How to Make Homemade Hot Pepper Rings – Pickled Peppers
Homemade hot pepper rings for the win!
Also Read: Quick Pickled Onions, Canned Dilly Beans, Dill Pickles, Pickled Red Cabbagge, Hot Sauce
One of our favorite homemade pizza toppings are hot banana pepper rings. Ridiculously good with proscuitto, pineapple and feta cheese. Of course hot pepper rings are also great on burgers, smokies, subs and sandwiches.
So, when my sister’s garden produced an extra 5 pounds of beautiful red, hot peppers for me to take home – I knew I had to try making our own hot pepper rings.
We’re not sure exactly what kind of hot peppers these beauties are but based on our taste testing we’d agree with my sister’s assessment that they’re a little hotter than a jalapeno (3,500+SHU), but not as spicy as a habanero (200,000+SHU). That’s the perfect level of heat for us!
How hot do you like it?
Did you know, you can increase or decrease the heat level by keeping or removing the inner membranes or ribs that hold the seeds. The highest concentration of capsaicin (the compound that makes hot peppers hot) is in the membranes – you decide whether or not to keep them in.
Check the Scoville Chart to find where your hot peppers are on the scale of mild to hot.
And while I know your a tough cookie, when you’re slicing a mountain of hot peppers, wearing gloves is not a bad idea. It prevents a tingling burning sensation on your finger tips and later when your rubbing your eyes or touching any other part of your body you won’t need to worry about any discomfort.
With that said, here is a recipe for homemade hot pepper rings.
Pickled Hot Pepper Rings Recipe
Hot Pepper Rings
Ingredients
- 6 cups sliced any variety
- 3 1/2 cups vinegar
- 2 cups water
- 2 Tbsp pickling or sea salt
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 2 cloves garlic quartered
Instructions
Prepare Hot Peppers
- Wash and stem hot peppers.
- Remove seeds and inner membranes if you’d like to take some of the heat out of the peppers, otherwise leave them in.
- Slice peppers into even 1/4 inch thick slices. Wear gloves to keep your fingers from stinging.
Prepare Jars
- Fill large pot or canner with water so that jars are covered by 1″ of water.
- Check jars for cracks, wash with warm soapy water, rinse well and place in canner.
- Heat jars in canner (no need to sterilize).
Prepare Brine
- Mix vinegar, water, salt and sugar in a non-reactive saucepan.
- Boil for 1 minute.
Fill Jars
- Place 1/4 clove of garlic in each jar and pack with pepper rings.
- Pour hot vinegar brine over peppers.
- Remove air bubbles and push peppers underneath pickling liquid as much as possible, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace.
- Wipe rim with clean cloth, seal with hot sealing lid, tighten screw band on top finger tight and process in hot water bath for 10 minutes.
Notes
Need to adjust the recipe to accommodate for more or less peppers? You can double or halve the brine recipe, just keep the ratio of salt and vinegar the same.
Heat processing time recommended by the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
Pickling hot peppers is one of several ways to preserve hot peppers. I also like using hot peppers in Hot Pepper Jelly and in Homemade Cayenne Pepper with dried peppers strung up in ristras.
MORE PICKLE RECIPES
Here are my favourite pickle recipes.
- Quick Refrigerator Pickles – for fridge only, not suitable for canning
- Pickled Red Cabbage – use as refrigerator pickles only
- Pickled Beets – use as refrigerator pickles or make shelf stable with Hot Water Bath
- Classic Dill Pickles – use as refrigerator pickles or make shelf stable with Hot Water Bath
- Dilly Beans – use as refrigerator pickles or make shelf stable with Hot Water Bath
- Pickled Red Onions – use as refrigerator pickles only
Now back to spicy things – how hot do you like your peppers? Do you have a favorite hot pepper?
Sign up to get articles by Getty delivered to your inbox. You’ll get recipes, practical tips and great food information like this. Getty is a Professional Home Economist, speaker and writer putting good food on tables and agendas. She is the author of Manitoba’s best-selling Prairie Fruit Cookbook, Founder of Fruit Share, a mom and veggie gardener.
