A pantry staple, homemade Pickled Jalapeño Peppers are so easy to make! Whether you’re canning jalapeño peppers or quick pickling them, this simple recipe will have you preserving jalapeños in no time!

Extending the Season

Like my Pickled Banana Peppers, preserving jalapeños couldn’t be simpler. Whether you grow your own or spy those bright green beauties at the farmers market or grocery, late summer is the perfect time of year to enjoy pickling in season jalapeños.

Enjoy this quick pickled jalapeño recipe within an hour or canned jalapeños the following day. Their flavor improves with a little time.

Ingredients for Pickled Jalapeños

A short list of ingredients for these pickled peppers, here’s what you’ll need to make em’ (see recipe card for details):

• Distilled White Vinegar
• Water
• Salt
• Sugar
• Garlic
• Jalapeños

How To Preserve Jalapeños

Preserving jalapeños is super easy. With just a few ingredients and fresh jalapeños, homemade pickled peppers can be enjoyed throughout the year. Here’s how to quick pickle jalapeño peppers (refrigerator pickled) and how to can jalapeño peppers (see recipe below for details):

• First, sterilize the Jars and lids.
• Second, throughly wash the peppers.
• Third, chop the peppers into rings. To protect hands from those burning pepper oils, wear disposable gloves and wash your hands throughly after handling the peppers.
• Fourth, bring the vinegar, water, salt and sugar to a boil. Add the peppers and garlic to the vinegar water, stir and remove from heat. Allow to set for 15 minutes. You’ll notice the color of the pickles turn from bright green to a duller shade.
• Next, pack the jars with cut peppers, while also pouring the brine into jars. Use a spoon to gently pack the rings if needed, to make room for more. Top with brine and more peppers as needed. Leave about a 1/2″ head space at the top of each jar. Lid the peppers.
• *At this point for quick pickled jalapeños, simply place the jars in the refrigerator. They’ll last for several months and be ready for snacking in about 24 hours, or in an hour for the quickest pickle! 
• Last, to can the peppers, in a large pot of boiling water, process the jars for 10 minutes. Remove, and cool. *See Makers’ Notes Update Below.

If your jalapeños are canned, listen for the lid to pop – this means your jars are sealed and ready for long term storage at room temperature. If you’re going for a refrigerator quick pickle, the lid doesn’t need to pop, rather your peppers are ready to be refrigerated right after lidding the jar.

How Hot Are Jalapeño Peppers?

Jalapeño’s Scoville rating, a measurement of a pepper’s heat, ranges between 2,500 to 5,000 Scoville heat units, with the upper end resulting in major mouth burn! By comparison, banana peppers are mild with a Scoville range of 0 to 500 and Anaheim, medium from 500 to 2500 Scoville units.

Jalapeño’s heat can vary from pepper to pepper. But removing the white parts (ribs) and seeds from a jalapeño reduces their fiery notes while retaining their flavorful, less spicy parts.

Quick pickled banana peppers are simple to whip up too. Check out my Pickled Banana Peppers recipe and give these flavorful peppers a try!

Does Pickling Jalapeños Make Them Less Spicy?

Pickling jalapeños tend to calm the spice a bit, but not entirely. It all depends on how spicy the jalapeños are to start with. Pickling only tames the heat so far!

If a less spicy pickling is desired, first, remove the ribs and seeds of the peppers by cutting the peppers in half. Scrape out the ribs and seeds with a spoon or slice with a knife. Then, slice the peppers into 1/2 rings. If the pepper is large and straight enough, you can simply cut off the stem end and scrape out the ribs and seeds. The pepper ring shape will be retained! 

What Do You Do with Pickled Jalapeños?

Treat these spicy, briny, flavor popping peppers as a condiment. Enjoy them on all things Mexican food and more like:

How Long Do Pickled Jalapeños Last?

Quick pickled jalapeños can last several months in the fridge (update 3/22: this year my quick pickled jalapeños lasted eight months in the fridge), or if properly canned, up to one year at room temperature. An open jar of canned or quick pickled jalapeños will last months in the refrigerator. 

Equipment for Canning

To make canning easier, I use a few pieces of special equipment, specific for canning. The stockpot I use to process the jars is my largest soup pot. It’s on the small side for canning, but it works! (These are affiliate links).

A Few Recipe Notes

• Make sure your jars are sterilized before preserving jalapeños. The National Center for Home Food Preservation shows us how.
• This pickled jalapeño recipe yields three 16oz jars as written, but the recipe doubles with ease.
• Use latex gloves to protect hands from hot pepper oils. The burn tends to linger otherwise, even after washing hands with hot soapy water! 

Makers’ Notes Update

August 2021: I’ve received a few notes regarding the pickled peppers being soft or mushy after canning. Here are some tips I’ve gleaned about this: 

• Use the freshest jalapeños you can get your hands on. Look for jalapeños at farmers’ markets, fresh from the garden, or through a CSA. 
• Make sure you’re canning in the water bath for no longer than 10 minutes. Set a timer and watch it closely. 
• A tip I learned from Chili Pepper Madness in the comments and on another forum is there’s a product called Pickle Crisp that may help (I’ve not tried this). 
• If you’re worried about soft peppers, simply enjoy the peppers as quick pickled. They’ll last for months in the fridge (update 3/22: this year my quick pickled jalapeños lasted eight months in the fridge). 

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