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.
These pickled jalapeno’s were quite a hit. The first night we tried them, they were very spicy which my husband loves – me, not so much. I did not want to write a review until these guys had some time to “tone the heat down”. Trying them daily, the heat was less and the other flavors improved. One week later, they are very, very good and my husband is putting them on just about everything, from dogs, to sandwiches and more. Although I would not call jalapeno’s my favorite condiment, these little pickles are a nice addition to a variety of dishes and take really no time to make.
cheriede, that’s wonderful to hear. And I admire your fortitude to eat them daily when you’re not a jalapeno gal!
Sometimes just a bit of sugar or sugar substitutes can cut the heat a little. This recipe was amazing! One jar gone and going to get jalapeños for more!! Thank you for the wonderful recipe!!
Lovely trick, LouAnn, thank you for sharing! And you are so very welcome!
Problem solved — It has been a long time since I have made pickled something. The jalapenos shrunk over night and they are now fully submerged in the brine. They smell wonderful!! Can’t wait to try them.
cheriede, oh, well, yes. There’s that, too! Please come back and tell us what you and your husband think.
Uh, oh — I’m making the pickled jalapenos tonight for my husband’s request for a gourmet hot dog on father’s day (why he decided to do hot dogs over a rib-eye or lamb chops with chimichurri, I do not know – that would have been my choice :)).
I have a plan for these gourmet dogs he requested and I think these pickled jalapenos would be perfect. However, I have followed the recipe exactly and the jalapeno’s are not entirely submerged in the liquid in my 1 quart jar. Should I stir this concoction over the next few days, or should I make another batch of liquid, or half a batch of liquid? If I do that, do I add more garlic or just the soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, lime/lemon juices, soda, sugar? I was very careful with my measurements. I have about a quarter of the 8 jalapenos not covered. Maybe the jalapenos were too large? By the way – I tasted the liquid before the lemon-lime soda and afterwards – the lemon-lime soda is a necessary element of the liquid. If you did not eat these without that addition, you would probably never know the difference, but I think the soda adds something to pickling liquid.
cheriede, it sounds like the pepers may have been rather large. If it were me, and there’s only two days left before he eats them, I would just turn the jar on its head and then right side up every so often. Now, if you want to make more liquid, I would Make the recipe as is, and fill up the rest of the jar. You Can always refrigerate the liquid and make another batch!