Pickled hot peppers are a tasty condiment used with many Asian dishes. This Serrano pepper recipe spices up the traditional jalapeno versions for a hotter affect. The peppers are sweet, hot, and tart all in one bite.
"I got so many compliments from this!!"I've made these several times. Really a great recipe, and I don't even like hot, spicy food that much. After the peppers are gone I use the vinegar (too good to waste) to make oil & vinegar dressing for salads."
★★★★★- Ann
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🔍 Quick Look: Quick Pickled Hot Peppers Recipe
⏱️ Prep Time: 10 minutes ⏰ Cook Time: 10 Minutes, plus 3 days in the refrigerator for best flavor
🌶️ Simple Ingredients: Only 5 ingredients- Serrano peppers, vinegar, water, sugar, and garlic. For a milder version, use jalapeños.
🫙 Method: Quick refrigerator pickled peppers- no canning required
🥣 Serve on: Tacos, sandwiches, burgers, pizza, noodles or rice bowls, soups, and Vietnamese dishes.
⭐ Don't waste the brine: The sweet and spicy vinegar is good on collard greens, turnip greens, or stewed cabbage.
❤️ You'll Love It Because: Great flavor, quick and easy to make, perfect texture. This recipe has been a reader favorite for years.
Sweet, spicy, and easy to make, these quick pickled serrano peppers bring the heat with a hint of sweetness that'll keep you coming back for more. They're the perfect balance of fiery and flavorful, ideal for jazzing up tacos, burgers, sandwiches, or even your favorite cheese board. The hot peppers are sweet, hot, and tart at the same time.
I love them so much, I can eat them straight out of the jar! Enjoy! Xoxo -Katie.
Watch how to make pickled peppers
Ingredient notes and substitutions
To make these pickled peppers, you will need the following ingredients:
- serrano peppers-You can substitute for jalapeño peppers.
- white vinegar
- water
- white granulated sugar- For sugar free, you can substitute with a sugar free sweetener such as Truvia. Exchange 1 ¼ cup sugar with ½ cup Truvia.
- garlic cloves- Do not substitute with garlic powder.
Steps to make refrigerator pickled hot peppers
To make pickled hot peppers, follow these steps:
- Cook vinegar, water and sugar on the stove top. Cook until sugar is completely dissolved.
- Slice garlic and Serrano peppers.
- Allow vinegar mixture to completely cool to room temperature, then pour over garlic and Serrano peppers. (This keeps the peppers crispy and full of flavor.)
- Cover and refrigerate for 3 days before serving.
Pepper Tip
Traditionally this recipe is made with jalapeños. You can do that also if you like if you want a little less heat.
The Serrano peppers are not only hotter, they also have a bit of stronger flavor that go really well with the sweet and tartness of this recipe.
Vinegar Tip
The spicy sweet vinegar is good poured on stewed cabbage, collards, and turnip greens.
How long will the refrigerator pickled hot peppers last?
You can store the refrigerator pickled hot peppers up to two months, maybe longer.
My batch never lasts longer than 2 weeks because we eat the heck out of them once they are ready.
What do you use pickled hot peppers on?
Add the peppers to sandwiches, noodle bowls, rice, soup, hamburgers, pizza, hotdogs...
They go well on anything you want to make hotter.
Or eat them straight out of your container for a snack like I do!
About the recipe
This recipe came from my sweet beautiful dear friend, Ann and her mother Anh. Ann is my partner in crime.
If you follow my Instagram feed, you have probably seen her in my feed and Instagram stories.
Anh is known for her incredible gift of cooking Vietnamese food. She made incredible homemade Vietnamese sandwiches and Pho for me to devour.
With the dishes, she had a batch of these homemade hot pickled peppers. She also shared her Vietnamese pickled daikon and carrots recipe! (The toppings for Banh Mi).
I was dishing out the Serrano peppers and pickled daikon by the spoonfuls and topping up my dinner plate.
Anh was impressed I could handle the heat. I was like, "I need this Pickled Hot Peppers recipe!!! Like now!!" It's like my new favorite thing.
Anh was happy to share her recipe.Ann came over personally to make a big batch with me just for you (my readers) so that you can make some to burn your mouth with also.
Please leave me a comment below if you make these refrigerator pickled pepper and tell me what you thought about it. I would love to hear back, and so would my readers.
Also post your picture of your Vietnamese peppers on Instagram or Facebook, and tag @aforkstale with #aforkstale hashtags! I will share with my followers! xoxo!
📖 Recipe
Pickled Hot Peppers- Serrano Pepper Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb serrano peppers
- 1 ¼ cup white vinegar
- ½ cup water
- 1 ¼ cup sugar
- 3 garlic cloves
Instructions
- Cook 1 ¼ cup vinegar, ½ cup water, and 1 ¼ cup sugar until sugar is completely dissolved and mixture reaches a soft boil.
- Remove from heat and cool until room temperature.
- Slice 3 garlic cloves very thin.
- Slice 1 lb serrano peppers.
- Add pepper and garlic into a container. Pour vinegar mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 3 days for full flavoring.
Joy Davis says
How long will theses peppers last
Paul says
These are so amazing! I can't wait to make my next batch from my serrano pepper plant.
van says
I love this recipe. I have tried it once and it was perfect. I do wonder if I could reuse the brine for another batch.
Katie Crenshaw says
I would think so, but honestly I am not sure.