Once you realize how easy it is to make fermented pickled jalapeños, you’ll never buy jars of sliced pickled jalapeños again – especially since you get all the probiotic benefits with these delicious jalapeños!
Some links in this article are affiliate links and if you click on them I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.
If you know of or have made my quick refrigerated pickled jalapeños, you may not be surprised to see a recipe for fermented pickled jalapeños. Especially if you also have read my research into gut health and the realization that fermented foods are basically pickled foods, just pickled with salt instead of vinegar.
Pickling with salt instead of vinegar creates an environment for good bacteria to grow. By contrast, vinegar kills bacteria, which is why it’s used in shelf-stable canning recipes (a good thing).
And when we eat this salt-pickled food (fermented, also called lacto-fermented from the name of the major bacteria it cultivates) we introduce those good bacteria into our digestive system where they can take hold and do their job. Which is to push out the bad bacteria – or in some cases, populate an empty gut so that it can function again.
Obviously, this is a very simplistic review of a complex system in our bodies. If you are scratching your head at this, I urge you to do your own research – the new things we are learning that are impacted by gut health is fascinating.
I’ve seen our guts referred to as our body’s “second brain.” Here is a WedMD article to get you started, but googling “gut health” will get you a lot more interesting and easy to read articles.
Anyway, back to these fermented pickled jalapeños. Notice how I’m putting both fermented and pickled into the title? I think it more clearly explains what these really are, don’t you?
After discovering these Easy Fermenter Lids and how set-it-and-forget-it fermenting could be with them, I’ve come up with recipes for a quick spicy corn relish, easy fermented pickled vegetables (carrots, cauliflower, etc.), and a delicious mild tasting sauerkraut.
The next vegetable on my list to ferment became jalapeños, since it’s one of Brian’s favorite things to add to Mexican food, pizza, salads, even crackers (triscuit + cottage cheese + sliced pickled jalapeño!).
I basically made them just like the fermented vegetables – once you get the basics down, it’s really easy to branch into all kinds of fermentations.
How to Make Fermented Pickled Jalapeños
The first three steps to making fermented pickled jalapeños (and any other fermented vegetable) are:
- Prepare salted water.
- Prepare vegetables.
- Add salted water to vegetables.
A couple of notes:
- Use sea salt or another type of salt with NO additives. The measurements are for fine salt, not kosher.
- I like to slice garlic for any pickles I make – I feel it releases more of the flavor into the pickle than whole cloves. This is optional, though.
- We find sliced jalapeños to be much easier to use in the ways we enjoy, so that’s how I prepare them. You can also cut in half or leave whole (but slice through whole peppers to allow the brine to penetrate).
- Always use gloves when slicing jalapeños!! Not only will this prevent your hands from burning (lesson learned) it prevents you from getting any hot juices in your eyes (you would be surprised at how often this happens – apparently we touch our eyes more than we think!).
The fourth step is:
- Keep vegetables under brine with a weight.
Some people use things like cabbage leaves or other homemade items to attempt to keep the vegetables under the salted brine, but I find it easiest to use a glass fermenting weight made for this purpose. It’s especially needed for the cut slices of jalapeños, because you can see in the top photo how they will just float to the top without a weight. Slipping the weight on top holds them just under enough to be completely covered.
Need some weights? This is the simple weight I have that is pictured, but I’ve learned that they are kind of hard to place and often hard to fish out. Now I’ve got these glass weights with handles on my to-buy list. They look easier to place and remove. Since they are now about the same price, I’d recommend going with the handled weights for sure.
And the last step is:
- Sealing with a lid (and keeping track of the date you made it so you know when it’s done).
There are all kinds of time-honored ways for fermenting, usually with crocks weighted down with plates, and covered with towels. You can use a regular mason jar lid loosely attached so air can pass as well. I’ve even seen fermenting lids with special syringes attached that you need to use to remove gasses. All of these involve babysitting, checking often, “burping” lids, and often cleaning up overflows on the counter.
Um, that’s not really easy to me. I use these Easy Fermenter Lids – they are what has allowed me to make all of my fermented recipes truly easy. You simply screw on the lid, turn the wheel to the day you made it (I suppose you could make it the day you check it, too), and set it on the counter. You won’t need to do anything else until you check them to be finished. Now that’s easy, right?
We’ve found 5-7 days to be “done” for these sliced fermented pickled jalapeños (you should test one to see if you’d like it shorter or longer for your preference – the longer the ferment, the more sour the pickle). Also, warm weather may pickle the vegetables sooner than cold.
If you test and want to keep fermenting on the counter, reattach the Easy Fermenter Lid and use the syringe that came with the kit to remove the oxygen that was introduced. One to two pumps is all that’s needed.
After that, remove the Easy Fermenter Lid, replace it with a storage lid, and move the jar to the refrigerator for storage. Fermented foods can store for a year or even longer.
What do they look like after fermenting?
In full disclosure, I want to show you what the jalapeños look like after fermenting 5 days and storage for a couple more – I think you’ll see why I chose the first-day of fermenting to take the pretty pictures:
Like all pickled jalapeños, the color will turn a duller green. You will also have a cloudy brine, but that is what you want – it’s definitely not ‘bad!’
And it may depend on the jalapeños you start with, but these guys are HOT. I actually have to cut one in quarters to spread it over my taco or pizza. But obviously I think they’re good or I wouldn’t bother! They add such a nice touch – both flavor and heat – to foods. We wouldn’t want to be without a batch of either these fermented jalapeños or the vinegar version.
What about you – will you try making these?
Super Easy Fermented Pickled Jalapeños Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons sea salt fine, not kosher or flakes
- 4 cups room temperature water
- 4 cloves garlic cut in half
- about 1/2 pound jalapeños sliced (enough to fill a quart jar)
Instructions
- Add salt to water, stir well and then let sit to dissolve.
- Pack garlic first and then sliced jalapeños into a wide-mouth quart glass jar, leaving about 2 inches between jalapeños and the top of jar.
- Pour water over jalapeños, covering about an inch.
- Add a glass weight to hold the slices under the brine and attach a fermenting lid.
- Check jalapeños at 5 days. If you'd like them more sour, leave them another 1-2 days.
- Remove fermenting lid and replace with a storage lid.
- Store in the refrigerator.*
Notes
Nutrition
Other Fermented Foods You May Like:
Best Mild Homemade Sauerkraut Recipe {That Happens to Be Super Easy, Too!}
Easiest Fermented Pickled Vegetables Ever
5-Minute Foolproof Fermented Corn Relish Recipe
Disclosure: affiliate links in this article will earn commission based on sales, but it doesn’t change your price. Click here to read my full disclaimer and advertising disclosure.
Mike says
If you don’t publish ingredients by weight, you are setting your viewers up for failure! Science!
Chad Elliott says
What salt percentage are you using?
Jami says
4%
Keely W. says
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made it once already and loved it so much that I decided to make it again, but this time I made a BIG batch to make sure I didn’t run out too fast 🙂 I’m really new to fermentation, so my question is – if I quadruple the recipe, should I scale up the fermentation time to match that? Or do you think it would be fine to just follow the same 5 to 7 days of fermentation? Last time I made it, I did a 5-day ferment, so I was thinking I would do 7 days on this one at the least. Thanks in advance for your input!
Jami says
I’m so glad you like this recipe, Keely! Usually you don’t need to increase the days with more volume, but you can always test at day 5 and see if you like it or would like to go for another couple of days. That’s what’s nice about fermenting – you can make it to your tastes. You do want to make sure they don’t get too soft, though, so do test at the day 5 mark. Happy fermenting!
Nancy Walters says
What kind of salt do you use? Kosher, table salt like Morton, or pickling salt. Each have a different “saltiness”. Even kosher salts have different saltiness depending on brand cuz they are manufactured differently. Your advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Jami says
Gosh, that should’ve been specified in the recipe, Nancy – thanks for asking!
Salt for fermenting should be sea salt with no additives. Since canning salt doesn’t have additives, you can use that, though I stick with sea salt. These measurements are for a regular size sea salt, not a kosher or flake salt.
I’ve updated the recipe with these suggestions, too.
Teresa Vasquez says
Can you use Mason jar instead and do you have to use the glass to put inside….what else can I use if I don’t have the tools you used
Jami says
I am using a quart size mason jar here, Teresa. You can use any glass quart size jar. You can weight down the vegetables using a cabbage leaf, small glass or ceramic ramekin or anything non-reactive that may fit in the top of the jar.
You can also use a regular jar lid, but you’ll want to put the jar on a plate because it will probably overflow a bit and you’ll need to burp the lid (open it slightly to release gas) daily. That’s why the lids I mention make these super easy. 🙂
jd thomas says
With various fermented pickles, salsas, kimchi, I’ve always just used a small ziploc bag partially filled with some extra brine solution (put in the solution and get all the air you can out of the bag while zipping closed) and stuffed into the headspace above the vegetables. This will hold the vegetables under the liquid. And I leave the jar top a little loose so that any overflow can escape. Yes, have the container setting on some sort of platter/casserole dish/cake pan, etc. to catch any of that overflow.
Jami says
Thanks for this option, JD (although having to avoid all that is why I love the lids!).
ColleenB. says
Son-in-laws and grandsons will enjoy these. Thank You