Pickled Pepperoncini Recipe
Appetizers,  Events,  Game Day,  Sides,  Snack,  Vegetables

Homemade Pickled Pepperoncini Peppers

It seems as though I have always had a love for chili peppers. I assume that I got this love by watching, learning, and probably tasting hot sauces at an earlier age. It was probably hanging around our kitchen and my dad cracking open a bottle of hot sauce and asking me to try. Maybe not. Whatever the case, I love chili peppers and I probably eat at least 1/2 dozen (or more) each week. With that being said, it’s a bit sad that we had to harvest the rest of our vegetables from our garden last night. We still had a lot of tomatoes that have yet to ripen, plenty of chili peppers, and a broccoli plant that only wanted to yield it’s baby crown! I can’t say that it was anyone’s fault as to why we had so much left on the vines but in about two more weeks, those tomatoes would probably be perfect! Oh well.

Pickled Pepperoncini Recipe
Pickled Pepperoncini Recipe

That’s OK though. As much as I would like to harvest everything that we grow, I realize that we must sacrifice a few things to get what we needed from the garden. I often plant an array of chili peppers each year so I was excited to see what was flowering and low and behold it was the pepperoncini, and sure enough one of my favorite eating ‘snack’ chili peppers. There were so many peppers on the two bushes that I did not know what to do with all of them. The pickling was the first batch, and now I must figure out what to do with the rest of them. I have some ideas up my sleeve, but in the meantime, here is a quick recipe for pickling chili peppers.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

  • 1 large mason jar
  • ~25 whole pepperoncini peppers, washed, slit with a knife
  • 5 cloves of garlic, skins removed, lightly smashed
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3 cups of water
  • 1 cup distilled white vinegar
  • 1 tbsp kosher salt
  • 3 tbsp sugar

Just to note, Spring may be one of my favorite time of year, only for the sure pleasure of knowing that we will be able to plant, and plant something new. This is the first year we planted this peppers, and as we planted two bushes this year, I will most likely decide to plant one next year. One plant/bush will yield a ton of peppers, and probably too many for the average person depending on how much you enjoy chili peppers.

Start by making sure your peppers are cleaned and cleared of any dirt. Once cleaned, take a sharp knife and make a small slit into each pepper. Why the small slit? My plan is to let those great pickling juices infiltrate the interior and make for great flavor.

Drop each pepper into the mason jar along with the bay leaf.

Pickled Pepperoncini Ingredients
Pickled Pepperoncini Ingredients

To a small sauce pan, add the vinegar, salt, sugar, garlic, and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Stir to dissolve the salt and sugar, then remove from the heat and let it cool.

Once cooled, pour in the pickling solution and once it is completely cool, seal and place in the refrigerator for about 7-10 days before digging in.

The beautiful thing about these pepperoncini peppers is that not only are they crunchy, slightly spicy, and are a perfect side dish (and snack (yes, I eat these for snacks sometimes)), but they are great in making them your own in terms of pickling variants, but geez are they ever easy to make. I know I was winning when we, yes I say ‘we’ because my wife participated in trying and eating more than one of them! That’s a huge deal!

To be honest, at first I had no clue as to what these peppers were when we planted. I knew what pepperoncini were, but the seeds did not state that. When trying a raw one, I fell in love, as did my wife. The pickled pepperoncini are awesome, but the raw (feel free to freeze them raw) are dynamite! I’m curious, what is your favorite quick pickle go to recipe? Enjoy!

You might enjoy:

 

11 Comments

  • Mary Adair

    So, you don’t know what the name of the pepper plant is? I adore pepperoncinis plain, stuffed with cream cheese, and an entire jar of them and the juice coked along side deca chuck roast.
    I would enjoy canning them as I particularly like pickling vegetables.

    • Megan Wall

      We planted cubanellas that look like this. They are not spicy, so it may not be the same pepper. I’m going to try your recipe but throwing in some hot peppers to see if it will bring up the heat.

        • Sue

          Hi Dax,
          I found your recipe because I was looking for something, anything, to do with the bazillion peppers my husband grew this year. He says that they are white jalapenos, but they are not hot. I took a shot with your recipe because it sounded easy and I live in the kitchen pickling, canning, and butchering all of August. Well…

          IT WAS GREAT! This recipe is perfect, in my opinion, for any kind of pepper. And you’re right… they are fabulous as a snack right out of the jar.

          Thank you saving this tired farm woman a ton of time this summer!!

          Hugs,
          Sue

  • Colleen Freel

    Just double checking…I don’t have to hot bath these jars correct. Just cool the pickling juice, poor over raw pepperoncini peppers, put lid on & place in fridge? After 7-10 days eat :. What’s the shelf life in the fridge. Thank you, can’t wait to try mine!

  • Mary

    Hi, thanks for the recipe! Do you strain the cooked brine before pouring it into the jar with the peppers, or leave the garlic, etc. in? Thanks!

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