Easy Pickled Peppers
- PREP 20min
- TOTAL 20min
These crunchy, quick pickled peppers are a great snack, excellent on meat and cheese boards, added to sandwiches and wraps, scattered over cheese pizza, or used in any recipe where you would typically use bell peppers. They keep their crunch but take on a pickled, bright flavor, adding a nice pop of flavor to just about anything!
Note: Just like other quick pickles (like our pickled carrots), these peppers are ready after a night in the fridge, but they continue to improve as they sit in the brine. They really light up around day 3!
You Will Need
1 pound mini sweet peppers
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 dried chile de arbol, optional
16 ounces (470ml) distilled vinegar, 5% acidity
1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt or pickling salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 allspice berry
5 whole peppercorns
Directions
Prepare the peppers: Cut the tops off of the peppers and scrape or tap out the seeds and most of the white membrane. Slice into rings. Place the pepper rings into a clean 1-quart jar.
Add the chile and garlic: Place the sliced garlic and chile de arbol (optional) around the peppers in the jar.
Make the vinegar brine: In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, salt, sugar, allspice berry, and peppercorns. Bring to a simmer and cook until the salt and sugar dissolve.
Pour the brine into the jar: Pour the vinegar brine over the peppers. Make sure the brine completely covers all the peppers. Secure the lid on the jar until it’s “finger-tight” (meaning snug but not overly cranked).
Cool and refrigerate: Set the jar aside on your counter and let it cool completely to room temperature. Once cooled, transfer the jar to your refrigerator. For the best flavor, refrigerate pickled peppers overnight before enjoying them. If you can wait, they get even better after 2 to 3 days! These quick pickled peppers will last, covered in their brine, in the fridge for up to 1 month.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- The jar: We use a 1-quart wide-mouth mason jar (32 ounces or 946ml).
- Peppers: We developed this recipe for sweet peppers (the mini, colorful peppers often sold in bags). The chile de arbol adds a little heat, but for more, feel free to use 2 to 3 of them or swap a portion of the sweet peppers for hotter peppers, such as jalapeños, Fresno, or serrano peppers.
- Allspice berries: These taste like a combination of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. We found whole allspice berries less common in the grocery spice aisle, but we recommend buying a “pickling spice blend” instead. McCormick’s “Mixed Pickling Spice” contains allspice berries, which we purchased and picked out 1 berry for this recipe. We also use it for making sauerkraut.
- Canning: These pickled peppers have been specifically designed for the refrigerator and are meant to be kept in the fridge at all times. However, if you’re experienced in canning, you could adapt them for long-term shelf stability. This would involve using sanitized jars, new lids, and a pressure canner.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. Calculating how much salt is in the peppers is difficult, so we have included all of the brine in the calculations.