Pickled Jalapeños with Spices

TL;DR

Pickled Jalapeños are preserved in a vinegar, water, and salt solution to increase the shelf life of fresh peppers.

Jalapeño pickles are common in Mexican homes, where they prepare quickly pickled jalapeños any time of the year to store in the fridge.

They are better known as jalapeños en escabeche in Spanish.

Ingredients

• Jalapeño Peppers — fresh green is better so that they remain crunchy longer, but red ones are ok as well.
• Pickling Spices — I like to add black or green peppercorn, pink peppercorn, fresh garlic cloves, coriander seeds, caraway seeds or cumin seeds.
• Vinegar  — For the brine, use a semi strong vinegar at 5% acidity.
• Water
• Salt — preserves
• Sugar — preserves

How to pickle them?

Step 1

Wash your jalapeños well, cut off the stem and slice your jalapeño.

I found that cutting thicker slices keeps the peppers crisper over a longer period of time.

Step 2

Add first entire spices to the bottom of the jar and top with the jalapeño slices.

Step 3

Bring the vinegar, water, sugar and salt to boil in a pan.

Pour the hot brine over the jalapeños in your jar.

Step 4

Close and leave the jar out for 2–3 days before refrigerating.

Tips

Fresh Jalapeños can be pickled as a whole or cut into slices. Canning entire jalapeños results in peppers that are crunchier for over a longer period of time.

Sliced pepper pickles, on the other hand, give you the freedom to remove some seeds if you want to tone down the heat.

However, sliced jalapeños can get soggy faster and lose their crunchiness in time.

Usually green jalapeños are pickled, but you can use red ones as well.

Just know that red ones might be a bit sweeter, but they tend to be even hotter at times.

The heat of jalapeños cannot be really determined on the outside.

I have come across super mild bell pepper-like jalapeños, as well as super hot jalapeños.

If you want to tone down the heat in your pickled jalapeño pepper recipe, then remove some or all the seeds.

Extra Useful Tip: Use gloves to cut the Jalapeños because it can burn! I didn't in the video because I forgot (and they look ugly in the video).

Storing

Store the pickled jalapeños in your fridge after the slices sat in the vinegar solution for 2–3 days at room temperature.

If you have followed all the outlines steps correctly to the T, then your pickles should last for at least 5 months in your fridge.

But try to eat them as soon you can because they taste better when they are still crisp.

Pickled peppers don't do well when they're mushy, soggy, and limbless.

Flavor variations

You know I love adjusting my recipes with spices and herbs!

So, for these Mexican pickled hot peppers, I ended up creating flavor variations, which were quite the hit at home.

You can adjust this basic recipe by adding the following or switching out with the following ingredients:

Pickling spices — I mix a set of flavor enhancing spices together, add them to the raw jalapeños. Spices such as mustard seeds, black/green/pink peppercorn, caraway seeds, allspice, and fresh whole garlic.

Flavored Vinegar — I love to add my herb infused Vinegar or other fruit infused or flavored vinegar, such as Coconut Vinegar or other Gourmet Vinegar.

Other Ingredients — Such as carrots, turnips, and radish or even small onions and cucumbers.

Uses

There are several innovative uses for these simple pickled jalapeños.

• As a nacho, taco, quesadilla, enchilada garnish
• In a Chicken escabeche
• As a sandwich or burger topping
• In a Pico de Gallo or Salsa. For example, a mango pico de gallo.
• To top your pizza
• I add pickled jalapeños to my jalapeño deviled eggs.
• In salads and dressings (as in jalapeño ranch dressing)
• Added to dips, as in my cream cheese jalapeno dip.
• Or in your mac and cheese

More Pickle Recipes

• Sriracha Garlic Pickle
• Japanese Sushi Ginger Pickle
• Goan Green Mango Pickle