What we’d give to have a peck of these pickled jalapeno peppers on hand at all times. They’re beguilingly complex in terms of taste yet take just 20 minutes of easy effort to create.
As a happy result, we’ve been rather promiscuously strewing them over everything. Tacos. Grilled chicken. Home fries. Machaca. Eggs. We just can’t help ourselves.–Debbie Lee
Pickled Jalapeno Peppers FAQs
Some folks are more sensitive to peppers than others, but we suggest using food-safe gloves and a mandoline – and perhaps glasses or eye protection. The mandoline will give you the evenest slices and less hands-directly-on-peppers time.
If you opt not to wear gloves, be very certain to wash your hands thoroughly after handling the peppers, because anything that you scratch, itch, or touch while there are traces of pepper juice on your hands and fingers can make life pretty uncomfortable.
If you happen to inadvertently get jalapeno juice in your eyes, do a cold water rinse until the heat subsides. We’ve also heard of folks soaking cotton balls in milk and placing that on their eye – the capsaicin in the pepper will break down in the milk fat.
If you love spice, use all of the pepper’s membranes and seeds. If you like the flavor of jalapeno, but would prefer to have less heat, follow the instruction in Step 1, cutting the peppers in half and scraping out the seeds.
Stored in the refrigerator, these pickled peppers will last for 4 to 6 weeks.
Pickled Jalapeno Peppers
Equipment
- 1-quart glass jar or several smaller jars
Ingredients
- 8 jalapeños
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced paper thin
- 3/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar, (unseasoned will work in a pinch)
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, (from 1 lime)
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, (from about 1/2 lemon)
- 1/4 cup lemon-lime soda, such as Sprite
Instructions
- Slice the jalapeños crosswise into thin rings about an 1/8-inch thick using a sharp knife or a handheld slicer. If you prefer a less-than-incredibly-spicy pickle, scrape out and discard the seeds. Place the jalapeño rings in a jar.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the soy sauce, garlic, rice vinegar, and sugar to a gentle boil and let it bubble for a few minutes. Remove from the heat. Add the citrus juices and soda and let cool until no longer piping hot, about 5 minutes.
- Pour the warm soy mixture over the jalapeños. Tightly seal the jar with the lid. Immediately refrigerate the pickled jalapeño peppers for at least 1 day and up to 2 weeks before strewing or scattering them onto anything and everything.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
Oh, these pickled jalapeno peppers are addictive! Tangy, salty, little nuggets with a little heat, but not too much to keep you from eating more and more. I really enjoyed the flavor of the soy sauce and the mellower rice vinegar instead of regular white vinegar.
They’re delicious on their own, but I found they’re also great with fried potatoes, eggs, vegetable spring rolls, and skillet enchiladas. Will need to make another batch and try them with other foods. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of places these little morsels will fit right into.
It seemed odd to buy a soda just to use such a small portion of it only and to toss the rest. Can’t imagine what else I’d use it in before it went flat, and I don’t drink the stuff. There is already lemon, lime, and lots of sugar in the recipe, so surely these ingredients could just be adjusted to cover what the soda adds, right?
These pickled jalapeno peppers is a versatile topper for any kind of food. We now use these with vegetarian stir-fries, bacon cheeseburgers, grilled chicken, and grilled cheese sandwiches. The soy and vinegar and sugar give the pickles a perfect tang.
I might try the recipe another time with finger hot peppers. Yum yum.
The pickled jalapeno peppers recipe is easy to follow and comes together quickly. At first, I was skeptical about the addition of the Sprite soda, but I think it added a nice sweetness to the mix with a different flavor than the sugar. I’m not sure how or if the carbonation affected the whole thing, but I’m curious about that.
As a word of warning, if made with all the seeds in the peppers, the result is not just spicy, but incredibly spicy. I consider myself able to handle a lot of spice, but these were nearly at my limit, and way beyond the limit of others who tried them.
I was so ready to love these, but the spice level, as I mentioned earlier, is almost a bit too much for me to use them on everything I wanted. I would definitely remove some of the seeds from the jalapeños next time, and then this could become a regular condiment in my house.
I could see putting these on nearly everything! I really enjoyed the pickling liquid. I think anyone with a beginner’s interest in pickling would find this to be interesting and fun to try.
What a snappy addition to pepper and egg sandwiches, salads, eggs, you name it! We used these tasty peppers alongside grilled chicken sausage and in a mixture for beef lettuce wraps.
Over the weekend, we had a variety of takeout items and these were wonderful on a pulled pork sandwich. They even ended up on fish tacos. T
his is the ultimate combination of hot, salty, sweet, sour, and citrus. I think that the lemon-lime soda adds a little spark to these peppers and I will try using this same pickling liquid on other vegetables.
I made these pickled jalapenos the lazy way. I already had an 8-ounce unopened jar of sliced pickled jalapenos from the store (pickled in the standard vinegar and salt). I drained the jar and made 1 cup of that great soy sauce pickling juice (I cut the recipe in half), boiled it, and added it to the drained jar of sliced jalapenos. It’s now stored in the fridge. Wow. Really good and really easy the lazy way. ;-).
Love that, Antilope! A former colleague of mine would save all pickling juice to use on other vegetables—carrots, vegetables, green beans, and so forth.
Love that, Antilope! A former colleague of mine would save all pickling juice from store-bought pickles and then stick other vegetables—carrots, vegetables, green beans, and so forth–in the jar and stash them in the refrigerator for at least a few days. Curious to hear if you end up trying your lazy version on anything aside from jalapeños…
This is the best pickled jalapeno recipe I’ve ever come across. The jars were polished off in 1 night.
Why, thank you, Kandice. Much appreciated!
These are truly aMAZing! I processed most of the batch because I had no idea they would be soooo delicious. Seriously, I’ve yet to try them on something and not have them add a nice kick of wonderful. Thanks a million for the recipe. And now I’m about to do another batch with blanched carrot sticks included. I love everything about this recipe! Oh! Any ideas on how to use the delicious brine when the jalepenos are gone? I’ve used mine to flavor fresh cabbage slaws, but that’s all so far.
“A nice kick of wonderful.” Louella, I love that. You’re very welcome for the recipe and I so appreciate the carrot trick. As for the used brine, I’m wondering how it would be on cucumbers? Just stick a few slices—whether circles or long slender lengths—in the brine and refrigerate for a day or two? Or of course you could probably reuse it on more carrots. Or cauliflower? Okra? Green beans? I’m really curious to try this with veggies now…! Kindly let know what you try and I’ll do the same.