The Best Pickled Jalapeños Recipe – Quick, Easy & No Canning Required

This Easy Pickled Jalapeños Recipe has become our favorite recipe to preserve a small batch of jalapeños.

Often times when you look for recipes to preserve fresh garden vegetables, you will find recipes that call for several pounds or quarts of produce.

Although, as much as I love those recipes including our Candied Jalapeños Recipe, there are times when you only have a half a dozen or so of jalapeños that you need to preserve.

And that is where this recipe comes in handy. Not only is it designed for a small batch of jalapeños, it only takes 10 minutes to prepare.

And best of all, there is no special canning equipment required. In fact, all that is needed is a saucepan and a pint size container.

Simply slice the jalapeno peppers and put them in the container. Then pour the brine over top of them, let them cool, and place them in the refrigerator. It is that easy!

Just be prepared to make them over and over again. Because ever since I shared a jar of these jalapeños with my friends and family, I get asked to make them year after year.

They are slightly crunchy, somewhat tangy, and have amazing balance of sweet and heat to them. They are delicious to use on sandwiches, nachos, pizzas, burgers and more!

So next time you find yourself with several jalapeno peppers that you don’t know what to do with, be sure to give this recipe a try!

Easy Pickled Jalapeños Recipe

*Complete recipe instructions including specific measurements, cook temperatures and times are located in a printable recipe card at the bottom of this article. However, be sure to keep reading for helpful tips and tricks when making this recipe.

Yield: 1 pint

INGREDIENTS

1. Jalapeño Peppers

It is difficult to determine exactly how many jalapeños that you will need to fill one pint jar. For medium size peppers, it should take approximately 6-7 peppers.

However, a great thing about this recipe is that the jar doesn’t have to be completely full. Therefore, process as many peppers that you have.

2. White Vinegar

I prefer white vinegar in this pickled jalapeños recipe, but you can substitute apple cider vinegar instead if you prefer. Apple cider vinegar is a little milder and sweeter in flavor when compared to white vinegar.

Regardless of the type of vinegar that you choose, the important thing to remember is that you must use vinegar that contains 5 percent acidity. This is the standard acidity ratio in vinegar when used for pickling.

3. Water

The water will be mixed in and used as part of the brine. Additional water can safely be added to the mixture if you are slightly short on the brine when pickling jalapeños.

4. Garlic Cloves

Fresh garlic cloves are also added to brine to provide an additional layer of hidden flavor. However, if you don’t have fresh garlic, you can substitute jarred garlic instead.

1 medium clove of garlic = 1 teaspoon of minced garlic

If you are garlic lover, feel free to up the amount of garlic that you use. The garlic itself does not impact the pickling process in any way.

5. Sugar

I have tried various types of sugar substitutes, however, I find that it is best to use granulated sugar in this pickled jalapeños recipe.

Although, I also understand that not everyone can or wants to use sugar in their recipes. So feel free to substitute, or if desired, omit the sugar all together.

6. Salt

Standard Kosher salt works well in this recipe. No need to go out and purchase Pickling Salt. However be sure that the salt has no additives before adding it to the brine.

INSTRUCTIONS

The first and most crucial step before making this pickled jalapeños recipe is to find a pair of gloves! Although you aren’t working with a large batch of peppers, the capsaicin can still burn your skin.

Trust me, the first time that I made this recipe I didn’t protect my hands. And I spent the next several hours trying everything I could to make the burning sensation go away.

Therefore, I now keep a box of gloves in our kitchen pantry for use whenever I need them.

Once you have your gloves on, wash the peppers. Then cut off the stem and discard.

Using a sharp knife slice the jalapeños into thin rings and then place them in a pint size mason jar or plastic container. Set the peppers aside while you make the brine.

Prepare The Brine

In a medium pot add the vinegar, water, garlic, sugar, and salt and stir. Heat over medium-high heat and bring the mixture to a boil.

Once the mixture is at a rolling boil remove the pot from the burner and set aside. Carefully pour the brine in the jar over top of the sliced jalapeños.

If you didn’t completely fill the pint size container with the sliced jalapenos, you may not have enough brine to cover the top of the peppers.

If this is the case, then simply add hot water to the brine mixture until all of the peppers are covered.

Cover and let the liquid cool completely and store in the refrigerator. The peppers will last up to 2 months in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Mary and Jim

Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. The two are frequent speakers on all things gardening and love to travel in their spare time.

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• Easy Air Fryer Jalapeno Poppers
• Air Fryer Jalapeno Popper Bites
• Cowboy Candy (Candied Jalapeños)
• How To Make Chipotle Peppers
• Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce
• Jalapeno Popper Mummies
• Jalapeno Popper Cheeseball