Quick Pickled Jalapeños – Sliced and Refrigerated (with Canned Option)
Try these quick pickled jalapeños made with just four ingredients for a delicious way to spice up your food. Whether you prefer canned or refrigerator pickled jalapeños, this quick pickling recipe is both simple and flavorful. Take a few minutes (yes really!) to make sliced pickled jalapeños and you’ll preserve the season’s harvest while creating a better than store bought product.
Looking for more easy pickling recipes? Try my favorite garlic dill pickles, amazing spicy garlic pickled green beans, or these super fast pickled beets! And for a sweet-hot take on pickled jalapeños, check out my lower-sugar cowboy candy recipe (candied jalapeños)!
Sliced and pickled jalapeños are a staple around our house just like pickled dill cucumbers and pickled green beans.
My goal is to grow enough jalapeños each year to put up 10-12 pints of pickled jalapeños, one pint for each month, either with this traditional vinegar pickle or these wonderful fermented pickled jalapeños (I usually do both, using the fermented jalapeños in the first couple of months and then moving to the refrigerated jalapeños).
To be honest, though, Brian eats the most of these spicy pickled bites and he pretty much puts them on everything.
What to use pickled jalapeños for?
Some of ways to use pickled jalapeños include:
- Topping Mexican foods like taco salads, tacos, enchiladas.
- Adding to slices of pizza before eating.
- Topping burgers, like these pub-style burgers.
- Tossing into pasta salad.
- Adding to sandwiches like tomato, turkey and cheese.
- Garnishing any side dish that would benefit from a little zing, like this corn and pepper sauté.
Canning or Refrigeration?
I used to can these jalapeños in a water-bath canner like our pickled beans, but they were just too limp and mushy.
In an effort to get crisp pickled jalapeños like our favorite regular crisp pickles, I made them the same way, simply refrigerating the jars after pouring the warm pickling liquid over the jalapeños.
Guess what? The refrigerated jalapeños were WAY better than canned or even store-bought!
They stay crisp and fresh tasting in a way fully-canned pickles can’t. Brian loves these and is always so sad if we run out and we have to buy commercial brands.
And the fact that simply refrigerating them makes preserving these quick and easy is simply a welcome bonus – although, like, really welcomed!
So I always make refrigerator pickles with jalapeños now.
However, if you simply don’t have enough space to store jalapeños in the fridge, I am including water-bath canning instructions to be able to store at room temperature. Just be aware that the texture will suffer a bit with the time heating in the boiling water.
Recipe Video
Recipe Ingredients
You’ll need only four ingredients (plus water) to make these delicious pickled jalapeños:
Ingredient Notes
- Jalapeños: Use what you have available – the recipe amount is just a guideline. Being able to make these jar-by-jar as you harvest or find jalapeños is one of the beauties of the refrigeration recipe!
- Vinegar: I prefer apple cider vinegar for both the added flavor and mildness, but regular white vinegar also works – and you may find you prefer it, so test it out!
- Salt: You can use either pure sea salt or canning salt.
- Garlic: If you choose the water bath canning method, you must only use the amount of garlic called for in the recipe. However, you can increase the garlic if refrigerating.
How To Make Quick Pickled Jalapeños
Here are a few helpful visual directions – the full instructions with exact ingredients can be found in the printable recipe card below.
Step 1: Prep jalapeños. Wash and slice peppers. After you’ve put your gloves on (see tip), simply cut the tops off, slice the jalapeños, and fill the jars. Pack them as tight as you can (you can leave more room, but you’ll need more brine, then).
Step 2: Prepare brine & add to jars. Add vinegar, water, and salt to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour the brine over the peppers in the jars – cover the peppers for refrigerating or leave 1/2″ headspace if canning.
TIP 1: I cannot emphasize enough the need for wearing gloves whenever cutting jalapeños – or any hot pepper. When I didn’t use gloves when cutting large amounts of hot peppers, my hands stung for full 2 days – so now I always wear gloves.
TIP 2: I leave all the membranes and seeds (commercial pickled peppers have them, too) because it’s easy and makes the peppers hotter (though they are toned down by the pickling anyway).
Step 3: Seal and preserve.
- If refrigerating, seal the jars with any lids (this is the only time you can reuse the lids – I save old lids to use for my refrigerated jars) and place in the refrigerator.
- If canning, use new lids and clean screw bands and process in a water bath canner (see recipe card for full canning instructions).
How long do pickled jalapeños last?
Refrigerated: While you will read in some places that refrigerated pickled jalapeños last only a few months in the fridge, we have eaten jars up to 18 months old and while the color was not as vibrant, the jalapeños still tasted great. So definitely a year, maybe more!
Canned: Canned products will be safe on the shelf about 18 months, however you may notice the quality of these pickles decline after 6-8 months.
Pickled Jalapeño Questions
Surprisingly, they are! Jalapenos have fiber and a good amount of vitamins C and A and potassium. To add probiotic benefits, simply ferment your jalapenos instead!
You can eat them after 24 hours, but they get better the longer they sit in the brine.
Pickled jalapeños are still spicy, but they are definitely less hot than fresh, since the vinegar tones down the spiciness. They are also more consistent in the spice level versus fresh which can vary a lot from jalapeño to jalapeño.
These pickles are pretty much one of my favorite things to preserve – I get to feel productive in just minutes, we use up our organic produce, Brian gets his beloved jalapeños, and I can quickly move on to something else!
“These are so good! I love the flavor–the mix of the peppers, garlic and vinegar/water mix was perfect–and love the texture!” -Norma
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Quick Pickled Jalapeños – Sliced and Refrigerated (with Canned Option)
Equipment
- medium saucepan
- mason jars and lids (if refrigerating you can use any recycled jar and lid)
- water bath canner optional
Ingredients
- 2½ to 3 pounds jalapeños
- 14 garlic cloves
- 4 cups cider vinegar*
- 1½ cups water
- 1 tablespoon pickling salt
Instructions
- Wash jalapeños, cut off stem tops and then slice into 1/4″ rings. Cut each garlic clove in half.
- Fill each of 5 to 7 clean, warm pint canning jars with sliced jalapeños and 4 garlic clove halves (2 cloves for each jar), leaving 1 to 3/4-inch to 1-inch of headspace.
- In a large saucepan heat the vinegar, water and salt to boiling and then reduce to a simmer while pouring into jars.
To Refrigerate:
- Use a ladle to pour the vinegar mixture over the peppers, leaving 1/2 to 1/4-inch headspace – headspace doesn't matter for refrigeration, just cover the jalapeños with the liquid.**
- Wipe rims and attach lids. TIP: When refrigerating, you can reuse any old lids, (but always use new lids when water-bath canning).
- Label and refrigerate.***
Canning Instructions:
- To seal these in a water-bath canner to store on the shelf (though they won't be as crisp): Fill jars, one at a time, with 1/2-inch headspace and attach lids. Place in raised rack of simmering canner.
- Lower rack and process the jars for 10 minutes, turn off canner and remove lid and leave jars in for 5 minutes more.
- Transfer jars to a towel-lined surface. Let cool without disturbing for 12-24 hours before checking seals, labeling and storing in a cool, dark place. Stores for 12-18 months.
Notes
Nutrition
More Easy Preserving Recipes To Try:
- Crisp and Easy Refrigerator Garlic Dill Pickles
- Honey Sweetened Jalapeño Jelly-Jam
- Garlic Spiced Canned Pickled Beans
This recipe has been updated – it was originally published in 2013.
