Pickled Peppers Recipe for Canning - Just Four Ingredients (2024)

FAQs

What is the ratio of vinegar to water for canning peppers? ›

Pack peppers tightly into sterilized jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. For each 6 cups of brine, combine 5 cups vinegar, 1 cup water and 1 tablespoon pickling salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer five minutes. Pour vinegar solution over peppers, leaving 1/8-inch headspace.

Pickles, including pickled peppers, can be made crisper by adding calcium chloride granules. Calcium chloride does not lower the acidity in the jar and is safer to use than lime. It is used in commercially canned pickles.

Pickled Sweet Peppers

Boil vinegar, water, and sugar for 1 minute. Add peppers and bring to a boil. Place ½ clove of garlic and ¼ teaspoon of salt in each sterile half-pint jar, or double the amounts for pint jars. Add pepper strips and cover with hot vinegar mixture, leaving ½ inch (13 mm) of headspace.

Fill jars with peppers; add hot, well-mixed oil/pickling solution over peppers, leaving ½-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process half-pints and pints for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath at altitudes of less than 1000 feet. If at an altitude of 1001 to 3000 feet, process for 20 minutes.

Fruits: Apples, pears, fuyu persimmons, most stone fruits (peaches, plums, nectarines, cherries), pineapples. The classic ratio is super easy to remember and is easily scale-able depending on how many pickles you're making. It's 100% vinegar, 50% water, 25% sugar and 12.5% kosher salt by weight.

Small peppers may be left whole, but must be prepared in one of the follow- ing ways so the vinegar solution will penetrate them: Blanch whole peppers in water or steam for 3 to 5 minutes.

Ingredients for Pickled Peppers:

Peppers and Chiles: Choose your favorite small peppers based on your heat preference. Banana peppers and jalapeño peppers are relatively mild compared to the fire that is the hotter peppers like habaneros and serrano peppers, so chose wisely.

Unopened and kept in a cool, dark place (like a pantry), purchased pickled items will last years. Once opened, they should last about one year at near-peak quality. Homemade pickled items will last anywhere from 3-4 weeks to 2-6 months — depending on the recipe, method, and, well, who you ask.

Can I water bath pickled peppers? ›

Pickling peppers isn't difficult and if you process them using a water bath canner, the peppers are shelf stable and can be stored at room temperature. Just imagine pulling out a jar of homemade pickled peppers in the middle of the winter!

The first step in the process involves an overnight soak in a 10% salt solution. That firms up the peppers a bit, and draws out some moisture. It also reduces the heat level of the hot peppers if using them. After soaking in the salt water solution for 8-12 hours, I drain the peppers in a colander.

Most fruit preserves and pickles are sufficiently high in acid to be canned via a method called water bath canning, where jars are submerged in boiling water for a prescribed amount of time. This destroys any pathogens in the food, and creates a seal, thereby rendering the jars shelf-stable.

Fill jars with peppers, add hot, well-mixed oil/pickling solution over peppers, leaving a ½-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process for 20 minutes in a boiling water canner.

You can add vinegar to the water (2 tablespoons per quart) to help remove slime.

Drain the peppers, but reserve the brine. Add the fermented peppers to a food processor or blender, along with 1/2 cup of the brine and 1/2 cup vinegar. You can add more or less of each as desired to your preference. More brine will have more salty flavor, more vinegar will be more acidic.

Pour in white vinegar to cover all peppers. Cover with a plastic lid if possible, as the vinegar will gradually corrode metal lids. Store the jar in the back of your refrigerator for up to 12 months. The peppers will stay crunchy for a few months but will gradually soften.

A general rule is 2/3 vinegar to 1/3 water when making brine. This ratio will result in an acidic enough base for whatever vegetable you choose to pickle. Other recipes may have a lighter vinegar brine but you must follow the exact recipe when using those or risk spoilage.