Pickled Jalapeños Recipe
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These pickled jalapeños can be served with everything from eggs and toast for breakfast to roasted chicken at dinnertime. They also give an added kick to CHOW’s Extra-Spicy Bloody Mary.
What to buy: Crab boil spice mix can be found next to the seafood counter at your local grocery store, or you can make your own. The dry and liquid versions can be used interchangeably.
Note: Although the jalapeños are best after 2 weeks, you can eat them before then; the 2-week time period just allows the flavors to develop. The jalapeños can be stored in plastic containers in the refrigerator or canned in sterile quart-size jars; once a jar is opened, the jalapeños will keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
This recipe was featured as part of our Chile Pepper Recipes photo gallery.
- 1 pound jalapeños
- 2 carrots, peeled and sliced on the bias into 1/2-inch pieces
- 2 teaspoons crab boil spice mix, such as Zatarain’s
- 4 cups cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
- 6 medium bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 12 medium garlic cloves, peeled
- Combine all ingredients in a nonreactive 2-quart saucepan over medium heat.
- Bring to a simmer and cook until jalapeños are very soft, about 25 minutes.
- Remove from heat and allow to steep for 30 minutes; remove bay leaves.
- Can jalapeños in sterile quart-size jars or place in plastic containers in the refrigerator. Try to resist eating them and store for 2 weeks before using so the flavors develop well.
don't boil the jalapenos - they get mushy. Boil the liquids & add the vegies (peppers & carrots) to the hot liquid then can them up. If you want whole peppers just put a couple of little slits up at the stem up before packing the peppers in the jars.
Check out the National Center for Home Food Preservation on the web. They have a safe recipe for Jalapeno Rings.
Whenever you pickle or can anything the pH of the food has to be acidic enough to keep the botulism spore from growing and releasing toxin in the sealed jar. Especially important since you eat pickles cold--boiling destroys the toxin.
Add a sprig of mex oregano for a deeper flavor. We eat these on homemade tortas and chorizo pizzas all the time.
Cook This Not That*
I used a similar recipe today from Eat This Not That.
It calls for
5-6 jalapenos
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
and 2 tbsp sugar
You're supposed to boil together everything without the jalapenos in the mixture, and it seems like they didn't turn that murky green sort of color but stayed...almost bright green. Should they be cooked in the mixture? any ideas how to make them better..? They're not bad...per se but...not...the jalapenos I love.
This is only slightly off-topic, but I remember visiting a friend in San Diego and grabbing a burrito at a little hole-in-the-wall place late night. The burrito was awesome, but at the condiment bar, they had something I've never seen before - some kind of salt-cured or dried jalapeno. The peppers were bright green and mostly intact, with a salty, oily crust on them. It's possible also that they were preserved in lard - they were a little greasy. :-)
Anyone out there seen/eaten this before? Know of how to make them? I've got a bush full of jalapenos and want to preserve them, and I really liked the "salt-cured" ones.
meowzebub asks: anybody else LOVE (Japanese) sweet pickled scallions?
copyu says: YEAH! (I'm not gonna argue about whether they are really 'scallions', but...U know...Heheheh!) I live near Tokyo, so they're readily available in 3 varieties: salt, sweet and 'water' taste, the latter for home processing, with as much (or as little chili) as you like! I love them all, esp the spicy home-processed, which we haven't done for years.
I am really interested to hear about other 'pickled pepper' methods. I love pickled red and yellow paprika, which is almost unavailable here. Back in April 2004, I found bags of beautiful peppers for only a few bucks per bag and pickled several quarts of them. We finished the last jar 4 years later, in mid 2008. (I know they lose nutritional value, but this is "comfort food" for me! Hungarian ancestry...)
The method I used was a bit [VERY?!] 'suspect' by 2009 standards, but we are still here with no upset tummies or botulism. I just made the pickle brine and poured the boiling liquid over the washed fillets, which were jammed tight into hot, sterilized jars with a clove of garlic. Then the sterilized lids were screwed on. Stored in a dark, cool cabinet until needed. (I'd usually refrigerate them before opening, though.) They were the absolute BEST pickled paprika I've ever tasted. Almost ZERO processing time in boiling water. (About 5 min in rapidly boiling water, to keep the pickle liquid hot before the lids went on. YIKES!) I notice that the website that provided the recipe has disappeared. I can see why, when I look at the currently 'recommended' methods.
This year I found really nice paprika at half-price and couldn't resist. I did 3qts according to the original method and 4qts with a 20min boiling water bath. [That's STILL NOT GOOD ENOUGH to kill and avoid botulism, if you believe everything you read on the internet...]
The first lot, this year, [unprocessed] I used an equal mix of vinegars (6.2% and 5% acetic acid). The second lot, processed, (equal mix of 6% and 4.2% acetic acid).
I plan to enjoy these. I don't think I'm suicidal. I understand that Clostridium botulinum can't reproduce in a highly acidic environment (>pH4.6) and the spores can't hurt you when they're in a mature person's acidic digestive tract...so...what's the danger?
What is your take? Am I going to die a miserable death this year if I eat this stuff? Thanks for reading!
Maybe I'm too lazy for words, but I just slice jalapenos and throw them in the brine from store-bought pickles. To make them sweet like the table condiments at Thai restaurants, I add 1/2 cup sugar and shake the jar to dissolve. After about 36 hours, they have the crisp-tender texture of pickles and of course are sweet-hot. I go through them pretty fast, so I don't worry about how long they last. For food safety, if I re-use the brine, I boil it 10 minutes, then cool, before adding more peppers. If I need more brine, I usu have a jar of giardiniere or bread & butter to rescue me. Or plain white vinegar, but it's not as tasty.
off topic: anybody else LOVE (Japanese) sweet pickled scallions?
when i pickle jalapeno peppers ... the heat disappears !
what am i doing wrong ?
I used to make these, but always sauteed the peppers and garlic in a little veg oil before adding the vinegar. Now that we live in Mexico, I don't need to bother, as we can buty excellent, ready to eat jalapeños.
However, on occasion while eating out, say carnitas, the pickled chiles have had a delicious semi-fermented taste, but I don't know how to achieve that. (Also, I prefer the chiles not cooked very soft.)
It has a spicy taste with a little zing.