Quick Pickled Jalapenos

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• It’s quick and easy. The total time is about 20 minutes from start to finish!
• It’s fun to DIY kitchen staples for your family.
• It’s not a “canning” recipe so you won’t need any special equipment.

🍳 Kitchen Tools You’ll Use

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Since this is not an actual canning recipe, you can use any container you like to store your finished pickled jalapeños. I used a canning jar simply because I had one available. An old pickle jar or mayonnaise jar would work just as well. We’re not making a product that needs to be properly sealed for shelf storage so any old thing will be fine.

👉 What is a “non-reactive pan?”

For cooking the brine, you do need a non-reactive pan. What’s that you ask? Well, some metals react with acidic ingredients (like lemon, vinegar, or tomatoes) and that can cause an off-taste or color. Pots and pans made of cast iron, copper, and aluminum are reactive whereas ceramic, glass, stainless steel, and enameled pans are non-reactive. 

🛒 Ingredient Notes

To make one standard pint jar of Quick Pickled Jalapeños, you’ll need:

• About 8 nice plump jalapeno peppers – I often grow my own jalapenos but they are readily available at any grocery store and are very inexpensive.
• White vinegar – Plain old distilled vinegar. Nothing fancy.
• Water
• Garlic – About three cloves, peeled.
• Sugar (or honey) – Either one works fine.
• Bay leaf, salt, oregano, and black peppercorns – The spices that give the jalapenos all that great pickled flavor.

You probably have most of that in your pantry right now!

🔪 How to Make Quick Pickled Jalapenos

Prep the Jalapenos

Now that we have the equipment and ingredients sorted out, let’s get started on this recipe!

👉 PRO TIP: Before you do anything else, just trust me and put on a pair of disposable kitchen gloves. Jalapeños contain oils that remain on your skin for several hours and can transfer to your mouth, nose, and eyes if touched. If you’re a contact lens wearer, you’ll thank me later for insisting on the gloves.

1. Start by thinly slicing the jalapeno peppers using a sharp knife or mandolin. Discard the jalapeno stems and set the slices aside. Peel the two cloves of garlic.

👉 PRO TIP: I always use the mandolin because it makes really quick work of this step and creates slices with uniform thickness. Use caution with a mandolin however because they’re really, really sharp, and will take the end off your finger before you even know it happened. Use a guard with your mandolin, if you have one, and pay attention to what you’re doing.

Make the Brine

2. Add all the ingredients, except the jalapeño slices, to a medium non-reactive saucepan.

2. Bring the mixture to a boil.

Add the Jalapenos

3. Stir in the jalapeño slices and remove the pan from the heat.

Cool the Jalapenos Slightly

3. Allow the mixture to cool for about 5 minutes or until you see the peppers start to turn a pretty olive green color. You’ll recognize the color from the commercially produced pickled jalapeños you’ve seen. 
4. Remove and discard the bay leaf. You can remove the garlic if you like or leave it in. Removing the garlic will give the finished pickles a bit of a milder flavor. I always leave it in because I like garlic!

Transfer the Mixture to a Container

5. Once the peppers have changed color, use a slotted spoon to transfer the slices (and garlic if keeping) to a clean storage jar.

6. Strain the pickling liquid into the jar filling with enough liquid to cover the jalapeño slices. 

🍚 How to Store

7. Close the jar and store it in the refrigerator. You can use your pickles immediately if you like, but their full flavor won’t be developed for about a week. They’re best used within about two months but will likely keep much longer.

🌶️ How to Use

I use these Quick Pickled Jalapenos as a topping on tacos, nachos, burritos, quesadillas, or any other southwestern or Tex-Mex style recipes. They’re also really good just as an accompaniment to a sandwich or on top of a hamburger or hot dog. 

❓ Can I Make More Pickled Jalapenos?

Of course, you can! Just multiply the ingredients to make as many pints as you like.

🧾 More DIY Recipes You’ll Like

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Refrigerator Kosher Dill Pickles – Claussen Copycat Recipe

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