“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
Video
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.
Why would you no sugar pectin?
It gives a much more reliable set, Kathy, and it works with lower sugar recipes.
Can you freeze it?
Can you put in hot water bath and store for longer?
How long will this hot pepper jelly keep? Where ?
This is a refrigerator recipe Virginia, so it should keep a few weeks in the fridge. You can freeze it for longer storage.
is that much sugar needef
You can try reducing the sugar, as long as you aren’t canning the jelly and as long as you use the correct pectin (in the pink box) I don’t see why you couldn’t.
Has anyone tried this with a sugar substitute? I love pepper jelly, but can’t eat it as a diabetic.
My husband and I have a huge garden and tons of peppers this year so the hot pepper jelly sounds great. Do you have to use pectin as I sometimes make my blueberry jam without? Also, how how long does it last in the fridge? Can’t wait to try this recipe! Thanks
You could totally try a hot pepper jam without pectin, as long as you cook it down so it’s thick. They last about 3 weeks in the fridge, or until they get moldy 😉 But you can freeze them for up to a year.
This was amazingly easy to make. When you freeze do you just put the whole jar in the freezer?
You can do that, as long as you have a little room free for expansion. You can also transfer to a plastic container, or even a zip lock freezer bag, just spoon it in, remove any excess air, and seal. That way you can save your jars and refill them when you defrost your jelly.
Nice idea hot pepper in jelly . I’m used to Ghaniain hot pepper sauce , so I think I will like your recipe .
Have you tried freezing it? Kinda like freezer jam?
You can definitely freeze it Janet.
Made the jelly and love it! It is just as you said, very easy and very tasty! Thank you! Also, love the presentation, color is beautiful! Will make again!
Thanks so much Janet!
Yay!! I’m making a big batch this weekend.
Are your recipes ok to can instead of refrigerate ?
Can’t wait—we have been eating hot pepper jam for years—we have tried Pineapple, orange, lots of raspberry, blkberry, blueberry, cherry…yummmm another suggestion off the beaten path–Jalapeno peanut brittle—you will LOVE it—ge
rat Christmas gift—
Oh man, why do you put such ideas in my head just as I’m heading off to bed??
Yes, you should be able to can this recipe Teresa, here are some good instructions from Ball ~https://www.freshpreserving.com/pepper-jelly-recipe-%7C-pepper-jelly—ball-fresh-preserving-br1275.html
I can your recipe and it works just fine. I give it away as gifts.
Thank you Shelley!