Pickled Hot Red Peppers
Submitted by wilder
Pickled hot red peppers: whole small chilies canned in vinegar brine with garlic, allspice, peppercorn, and bay leaf. Topped with olive oil and processed for shelf-stable storage.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
45 minCOOK
0 minREADY
2Pickled hot peppers are pantry gold. A jar tucked on the shelf becomes a weapon you reach for when a dish needs brightness, a soup needs fire, or a sandwich needs a crunchy tang. These keep beautifully for a year.
Small fresh hot red chilies pack into the jars whole, stems trimmed but intact. Whole peppers keep their shape and texture far better than sliced ones, which can turn limp in long storage.
Whole allspice, peppercorns, split garlic, and torn bay leaf scattered through each jar aromatize the brine as it ages. Don’t skip any of them, the balance is what makes this taste like proper pickled peppers and not just vinegary chilies.
The thin float of olive oil on top of each jar before sealing is the old-school Italian trick. It acts as an extra barrier against air and microbial contamination.
Kitchen Tips
- Wear gloves when trimming and packing hot peppers. Capsaicin lingers on hands and ends up in your eyes hours later.
- Use wide-mouth pint jars. Narrow-mouth jars make it nearly impossible to pack whole peppers in without crushing them.
- Leave a full inch of headspace as specified. Less and the brine overflows during processing, compromising the seal.
- Let the jars rest a full month before opening if you can stand it. The peppers are good at two weeks, but they’re genuinely better after 30 days of pickle-curing.
Variations
- Swap white vinegar for apple cider or white wine vinegar for a softer, fruitier brine.
- Add a tablespoon of sugar or honey to the brine for sweet-hot pickled peppers.
- Include a sprig of fresh dill or a teaspoon of mustard seed per jar for a different flavor profile.
Ingredients
Directions
Rinse and drain the peppers; trim stems to a stub.
Pack the peppers into 4 wide-mouthed pint canning jars, dividing them equally.
As the peppers are packed, scatter among them a share of the seasonings: In each jar place: 1 clove garlic split; 2 whole allspice; 6 peppercorns; and a piece of bay leaf.
Combine the vinegar, water and salt in a stainless-steel or enameled saucepan and heat the mixture to simmering.
Pour the hot solution over the peppers, covering them completely and leaving 1 inch of head space.
Remove any bubbles and add liquid if necessary to maintain head space.
(If there should be insufficient solution to cover the peppers, make more in the same proportions; no harm will be done if a few moments are required to do this.)
Add enough olive oil to each jar to cover the surface of the liquid, about 1 tablespoon.
Seal the jars with new two-piece canning lids, according to manufacturer’s directions and process for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath.
Cool, label and store the jars.
The peppers are good to eat after 2 weeks, but they will be better after at least a month’s rest in the jar.
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