Quick pickled jalapeños with garlic

At my favorite Thai restaurant, I often decide my order based on what would go well with their pickled jalapeños, made fresh daily. The peppers still hold their crunch, and bright briny bite.

I almost look forward to those peppers more than whatever dish I order.

The last time I went, the server offered several containers to take home with my leftovers.

(She had obviously noticed as I blazed through a couple of servings at dinner that I was a big fan.)

I realized that if the restaurant could make peppers on rotation, there was no reason I couldn’t do it at home.

So I started working on my own quick pickled jalapeños recipe.

In this post:

Quick pickles are made by simply adding a water, vinegar, and salt brine to produce.

Quick pickled jalapeños aren’t suitable for canning or keeping in the cupboard. They need to go into the refrigerator for storing.

Still, with the vinegar and salt in them, they will last up to a couple of months in the fridge. Not too shabby!

(Of course, this is largely hypothetical. I’ve been finishing each jar I’ve made in about a week.)

There are a couple of things I really like about quick pickles (also known as refrigerator pickles).

One is that you don’t need hot vats of liquid or special equipment, like you do when canning. Canning is more labor intensive than I’m really interested in undertaking.

The other thing I like is that the jalapeños still keep their bright green color and fresh crunch. They aren’t mushy like peppers that have basically been cooked in hot liquid.

They have the wonderful bite of a raw pepper along with the brininess of a pickled one. I like them a million times better than any jarred pepper on the market.

(Want to do more quick pickling? Make a tasty batch of pickled red onions!)

For this recipe, I use sea salt.

If you look at the ingredient list on the back, it’s just that one ingredient.

For best results, don’t use salt that is iodized or includes any anti-caking agents.

You can replace sea salt with kosher salt or pickling salt.

I like to add sliced garlic to peppers for added flavor.

You can add 6 to 8 sliced cloves. Or go all the way up to a full head.

Plus, those delicious garlic slivers taste amazing all on their own. They pick up some of the heat from the peppers. And the brine cuts some of the edge off of their garlicky flavor.

Use the garlic anywhere that you’d use the peppers! I even like snacking on it right out of the jar.

(Not a fan of garlic? Simply omit it.)

When you cut hot peppers and remove the seeds, you run the risk of burning your hands with chili oils and capsaicin. The best method of prevention is wearing kitchen gloves.

I used to not worry about wearing gloves as protection… until I burned my hands while cutting jalapeños.

I was left with lingering pain for days. Now I always keep a box of latex gloves on hand (and on hands!)

If you do happen to get “jalapeño hand,” my favorite remedy is rubbing cooking oil on my hands and then rinsing them with soap and water. Oil + soap seems to remove some of the capsaicin.

I follow it up by taking a couple of ibuprofen to numb the pain.

Step by step instructions

Here’s how to make this recipe at a glance. For complete ingredient amounts & instructions, keep scrolling to the recipe card below.

Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a medium heat with salt. Stir often until the salt completely dissolves.

Then turn off the heat, and set it aside. Stir in vinegar.

Cut jalapeños into slices.

If you want a lot of heat & crunch, cut them thickly. If you want crisp slices that absorb brine faster, cut them thinner.

(Lately I’m into super thin slices. They still keep a lot of snap.)

You can throw the jalapeño tops into the jars as well. Once they are ready, you can just bite around the stem. Or cut around the stem with a knife and just pickle the pepper surrounding it.

Then thinly slice cloves of garlic.

Put the garlic and sliced peppers into a clean 32 ounce glass jar.

Carefully pour the cooled brine over the peppers.

(If the brine is too hot, the green color won’t stay as bright.)

Cover with a lid & refrigerate.

The peppers can be eaten in as little as 24 hours, but they start tasting their best after a few days.

The heat lessens with time. And they pick up more of the salt & brine flavor.

Jalapeños vary in terms of heat.

Some aren’t much hotter than a bell pepper.

Others can make your mouth sting with the smallest nibble.

So know that from batch to batch the heat of these peppers will vary a bit. But there are still some steps you can take to make them milder.

For milder peppers, remove the seeds & white parts from inside some or all the jalapeño slices.

You can easily remove them by pushing them out with a gloved thumb, and washing off the seeds under water.

However, the pressure of the water can push the pepper fumes into the air and cause coughing. If that happens, turn off the water and use your gloved fingers only or a paring knife.

(If the fumes are bothering you, you can also try wearing a face mask over your nose and mouth.)

I prefer to make pickled peppers with no sugar. However, if you’re looking to cut the heat, another option is to add a couple Tablespoons of sugar to the brine at the same time as the salt.

Make these peppers your own by varying the ingredients and amounts.

• Use kosher or pickling salt instead of sea salt
• Replace a portion of the vinegar with apple cider vinegar for a sweeter flavor
• Add a couple Tablespoons of sugar to the brine to cut some of the heat
• Slice the peppers thickly for the most heat & crunch
• Slice the peppers very thin for crisp rings that absorb brine faster
• Replace some or all of the peppers with milder peppers like banana or sliced carrots
• Leave the seeds in for hotter peppers
• Remove some or all of the seeds for milder peppers
• Add more or less sliced garlic
• Add other seasonings like bay leaves, cumin seeds, peppercorns, mustard seeds, and/or fresh herbs

Since I started making quick pickled jalapeños, I’ve been carrying jar after jar to the table for every meal – from tofu scramble at breakfast to taco pizza at dinner.

There are endless ways to use them.

Here are just a few ideas:

• Serve them on top of a burrito bowl, noodle stir-fry, or ramen
• Add them to pickle salsa, pineapple salsa, cranberry salsa, peach salsa, or guacamole
• Finish vegan nachos or tempeh tacos with a smattering of them
• Use them as a topping on a vegan bánh mì, Rachel sandwich, or vegetable sandwich
• Put them on a refried bean quesadilla, walking tacos, breakfast tacos, or black bean tacos
• Use them as a garnish on 3 bean chili or tortilla soup
• Blend them into jalapeño cashew cheese