Zesty Pickled Jalapeno Relish Recipe
This pickled jalapeño relish recipe is packed full of wonderful fresh jalapeños. We use it anywhere we use regular cucumber relish. Burgers, hot dogs, tacos, nachos, quesadillas, or dip; and burritos; even chicken or turkey dishes are great options. And because they’re pickled, the jalapeños are a zesty flavor without being too hot (although you can increase the heat if you want to).
There are two crops I absolutely despise growing… I take that back, three. There are three crops that I hate growing. Summer squash, cucumbers, and broccoli.
The first two I value enough to keep growing anyway, and the third, the one I almost forgot, I give a half-hearted attempt every year and then find I don’t care when it doesn’t grow well because it’s been so long since I was successful, I don’t even include it in our menus anymore.
The summer squash and cucumbers though are worth overcoming the obstacles that the pest pressure creates. But the whole time they’re growing, it is a constant battle with squash bugs and cucumber beetles. It’s just a matter of time till one or the other takes them down.
Which makes my pickling attempts quite limited. If I plant enough, I can usually get just enough cucumber slices pickled for the year and by then they’re dead. There certainly aren’t enough to dabble in making relish. Besides, cucumbers are so perfect. My favorite recipe is the fresh cucumber radish salad.
And you know what? I’m ok with that. Because I’m growing a crop over on the other side of my garden that is virtually trouble-free and abundant. And it makes a mighty fine relish… Dare I say… better relish than any cucumber-based one I’ve tried.
That crop (as you’ve probably guessed from the title of this post) is none other than… Jalapeño peppers.
Because they’re pickled, the jalapeños are zesty taste without being too hot. We use it anywhere we use regular cucumber relish. Hamburgers and hotdogs are two foods that relish make better. It works great as a condiment. We particularly appreciate them with scrambled eggs over the winter, when the quick-cooking vegetables we normally sauté in with eggs have been replaced by slow-cooking root crops. Not exactly candidates for an easy breakfast.
Also, learn how to preserve jalapenos for future use. If you have not grown any jalapeno peppers in your own garden you most likely buy some at a local farmers market.
How to make pickled jalapeño relish
This recipe has instructions for canning the pickled jalapeño relish. It has simple ingredients but it is delicious. It can be enjoyed as fresh jalapeño relish, but by cooking it, the flavours meld and the jalapeños pickle more.
What you need
For this recipe, you are going to need a few tools. Some of these are optional and just make the process easier.
- Stock pot
- gloves
- cutting board
- Sharp knife
- food processor (optional)
- hot water bath canner
- pint canning jars
Ingredients
- jalapeño peppers
- bell peppers
- onion
- garlic
- vinegar
- apple cider vinegar
- water
- salt
- cumin
- yellow mustard
- celery seed
Instructions
To start, I recommend wearing gloves. Your fingers will thank you. Gloves will protect your hands from the burning juices of the jalapeños.
Core and deseed the jalapeños. I would recommend making this recipe as is the first time around. Then, if you want more heat, you can leaves the seeds in.
Finely dice the cored jalapeños, onion, and mince the garlic. This is where the optional food processor comes in handy. I throw everything in and pulse the mixture until everything is diced to the size I want. Quick and easy.
Put the diced veggies in the stock pot with the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer the relish for 15 to 20 minutes. Stir occasionally.
How to can pickled jalapeño relish
Using clean, sterilized jars, fill with the hot relish until it is 1/2” from the top of the jar (1/2” headspace). Remove any bubbles and top up a bit again, if needed.
Add the lid and top ring and tighten to finger tight. Put the jars in the hot water bath canner and boil for 10 minutes. Bring the hot water bath, with the jars in it, to a rolling boil before you start the timer for 10 minutes.
Set the jars aside to cool and rest for a day. Then wash the jars and place in a cool dark storage spot.
Enjoy through the year!
Zesty Quick Pickled Jalapeno Relish Recipe
PrintZesty Pickled Jalapeno Relish Recipe
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Ingredients
- 3 pounds jalapeno peppers
- 1 pound bell peppers
- ¾ pound onion
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 cups vinegar
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 2 Tablespoons salt
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- ½ teaspoon celery seed
Instructions
- Wearing gloves to protect your hands from burns, deseed & core the jalapeño peppers then finely dice them.
- Deseed & core the sweet peppers & finely dice them as well.
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic.
- Place all of the vegetables into a stockpot and add the vinegar, apple cider vinegar, water, salt, cumin, yellow mustard, and celery seed.
- Bring it to a boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer the relish for about 15-20 minutes.
- Ladle the relish into clean half-pint jars with ½” headspace. Remove the air bubbles and top a ring & lid.
- Process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 20
- Cuisine: International
You might also wanna check out hot recipes like Garden-Fresh Chunky Heirloom Tomato Salsa and Easy Canning Recipes for Noobs That You Need to Try.
Love this recipe!!! I also added cucumbers!
So glad you like it! Thank you.
We had a Chinese friend who made a sweet japaleno relish we loved on hamburgers. Is their a recipe for that? It did not have vinegar in it.
What was the first thing you added to the pot after the veggies? Looked like a mason jar of dry ingredient?
That was the sugar. I use evaporated cane juice which is just less processed sugar so it still has a blond color to it.
This looks so delicious. I really want to try making this at home, it seems like it would be a great condiment on a hotdog. What does pickling them do to the heat? Does it concentrate it at all or make it fade? Thank you!
The heat definitely doesn’t fade away but the vinegar flavor adds complexity so it’s not all heat. It’s great on a hot dog!
In your video on you tube it looks like you are adding some sugar after adding the chopped ingredients. If not, what is it? It doesn’t look like any of the listed ingredients.
In the blue bowl? That was the salt (2 Tablespoons of it) plus all the spices. You could add sugar to taste if you wanted to.
What was in the mason jar before you added the spices that were in the blue bowl.
That’s going to be the vinegar and apple cider vinegar.
Could you make this a sweet relish? If so how much sugar do you think I would use? Thanks!
Absolutely, you could and it will increase your yield too! I’m not sure how much though. I googled some recipes with equivalent amounts of ingredients and found the amounts of sugar to be anywhere from a few tablespoons all the way up to 5 cups.
I use carrots to sweeten it a bit.
I like that idea. I might have to try that.