Make these pickled jalapeños once, and you'll be hooked. Sweet & spicy, they're great on tacos, burgers & more, or on their own straight from the jar!
If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you know that I’m a huge fan of pickled onions. They’re tangy, they’re sweet, they’re salty – really, they’re just darn good. For the longest time, they’ve been my favorite way to add a bright pop of color and flavor to salads, tacos, sandwiches, and more. But lately, pickled onions have been playing second fiddle to a new quick-pickle favorite: pickled jalapeños!
These guys are the perfect blend of spicy, salty, and sweet. And if you’re not a fan of spicy foods, they’re still worth a try. The longer you leave them in the fridge, the sweeter and less spicy they become. All you need to make them is 6 ingredients and 10 minutes, so let’s get pickling!
How to Pickle Jalapeños
If you’ve ever made another type of quick pickle at home, making this pickled jalapeño recipe is no different. If you haven’t, don’t worry. The process is super easy. Here’s what you need to do:
- Slice your jalapeños and stuff two mason jars full of pepper slices. Then, add a smashed garlic clove to each mason jar.
- Next, make the brine by simmering vinegar, water, sugar, and salt over low heat until the sugar dissolves.
- Pour the brine over the jarred peppers, let them cool to room temperature, and store them in the fridge for up to two weeks!
That’s it! If you’re feeling fancy, you could add a pinch of cumin seeds, peppercorns, mustard seeds, or a bay leaf to your brine, but I like this quick pickled jalapeño recipe best just how it is.
How to Use Pickled Jalapeños
I made a huge batch of these pickled jalapeños last week, and let me tell you, I’ve been putting them on everything – quick sandwiches, toss-together grain bowls, salads, eggs, you name it. I urge you to try adding them to anything you’re making that could use a sweet, tangy pop of spice, but if you’re looking for specific recipes, here are some ideas:
- Tuck them into your morning breakfast burrito or breakfast tacos.
- Add them to a salad like this Healthy Taco Salad or this Watermelon Salad.
- Top them onto a veggie burger, black bean burger, or grilled portobello mushroom burger.
- Use them instead of regular jalapeño to make extra-tangy guac, pico, or mango salsa.
- Dot them onto sweet potato chili fries, vegetarian tacos, or serve with fajitas or taquitos.
- Use them to finish a spicy sandwich like these chickpea shawarma wraps or top them onto avocado toast.
- Or enjoy them straight from the jar! 🙂
Love these pickled jalapeños?
Try making pickled red onions, pineapple salsa, cilantro lime dressing, or tomatillo salsa to add another extra pop of flavor to your favorite dishes.
Pickled Jalapeños
Ingredients
- 10 jalapeños, thinly sliced
- 2 whole garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 cup white distilled vinegar
- 1 cup water
- ⅓ cup cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
Instructions
- Divide the jalapeños into 2 (16-ounce) lidded jars and place a garlic clove in each jar.
- In a small saucepan over low heat, simmer the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Pour the brine over the jalapeños. Let cool to room temp, then cover and chill for at least 30 minutes. Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
I love your pickle recipes but since I’m avoiding refined sugar is there something I can replace this ingredient with in this recipe? Or can I just leave it out completely?
Hi Gaby, So glad you love the recipes! You could try using coconut sugar or honey instead of the cane sugar. If you use honey, I’d start with half the amount and add more if you want your brine to be sweeter.
For those of you looking for sugar alternatives I’ve been using Pure Cane sugar. Target sells a good quality 4 pd 1 to 1 substitute for $3.29, Zulka Morena Pure Cane Sugar.
If these are canned, how long will they last in my pantry?
Hi Jeff, we haven’t tried canning them, so I can’t say. Uncanned, they keep for 2 weeks or so in the fridge. Hope this helps!
I’m out of fresh garlic cloves! Can garlic powder be used? If so, how much garlic powder can be used in place of 1 garlic clove?
Hi Michelle, I would just skip them.
Delicious and easy! My first time pickling. 🙂
Why oh why do you need so much sugar? Why is sugar even necessary? Or am I missing something?
Hi Heidi, it’s just in the brine, you won’t consume that much sugar when you pull the peppers out. You can skip it if you want – your peppers will be more tart and spicy.
So…not one person commented that the amounts are off – I had to use 20 jalepenos to almost fill 2 jars – added other peppers.
Then I did not have enough brine and had to make more…so I hope these are as good as everyone says but why no comments on the amounts?
Same, and 11 mouth jalapeno fit in my 1 jar and upon my panicked realization of pouring the 2cuos in it didn’t fill the jar so I quickly boiled up more to finish the jar o_o
I agree on the amounts being off. Only 10 jalepenos for 2 jars? Must be small jars! That’s why I’m reading through the comments. I’m glad I did because now I will double the brine.
Do these only last for two weeks? Is there a way to keep them for longer?
Hi Laura, they don’t go bad after 2 weeks, but the brine will eventually lose its flavor – generally around the 2-3 week mark.
Fine or coarse sea salt?
fine grain sea salt
Delicious and easy.
These are so delicious and incredibly easy. Thanks so much for this recipe! I halved the recipe for my first batch because I wanted to test it – now I wish we had more on hand! My only question is what natural substitutes do you recommend for the sugar?
Hi Britt, you can use maple syrup or honey if you want.
Can you water bath can these.?
Will these last longer than 2 week if unopened?
Hi Molly, that won’t make a difference (since these are not processed and sealed), but be sure you store these in the fridge. They won’t go bad right at 2 weeks, they just lose their flavor over time.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS RECIPE. I have made so many jars of these and they are just delicious every single time. I am a pepper head – and I also use this recipe to make pickled habaneros!!!!!!!!! For either type of pepper.. I give them a day or so in the fridge, and then put them in a blender to make relish out of them. This is going in my family cookbook.
Hi Matt, I’m so glad you’ve loved them!
Do I need to store these in the fridge, or can they be stored in the pantry? If so for how long?
Hi Naomi, they need to be stored in the fridge – they’ll last, chilled, for 2 to 3 weeks.
Can this be done using other types of vinegars such as apple cider or rice wine vinegar?
Hi Colleen, yes, they can.
I love this!!! I have an over abundant crop of jalapeños in my garden and I’ve been looking for pickling instructions! Thank you!
Love this! I’ve made this with jalapeños and I am making it right now with sweet peppers. I needed a pickled pepper brine and while this was not intended for sweet peppers, I loved it so much that I was willing to experiment.
2 questions:
Does pickling these tame the hotness level of jalapeños?
Could you use a mix of veggies…carrots, celery and whatever else I might think of along with the jalapeños?
Hi Jan, it tames them just a little bit. You could absolutely add other veggies, keep in mind that it’ll make the other veggies a bit spicy.
I gave this recipe 5 stars but it’s so extra it deserves 11 stars. I added coriander seeds, fresh dill, and some mustard seed. I only pickled 2 peppers because that is what I had but I will definitely buy more peppers to add to the jars.
Hi! Tried your recipe and absolutely loved it, it is nice to have another way to use the jalapeños we grew this summer. I was wondering if we wanted to preserve these for longer than 2 weeks if we could freeze them? Thanks in advance
I was wondering if you tried freezing the jalapeños? Did you pickle them first and freeze the jar? Or did you freeze the jalapeños and pickle them when you were ready to eat them?