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 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!
Watch how to make pickled peppers
Ingredients
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.
Tip
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.
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!
Note: The spicy sweet vinegar is good poured on stewed cabbage, collards, and turnip greens.
Vietnamese Peppers
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.
Is spice your life? If it is, check out these other spicy recipes:
- Vietnamese Pickled Daikon and Carrots
- Mexican Pickled Carrots
- Jalapeno Salt Recipe
- Jalapeno Relish
- Fire and Ice Pickles
- Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water
- Pepper Jelly
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!
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.
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
I love hot peppers and hubby loves them even more! I bet these would be awesome on just about anything...even eaten straight up as is! XO
Christina
pickled peppers are the absolute best! You've inspired me to whip some up! awesome recipe 😀
Connie
Can I water bath these so they don’t have to be refrigerated?
Katie
I honestly don't know.... this was a recipe from a friend. I have not tried canning them myself, so I have no idea how they would turn out. The vinegar ratio should be okay for the acid level... however, this refrigerator version keeps them crisp and crunchy. I am sure the texture would be very different when canning them. They never last longer than a month in my home, but I love hot things.
Mary
Do you keep them in the vinegar solution in the fridge the whole time or replace it/drain it? Thanks!
Katie Crenshaw
You keep the peppers in the vinegar just like you would with a pickle. Enjoy!
Andrew Wilson
Fab! The pickling process concentrates the heat. Absolutely delicious. Thank you!
Erin
Perfect timing!!! I always have peppers on hand and I cannot get enough heat, either! I just planted some peppers in the garden - I’m sure I’ll be pickling those in a few months, too.
Anna
Excellent recipe! Was able to successfully scale down the recipe as I only had enough homegrown serrano peppers to fill a pint jar at a time. For my 2nd pint jar I added some homegrown sliced Fresno peppers. It added additional heat and lovely color contrast. I've used the pickles on cheese sandwiches as well as on Asian, Indian, and Mexican dishes. A keeper of a recipe.
Terry
I made these at the end of the summer with serranos I had bought at a local farmer's market that he said were not sprayed with any pesticides. They were the BOMB! We loved them. I ate them every day with any meat meal I made. Thank you!
Jackie
These are the best! Simple to make and delicious with everything!
Katie
I have a serrano plant in my yard and I don't tolerate heat too well. I had no idea what to do with all these peppers growing and I didn't want to waste them so I thought I'd give this recipe a shot. Now, I cheated and removed a good amount of seeds from the peppers, but WOW, this is so tasty! I was eating them straight from the jar as a snack. Thank you for this recipe! So glad I've got a delicious use for these.
Marie
Can I can these in a water bath? If so how long would it take?
Katie Crenshaw
I have only made these for the refrigerator. I am not sure about actually canning them. I am sorry.
m3r1
Truly delicious! Quick question, can you reuse the brine to make another batch, i.e., add more serranos, or start from scratch?
Katie Crenshaw
I have added more peppers in within a close time of making the original batch. It isn't that the brine will go bad, but the peppers will in time will. Therefore, if the new are mixed in with the old, you won't be able to differentiate between the peppers. However, if you eat them all in the same time frame, it won't matter. Ours go so fast that it hasn't been an issue.
ROBERT MILLING
I would like to try this. So are serrano peppers next up on the scoville scale??? I have been eating jalapeno peppers for awhile and they dont seem to have the same heat as when I started. I tried habanero but that was too big of a leap. Looking for something in between a habanero and a jalapeno.
Katie Crenshaw
Serranos are probably perfect for you. They are hotter than the jalapeno, but not near as hot as the habanero or a thai chili pepper. I think the serrano's flavor is a little more dominant than the jalapeno also.
Ann
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.
Scott Martin
How much water and how much vinegar?
Katie Crenshaw
The full recipe card is at the end of the post. It has the exact measurements.
Stacy
I just made your recipe but didn't boil the mixture. I just got it warm...then I went back and RE-read your instructions.
Will there be any food-safety risks if I didn't boil the mixture? I'm "assuming" not, but wanted to verify. Is it just a consistency thing or flavor or??
Help!
Katie Crenshaw
It will just allow the peppers to absorb the mixture easier. The peppers will still absorb the mixture, it will just take longer. These are refrigerator peppers, so as long as you keep them refrigerated, they will be fine. The pe
Vickie
How long will these last in the refrigerator? Thank you Katie!
Katie Crenshaw
You can store the refrigerator pickled hot peppers up to two months, maybe longer.
Karen
Will this recipe work for whole serranos as well?
Katie Crenshaw
I assume so, but have not tried it that way. It might take longer to pickle. The skin might prevent them from absorbing the brine as fast.
Bruce
Thanks for this recipe, I'm going to try it tonight. Just curious, have you tried it with apple cider vinegar?
Katie Crenshaw
No, I am sorry, I have not. But it would definitely have a different flavor.
Tai
Can these peppers be water bath canned so that they can be stored longer?
Katie Crenshaw
I honestly don't know. I don't think they will have the same flavor or texture, though.