Blue Ribbon Jalapeno Jelly
Our Jalapeno Jelly
One of the entries my daughter, Kyla, entered in the county fair was jalapeno jelly. Last summer, I had so many jalapenos coming off of two plants that I did not know what to do with them. I froze quarts of peppers for chili and pots of beans in the winter. We stuffed them with cream cheese and grilled them. Clayton and Lane even ate some raw. Despite all of our efforts including giving buckets of jalapenos away, we still had a growing surplus.
I had heard of jalapeno jelly, but had never tasted it. So, I started reading different recipes. I was surprised at how few jalapenos most of the recipes included. Their jelly recipes consisted mainly of bell peppers. Finally, I found a true jalapeno jelly and got to work.
It used only jalapenos, sugar, cider vinegar, and liquid pectin. Therefore, it looked relatively simple to make. After making my first batch, I was honestly afraid to try it. My entire house smelled spicy and hot. I could not imagine what the jelly was going to be like. A couple of days later, I worked up the nerve to open a jar. I could not believe how good the jelly tasted on a cracker! The jelly is surprisingly sweet.
Kyla seeding and coring the peppers. When I made it the first time, my glove had a slit in it. I found out by the burning of my skin. Wear gloves without holes!
I began bringing my jelly, crackers, and cream cheese to different get-togethers as an appetizer. People were raving about it. The whole jar would disappear before dinner was served. I was getting many requests for the jelly. For Christmas this past year, I created Farm Fresh Baskets and included decorated jars of my jalapeno jelly.
Now I have taught my daughter to make it. If I had to rate her experience level cooking, then she would be an intermediate. She bakes mostly and can cook some dinners without supervision. Even so, this jelly was not difficult for her to make. Her batch won a blue ribbon this week at the fair. Here is the recipe:
Jalapeno Jelly
3/4 lb of jalapenos, cored and seeded
2 cups apple-cider vinegar
6 cups sugar
2 pouches liquid pectin
3 drops of green food coloring (optional)
Wearing gloves, wash, seed, and core the jalapenos. Puree them in a food processor with 1 cup of vinegar. Pour into a medium sized pot. Add the other cup of vinegar and all the sugar. Bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Allow to boil for 10 minutes. Add the pectin and let it rapidly boil for one minute. Remove from heat and skim the top if needed. If desired, you can add food coloring.
Ladle jelly into clean, warm canning jars leaving a 1/4″ head space. Wipe the rim of the jar and put on sterile lid. Screw on the top. Put in water bath for 10 minutes. Remove, let cool, and check for good seal.
Serve with crackers and/or cream cheese.
The jelly itself is gluten-free. My mother-in-law found some great gluten-free crackers for us to eat with the jelly. They are Crunchmaster Multi-Grain Crackers. The jelly is excellent on just a plain cracker. Enjoy!
Yum, Yum, Yum! Do love Jalapeno Jelly.
Your article was posted @ THC this week. Thanks. Abi
I’m so glad I found this recipe can’t wait to try it we have Jalapeno’s coming out of our ears. This will be a good way to use them. Thanks.
Good luck, Windy! It makes great gifts, too.
I live in California and grow jalapenos in my back yard. Tried your recipe, and it is great. I served it on cream cheese with crackers and got a lot of compliments. Funny, my wife is from San Antonio and she doesn’t care for it.
I have 12 plants this year and haven’t known what to do with them! Can’t throw away God’s blessings. This will make nice gifts too. Thank you.
Thank you for the feedback, Andy. I am glad you liked the jelly. It was not probably hot enough for your wife.
How many jars does this receipe make?
I get a little more than 3 pints or 6 half pints. The latter are my favorite to make in a decorative jar. They make the best presents.
How many ounces is 2 pouches? Thanks
6 oz.
I was just searching for a recipe and looking for one that didn’t have sweet peppers in it. Do you know how many cups, 3/4 of a pound comes out to? I don’t have a scale. Thanks!
I don’t know off the top of my head. My daughter says we used 32 average to large sized jalapenos. This number sounds right. I hope this helps.
I just came across your blog post while looking for a pepper jelly recipe. Congratulations to your daughter. My daughter is just learning to bake and she made me an awesome Blueberry Pie a few weeks ago.
Will be trying your recipe soon. Thanks!
Thanks for the recipe. Can you double the recipe to make two batches at once?
You are welcome. Most jelly recipes do not do well doubled. I have not tried it with this one in particular, but I would just do two recipes back to back. Then I would water bath both batches at the same time. I hope this helps.
Has this recipe ever been tried using a sugar substitute??
Is it possible to use sure-jell?
I have not tried it.
If sure-jell is a liquid pectin. Everything I have read about making jelly is that if the recipe says a liquid pectin or powdered pectin, then for a good results you use the correct type.
Hi there, I just came across this recipe and I’m excited to give it a shot! I’m just wondering what size jars you used and how many this recipe made. Thanks! –Kathy
I used half pint jars. I believe this recipe fills 6-7 jars. I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as my family.
do you strain the peppers?
No, do not strain the peppers.
Can I use some diced red and yellow bell peppers for added color?
Forgot to say thank you for the recipe, I’m excited and can’t wait to make it.
Hi Lara…
I came across your website through the Countryside magazine. Nice!
I love jalapeno jelly and make it every couple of years. Sometimes it comes out cloudy and I’m not sure why. I also slice jalapenos and pickle them. Love ‘em with buttered popcorn!! (I know that sounds weird, but a friend told me out it and since I loved them both I tried it. YUM!) And nachos, of course.
We have a smaller piece of land than yours, just husband and myself and our animals. Kids all grown and gone. Garden organically and raise chickens. We are thinking of trying rabbits this next year too. You do, right? We also have a small pond stocked with blue gill and crappie and catfish and bass…so, we are heading towards self sufficiency…
Lovely website.
Blessings, Annie
Annie,
It sounds like we are kindred spirits. As for the popcorn/jalapeno slices being weird, I occasionally put Tabasco sauce on my freshly popped popcorn. Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back.
Lara
I had six plants given to me and they were prolific that year, and I too did not want to waste them; but I don’t usually eat peppers. I was canning dill pickles at the time my daughter picked a huge batch of peppers. She cut them into round slices and I put them in jars with crushed garlic pods, several per jar, and then poured hote dill brine over them. They were delicious, think we ate nothing but nachos for 3 months.
Brine recipe I use is:
6 cups water
1 cup 9% vinegar
1/2 cup canning/pickling salt
bring this to boil and pour over pickles, then seal and water bath for 5-8 minutes.
they are wonderful!!
Jo,
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe for pickled peppers. My husband loves to eat them on just about everything. He will absolutely love homemade ones. Again thank you.
Lara
Thanks for sharing this recipe. We actually had the best jalapeno jelly couple months ago at a wine festival. It was called Mediterranean Deluxe Jalapeno Jelly ( http://sbjacks.com/jelly.html )and they told us it was all natural and very simple. Looks like your recipe might be similar to their jelly. I will definitely give it a try at home, if not there is always some to buy
I am about to try making this recipe for the first time wish me luck have never made jelly before. I have however eaten jalapeno jelly and loved it!
Lara, how many jars does your recipe make? Im just wondering so I have enough jars to can them in.
Good luck, Tomi! Buena suerte. Bonne chance.
I ran out of languages. Hope it helps.
Lara
I believe that it makes 6 half pint jars.
We have the same problem as you–LOTS of jalapenos. I tried your recipe and served it at my father’s birthday party. Everyone loved it so much that all of the extra jars were taken home by family. I made another batch and added a red pepper for more of a pepper taste. The results were amazing! Thanks for this awesome recipe!
Laura – I am so happy to find a recipe that is ONLY jalapenos. Can I cut the sugar at all? I’m always trying to make things less sweet..
Thanks!
Made this recipe as is and it was outstanding. Thank you so much for sharing! I’m getting ready to make another batch and am thinking about a fruit addition to enhance the flavor. I’m considering pineapple, peaches or maybe a candied ginger and lime zest. Does anyone have experience with this or have suggestions about portion combinations?
Erika,
You are very welcome. I have not tried adding any other flavors to the jelly, but I am all for experimentation. If you find one that is worth mentioning, please let me know what you did. I would love to try it.
Lara
Nancy,
I know that when making jelly all the recipe books that I read caution against cutting the sugar. However when I a recipe calls for powered pectin, I use sugar-free or a low-sugar version with excellent results. My plum jelly for example is a more natural sweet jelly, not a sugary sweet spread. I also know that the recipe books tell you to follow the recipes to a “T” for the best results. Use liquid pectin when suggested and not powdered pectin, for instance. Therefore, I am really not sure what you can do except try and experiment. Unless they make a liquid low-sugar pectin, then I personally would begin my experiment with substituting the low-sugar powdered pectin. Then it should set up like jelly with much less sugar. The jalapeno jelly is super sweet if following the recipe. Most people like it this way as it contrasts well with the peppers and cream cheese.
If you do decide to experiment, please let me know your results because I am always looking for ways to cut back on sugar.
Lara
thanks im gonna try it tommorrow as well .have you tryed your recipe with powder pectin?lower suger im diabetic and so would be great to know.
I have to say that this is Great!… but I modified it a bit.
I first made the recipe full strength using red ripened, but crisp Jalapenos. I put the new blender on liquefy ( by mistake ) and also used Ball liquid Pectin. I seeded the peppers as well as removing the placentas since that’s where most of the heat is and skimmed any seeds I’d missed. I then added 10% of the placentas for a little added heat. This made 7 pints of very sweet, almost too sweet jelly with a mild bit of afterheat. Using saucers that had been placed in the freezer to test the jelling, I ended up cooking the pectin about 1:15. The jelly sets up firm. Its good, but a bit sweeter and not as hot as I would like. It also lacks some of the characteristic jalapeno flavor, since red jalapenos are sweeter and have a slightly different flavor than green ones.
The next batch I halved the recipe (I don’t need another 7 pints) and used Certo liquid pectin. I remembered to Puree this time. I picked small green peppers that were just corking or just hinting at turning. I also decided to gamble and upped the pepper content from 6 to 7.5 oz. I seeded all the peppers and kept about 1/2 of the placentas. I cooked the Certo exactly 1 min and the gel was perfect.
This made 3.5 pints of not as sweet and nice and hot green jelly that IMHO is perfect since I like it hotter.
Thanks again for this wonderful recipe!
Thanks again!!!
correction, it made 7 half pint jars, not full pints
Michael,
Thank you so much for sharing how you made your jalapeno jelly. It sounds delicious. I personally would like to have a less sweet jelly, but my husband likes it just the way it is. Again thanks,
Lara
Hi Lara,
I just wanted to follow up with you on my fruit additons. I did a peach-jalapeno and it was fantastic. I did a pineapple-jalapeno and was disappointed — good flavor but never did set up properly (my fault though). And, lastly, I did your original recipe and added chopped candied ginger and lime zest. It’s my favorite by far! I’m starting another batch of the peach combo to give out to friends and family and am also experimenting with rhubarb this week to.
Erika,
You sound so adventurous in the kitchen. Thank you for letting me know how your trial runs went. Candied ginger and lime zest! Fantastic! Do you candy the ginger yourself?
Thanks,
Lara
I just found your recipe and can’t wait to try it! We’ve had lot’s of peppers this year and more given from the in-laws. All of them came on at once so I stuck several whole peppers in the freezer, do you think they will still work for this jelly?
Michelle,
I don’t know the answer to your question. I always use my frozen peppers in chili and cooking. Since you are pureeing the pepper to make the jelly, I would definitely try it.
Lara
can i use sure jell
Cathy,
You can use any brand of liquid pectin.
Lara