Always have a jar of Refrigerated Pickled Jalapenos on hand for nachos, chilis, and your favorite Mexican-inspired dishes. So easy to make — no water-bath canning — it’s a great way to store the season’s best chile pepper!
Jalapeños are one of my favorite chili peppers to grow — they produce a bumper crop every year that lasts through the summer and, with a little chopping and freezing effort, all the way through the winter.
This year, I had a big batch that ripened to red all at once (which is my preferred state – red jalapeños have a more assertive jalapeño-y flavor than green, I’ve found). So, there’s not only plenty for fresh salsas, but enough for a quick batch of refrigerator pickled jalapenos. I packed them into two 5-ounce jars — one for the fridge (which should last into fall) and the other for the freezer, to be enjoyed when winter hits.
Now, I love jalapeños peppers (and serranos even more, which I’m also growing), but: Holy hiccups, Batman! I’ve developed the weirdest reaction to spicy-hot food this year: the first bite brings on the hiccups. Can I just say, embarrassing? It’s just that first bite, though. I can get rid of the hiccups pretty quickly, and they don’t recur with the second bite, but … weird, right? (I finally googled this — it’s actually a thing, hiccups and spicy foods.)
And worse — and not limited to spicy food — when I get the hiccups, I snort through my nose. So, instead of making the usual hiccup noise, it’s a sudden and noisy inhale through my nose. I don’t know what the heck that is all about, I’m just glad I know to avoid certain spicy foods in public (yikes!), although my own family has given me the side eye more than once when a cayenne-strong Indian dish gets the hiccuppy-diaphragm-slash-sinus-clearing-snort thing going.
And here endeth the August overshare. 🙂
One quick word about the white lines on the peppers in the photo above. When a jalapeño plant is stressed in some way — whether through high heat or irregular watering — the peppers can develop harmless white lines on the skin, called striations. For some reason, jalapeño peppers (all chile peppers, really) love to be stressed, because they develop deeper flavors as a result. So, if you see jalapeños with white lines on them at the farmers’ market, snatch those babies right up!
I have a fascination with glass bottles in general, but canning jars in specific. This year, I’m crushing on Bormioli Rocco’s Quattro Stagioni canning jars, due in no small part to Target having a huge display of them all summer long, right in my regular shopping path {shakes fist at marketers who know my heart’s desires and merchandise accordingly}.
These are European canning jars, which feature a one-piece lid construction … ever so nice. I’m glad I caved and bought some — they’re adorable!
(Note that if you purchase these jars for canning (as opposed to something like today’s refrigerator pickled jalapenos), be certain to google how to can with them. I’ve used Leifheit, another one-piece-lid brand, extensively so I’m comfortable with the techniques. The lids behave a little differently than the two-piece Ball lids. Just wanted to give you a heads-up in case you fell for all the cuteness, like I did. 🙂 )
I made this batch of pickled jalapenos a few days ago and just did a quick taste test to see how they’re faring in the fridge — wow, are they good! (And yes, I got the snorterrific hiccups. It was worth it. 😉 ) Nachos are going to rock the party all winter long.
Karen xo
Recipes that feature pickled jalapenos:
Refrigerator Pickled Jalapenos
Ingredients
- 7 to 10 jalapeño peppers depending on their size
- 1 heaping teaspoon minced onion
- 1 small garlic clove crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup water
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Optional: sterilize your jars by rinsing them with boiling water (I place the jars and lids in a large bowl and then pour boiling water over them, filling the jars, but not submerging them). Even though this recipe is *not* for canning, sterilizing the jars will help the pickles keep longer in the fridge.
- Slice the jalapeño peppers into thin slices. Remember that most of the heat of a chili pepper is in its seeds and ribs - remove some or all to reduce heat. Pack into jars as you go, filling the jars to about an inch away from the top. Add the onion, garlic, and oregano (or layer as you're adding jalapeño slices).
- Bring the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt to boil in a 2 qt pot. Remove from heat and stir until the sugar and salt are completely dissolved.
- Pour the vinegar solution over the jalapeños, leaving 1/2" headroom in each jar. Affix the lids, tightening to finger-tip tightness, and let cool. When the jars are no longer hot, move to the refrigerator or freezer.
Notes
Jalapeno peppers vary drastically in heat from crop to crop, and even pepper to pepper from the same plant. If you need to carefully regulate the heat of the pickles, I'd suggest tasting a sliver from each pepper, so you can gauge the overall heat of the finished product.
Rocky Mountain Woman
Friday 28th of August 2015
There is nothing in the world I like better than nachos with home preserved jalapenos. I have a bunch right now and they're definitely going into the freezer in cute canning jars asap.
I've been doing this little burpy thing when I eat. It's so embarrassing and weird. I don't know what's causing it, but I am not happy about it!!