“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.
Does this jelly need to be refrigerated until it is served OR
just until it is fully set?
Unless you can it, the jelly needs to be kept in the refrigerator Rosaline.
I am iced in and can get to store. I want to make this jelly but only have aapple cider vinegar. Will that work?
Yes, that should work fine Teresa, enjoy!
Hello! I’m excited to try this recipe, I have huge mixture of hot peppers from my garden this year. Just wondering how long it is good for in the refrigerator? I plan on giving with gifts this holiday season and want to make sure it stays good. Thanks!
Conservatively it should be good for 2 weeks, or more, Adrien, but it does freeze well, and you can can it if you like.
Thanks! I’ve never really been a canning person either. Would you suggest I wait for the jelly to completely cool before capping and then seal by canning? Or cap and seal right away then allow to cool?
If you boil the filled jelly jars “a bath” once they are all filled and closed well, put them in a deep pot, fill water to about 1″ over the jars, boil 10 min. take them out and let them sit on counter if the center of the jars pop in and stay in then you can keep them in your pantry like regular jelly from the store.
Place a dish towel on bottom of pot when water bath and look up water bath times to get a feel for times. I use and water bath mine for 35 minutes. Have fun and good luck
LOVE your recipe! I made a double batch today to use up the orange and green peppers we had in the garden. I am making a few more batches tomorrow it turned out so well and easy! I had seen recipes before for pepper jelly and thought it was intimidating and passed them all over. These are going to make cute holiday gifts for friends, family & my son’s teachers.
Thank you SO much for coming back to let me (us!) know, Michelle. I felt the same way about all the intimidating instructions on some jelly recipes, and I’m really glad this one worked for you.
2 things…Can I use honey instead of sugar or the pectin? and Do I have to do a have to the hot water bath? I am an advisor to a childrens Garden Club at our school and we have an hour to get things done. After reading though the comments and seeing other recipes, if I made a peach hot pepper jam with honey and the fruit it might do well. Ive seen recipes that use apples instead of the pectin.
What are your thoughts?
I’m really not sure, Edith, I’ve never used honey in a jelly like this before. You definitely need the pectin in order for the whole thing to jell, and you will need the low sugar pectin, in the pink box. Not sure about the apples, I know they have natural pectin, but maybe not enough to create a jelly like this.
I tried this and the jelly never set….. It has been in the fridge nearly 24 hours. Any suggestions?
Hi Greg — did you use the pectin in the pink box, made for low sugar? That’s essential.
Yellow box
Can this be salvaged?
I’ve heard you can reheat the jelly up to a boil and add more pectin and it will jell. Food in Jars says: Open all the jars back up. Set heat to high and begin to bring the jam to temperature. Whisk in one tablespoon of powdered pectin as it heats. Cook vigorously until jam appears visibly thickened
Too late now, I’m sure, but I used the Ball low/no sugar pectin which is also different (oops) and managed to remake mine successfully. Experience at: http://artofnaturalliving.com/2017/03/19/hot-pepper-jelly-plus-surprise-syrup-oops/
I made this tonight using the correct pectin. Mine is not setting either.
Sometimes this happens with all jams and jellies, Beth ~ try removing it from the jars, reheating it to a full boil, and stirring in a little more pectin.
Sue. Can I use liquid pectin?
I haven’t tried so I can’t say for sure, Nicki. I have the best and most foolproof success with the powdered low sugar pectin in the pink box. I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful there, but I know that jelly can be tricky and little alterations can cause it to fail. I don’t want you to be disappointed. Maybe another reader will chime in if they’ve tried this with liquid pectin.
This looks great and i’d love to make it! However I have very limited refrigerator room so I was wondering if any one tried canning this in a water bath. If so, how long in the bath and do you wait for the jelly to cool before putting in the bath or do you put it in the bath immediately after putting in the jars? Thanks!
I’ve never made jelly/jam/preserves/anything of that sort, but I was looking for a way to use up lots of jalepenos in a hurry and found your recipe. I probably used more than 12 oz. of the other peppers, as I threw in a few banana peppers along with the red & orange, but it still turned out great! And I love the golden color (a nice change from the bright green pepper jelly of my Southern childhood). Now to try it out on my supper club tonight …
Thanks for letting me know, Catherine, I love banana peppers, they’re delicious and pretty! Hope your supper club approves…
I made one batch and went by the same recipe and it turned out very good. Sooo I made a second batch and it will nt jell. I don’t know what to do. Can someone help.
water bath with water over jars about 1″ or so for ten minutes, I do 15 minutes. take out and listen for the ping that means lids have sealed.
Can i freeze this jelly?
Yes, it freezes well, Katina.
Perfect! Made 2 batches today! We love it:)
Found this on Pinterest while roaming around looking for something to make and give my friends as gifts for Christmas and I am totally excited to try this!! After reading some of the comments I’m going to try one of those bags of little peppers and use 1/2&1/2 vinegar. I am totally excited to try this!! I will let you know how it turns out. Going shopping tomorrow!! Wheeeeeeeee 🙂
I put the pectin I the boiling mixture but it lumped up. Is there a certain technique? It still jelled well but there were a few lumps of pectin.
Sprinkle the pectin in while stirring, Antoinette, like you might add flour to a gravy. Hope that helps!