“Sue, I wanted to let you know I absolutely love this recipe! It’s my go-to! I’ve shared the jelly I’ve made with family and friends over the last two years and they’ve absolutely loved it. Thank you for posting this recipe!” ~Steph
everyone needs a great hot pepper jelly recipe ~ and this one is so easy!
I’m excited about this recipe because it was truly easy and it turned out so well. And come on, you can’t start out the upcoming appetizer season without a good hot pepper jelly recipe. Paired with soft goat or cream cheese and crackers it’s an epic experience. It draws people in like a flies, and causes normally discreet friends and family to shovel, gorge, and wolf. All conversation stops until the plate is licked clean. It’s not pretty, but it is delicious.
hot pepper jelly doesn’t have to be complicated
If you already know and love hot pepper jellies and jams I think you’ll be excited about this one too. I’ve kept the steps to an absolute minimum.. Maybe it’s just me, but the directions that come in those pectin boxes drive me crazy. They are so convoluted and there are so many charts! I bypassed all the charts, and I’m giving you a quick way to get hot pepper jelly into your belly asap. 🙂 And then you can customize it to whatever hot and sweet peppers you have on hand. If you’re the canning type, can up a bunch of it, it will make fantastic holiday gifts. I made enough to last in the fridge for a few weeks of gorging.
I love peppers of all kinds!
I’ve blathered on about my love of peppers before, so I’ll keep it short. I just think they are not only beautiful, but so versatile. Mid to late summer is the best time to find them at farmer’s markets, but of course you can get them year round in the supermarket. I go crazy picking out a rainbow of colors. For this jelly I used a handful of jalapenos for the heat, and an assortment of bell peppers for sweetness and color. All it takes is a few pulses of the food processor to get them finely minced.
the peppers stay colorful and crunchy in my hot pepper jelly recipe
What I love most about this recipe is that there’s no long cooking of the peppers. I just bring the pot to a boil, stir in the pectin, and let it cook for 1 minute. That’s it. All the recipes I researched cooked the peppers for a full 10 minutes before adding the pectin. I took a chance and sidestepped all that. It was perfect. And this way the peppers stay fresh and bright.
what you’ll need
- 8 jalapeño peppers
- 12 oz assorted colorful bell peppers, weighed after trimming
- 2 cups white vinegar (or cider vinegar)
- 3 cups sugar
- 1.75 ounce box no sugar needed pectin
working with jalapeños
Jalapeños are not all created equal. Some jalapeños are hot, some are not so much. There’s no real way to tell until you taste. But since the whole point of hot pepper jelly is the heat, I suggest erring on the more is better side. For some serious heat you can substitute habanero or Serrano peppers.
- The heat in jalapeños peppers is concentrated in the seeds and inner ‘ribs’. Keep them for a hotter result, and for a milder jelly, remove them and just use the green flesh.
- Jalapeños get hotter as they get older, so the smoother and glossier the pepper is, the milder it will tend to be. If the pepper is striated (has fine white lines on it) and slightly wrinkled, expect more heat.
- To test the heat of your peppers, slice one open and touch the tip of your tongue to the exposed area.
- After working with hot peppers, be sure to wash your hands well; the spicy oils can burn if you touch your hands to sensitive areas like your eyes or nose.
tips for making my easy hot pepper jelly recipe
- IMPORTANT — Make sure you buy the right pectin for this, I used this one which is specifically for lower sugar jams and jellies. It really does make a difference is how reliably this recipe ‘jells’.
- Use any color sweet peppers you like, all red, all green, or all yellow make a pretty hot pepper jelly, too.
- If you really like it hot, use Serrano or Habanero peppers in place of the jalapeños.
- This recipe is formulated as a small batch recipe, I haven’t measured the ph to insure that it’s safe to can.
- For longer storage you can freeze your jelly. For freezing, be sure you leave some empty space at the top when filling your jars to allow to expansion in the freezer.
Easy Hot Pepper Jelly Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 jalapeño peppers
- 12 oz assorted colorful bell peppers, weighed after trimming
- 2 cups white vinegar (or cider vinegar)
- 3 cups sugar
- 1.75 ounce box no sugar needed pectin
Instructions
- Wash the jalapenos and trim the stem end off. Remove the seeds if you want a milder jelly. I recommend using the whole peppers, seeds and all. Give them a rough chop and then pulse them in the food processor until they are finely minced. Be careful, the fumes will be strong, and make sure to wash your hands well after working with hot peppers. Put the peppers into a heavy bottomed pot.
- Wash and trim the bell peppers, and remove the inner ribs and seeds. Give them a rough chop and pulse them in a food processor until finely minced. You may want to do this in batches, because I find you get a more even chop if you don’t crowd the bowl. Add the bell peppers to the pot with the jalapenos.
- Add the vinegar and sugar to the pot and stir to combine. Bring the pot up to a boil, and then add the pectin. Boil, stirring, for one minute.
- Ladle the hot liquid into clean jars and set aside to cool before capping and refrigerating.
- If your pepper bits float to the top, you can give the jelly an occasional stir as it cools to distribute them more evenly.
- When the jelly is cool, cap and refrigerate the jars. They will thicken as they cool, and even more as they chill.
- Serve with plenty of creamy goat or cream cheese, and crackers or grilled slices of baguette.
I have recently made two batches using your recipe. My second batch I tried something different and added red food coloring…. it turned out so pretty! I am planning on giving these for Christmas gifts! I also canned both batches of mine using a hot water bath.
Thanks for the recipe!
May I ask how long you processed it for? Thanks!
I canned mine in a bath as well. I put it in 10 minutes and they all sealed beautifully. It was my first time canning.
Yay!
How long dI’d you water bath the jars please?
Sue, I just made your pepper jelly! It was so easy and fast. I used a bag of mini peppers (red, yellow and orange) and a green pepper. It looks beautiful. Thanks so much .
Yay, glad it was a success — I just had to buy some hot pepper jelly the other day because I haven’t made a batch in a while.
Thank you Sue! Bingo, I’ve finally found somewhere on the net the best recipe for Hot Pepper Jelly. I’m a Hot Pepper Jelly freak, and have been making if for over 25 years. I’m in the habit of cutting sugar in half in virtually every recipe I make, and compensate for that with adding more pectin. But when the no or low sugar pectin came out a few years back, I was so happy about that….finally! I find that commercial jams and jellies taste more like flavored sugar then anything else.
I make mine exactly the same as you do with great success, except I use Habenaros instead.
I’m all for the habanero substitution, Wayne!
Hi,
I’ve been looking at a lot of recipes for hot pepper jelly, and yours is the one I like best, but I have one big problem: I am so confused by what you mean by no-sugar pectin. Is that Pomona pectin? I’m thinking it’s not Sure jell. Is it possible for you to tell me which brand you used? Also, have you ever tried canning it, and what were the results? I would love to give some as presents. Thanks.
I use this pectin, Irene: http://www.amazon.com/Sure-Jell-Premium-Pectin-recipes/dp/B007EZ8W8Q/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1442536235&sr=8-3&keywords=sure+jell+no+sugar
It’s Sure Jell Low or No Sugar Pectin.
Great. That’s easy to find. Have you processed yours in a water bath, and did you like the results if you did?
Many thanks.
I have not processed this, I’m afraid, Irene. I use it as a refrigerator or freezer type jam.
I have processed mine in a water bath a it turns out awesome. But you still need to let it cool before you can it. Also before you add the bell peppers to the pot make sure to use paper towels to soak up extra moisture. But this recipe is phenomenal. I’m making it as I type this haha
I was wondering if it would be safe to add pineapple to this recipe ? thanks for any help
I’m not sure, Venus, but I did find this recipe for you for Pineapple Hot Pepper Jelly: http://www.food.com/recipe/pineapple-pepper-jelly-133862. It has quite a big of sugar but I think it needs that for canning safety.
Thank you 🙂
I bought Pomona Pure Pectin (1.1 oz packges) w separate calcium packet included – please advise 🙂 can’t wait to make this!!
THANK YOU!!!
Hey Sue We love hot pepper jelly. This recipe was really easy pretty and taste great. However it just is not jelling very well. It has been in the fridge over night. Any suggestions? There seem to be quite a bit of liquid in tbe bell peppers when i minced them. So i thought maybe that had something to do with it or my pectin i used did not say on the box no sugar needed. This is the only 2 things i could think of.
The type of pectin is important, Jamie, and that was probably it. There are a bunch of different kinds, and each one works differently. If you decide to give it another try, be sure to find one that specifies no sugar.
I was wondering if you can do a hot water bath on these jars like canning jam and you wouldn’t have to refridgerate.
I am watching the type of sugar I consume and wanted to know if you can substitute agave syrup for part of the sugar content?
I don’t know is the short answer. But here is a link that suggests you can, and tells you how to substitute it for the sugar in jams : http://extension.psu.edu/food/preservation/faq/making-jams-jellies-with-agave-syrup. Hope that helps!
Planning to try making some different hot pepper jellies this summer… it will be the first time I attempt jelly. Is the pectin you used powder or liquid? I’ve heard others say it’s best to use exactly the type specified in a recipe for best results. Thanks!
I use powdered pectin, Heather.