refrigerator with ease. I used a total of 20 jalapeños to make this batch along with two different varieties.
You might notice below that some of the jalapeños are slightly darker. Those are black jalapeños and possibly my new favorite thing. I discovered these in my local grocery store. They are produced by Sunset Produce and go by the name of Kaboom!
Their flavor profile is complex in comparison to the regular green jalapeño. These are not just your traditional hot peppers. There is an actual flavor here and it matches so well with this brine.
These are simple and quick to make and only require 7 ingredients. Since you will be working with these peppers for a while I would suggest wearing gloves or staying pretty mindful where you place your hands!
Take care when cutting jalapeños!
To start, slice your jalapeños. Their thickness is up to you but I personally didn’t go very thin as I like a little crunch when snacking on these. Evenly divide and stuff those bad boys into two 1-liter jars. Next, it’s time to make the brine!
Remove seeds for less heat
Time to brine!
In a saucepan on low heat, bring the water, vinegar, sugar, honey, salt, and minced garlic to a simmer. Stirring occasionally allows the sugar and honey to dissolve completely, this usually takes about 10 minutes.
Remove brine from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Pour or ladle brine into jars as evenly as possible. Allow jalapeños to cool uncovered for 20 minutes at room temperature.
Use the back of a spoon to gently submerge all peppers, securely the lids once done. Store in the refrigerator.
Keep refrigerated for at least 1 week before eating if you can. I will admit, these pickled sweet heat jalapeños didn’t make it a week. Keep in mind that the longer the jalapeños remain in the fridge/brine the milder they will become.
Enjoy!
Sweet with Heat Pickled Jalapeños
Ingredients
- 20 Jalapeños
- 1 Cup Water
- 2 Cups White Distilled Vinegar
- 2 Tbsp Minced Garlic
- 1/2 Cup Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Honey
- 1 Tbsp Sea Salt
Instructions
- Slice jalapeños to preferred thickness and divide between 2 jars.
- In a saucepan over low heat let the water, vinegar, minced garlic, sugar, honey, and salt simmer for about 10 mins. Make sure to stir occasionally allow the sugar and honey to completely dissolve.
- Remove from heat and let brine cool for 5 mins.
- Pour or ladle brine into jars over the sliced jalapeños.
- Allow cooling uncovered for 25 mins.
- Gently press down on jalapeños using a back of a spoon to submerge peppers. Carefully secure the jar lids.
- Store in the refrigerator and keep for 1 week before eating.
Notes
- Remove seeds from jalapeños if you prefer less heat
- You can also add more sugar or honey to remove more heat as well
- Jalapeños can be kept up to 1 month in the refrigerator
16 comments
Can you make these sweet an hot jalapenos then water bath so they keep longer ?
Hi Teresa, you shouldn’t have to water bath them as these keep for several months if refrigerated. If you wanted to water bath then you could but either way should be fine for a few months. With proper canning these can last up to a year.
I finally decided to make these and I hope they turn out good! I was disappointed in the amount of brine it made. I was not even able to fill two jars and I had four 24oz jars. I will confess I did buy 20 of the largest peppers at my market. I had to make another double batch of the brine just to cover the peppers. But fingers crossed they will be delicious!!!
Hey Cynthia
Sorry, the Brine wasn’t enough to fill up your jars! I only had 2 jars when I made this recipe and they weren’t the biggest Jalapeños I will admit but either way I hope the final result is delicious. I really enjoyed these when I made them, they didn’t last very long in my frig.
2 jars? quarts, pints, 20 ounce, what size jars?
I used 2 1liter jars, however this may vary depending on how big or small the Jalapeños are that you have. You may not need jars that big.
I have a question about this recipe. Could I take a jar of deli pickled jalapenos from the grocery, strain off liquid and then pour your recipe over the jalapenos? I’m looking for a way to not have to slice 20 jalapenos. I’ve done it in the past, but was curious if this would work. Thanks!
Yeah, you could definitely do that, however, if you do but jalapenos that are already pickled I can’t say for sure how the taste/heat would turn out.
I made this recipe,added a few other ingredients,in an effort to keep my jalapeños I had grown this year. I had 10 peppers ,thinly sliced a onion, ,whole garlic.peppercorns.
Hope it turned out well!
Definitely trying this with my black Hungarian jalapenos 😜😜😜
Hope it turns out great!
How can I make then for sheft life
Hello, not sure I understand your question.
Hello , I have an gal. Jar what’s the recipe for a gallon jar
Hello, not sure as I didn’t base this on the jar size I had. I wanted to allow people to the ability to make as much as they wanted/needed and decided to design this recipe based on the amount of peppers instead.
I would say decide or figure out how many Jalapeños you can fit in your Gal Jar and go from there.