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.
Tai says
Can these peppers be water bath canned so that they can be stored longer?
Katie Crenshaw says
I honestly don't know. I don't think they will have the same flavor or texture, though.
Bruce says
Thanks for this recipe, I'm going to try it tonight. Just curious, have you tried it with apple cider vinegar?
Katie Crenshaw says
No, I am sorry, I have not. But it would definitely have a different flavor.
Karen says
Will this recipe work for whole serranos as well?
Katie Crenshaw says
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.
Vickie says
How long will these last in the refrigerator? Thank you Katie!
Katie Crenshaw says
You can store the refrigerator pickled hot peppers up to two months, maybe longer.
Stacy says
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 says
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
Scott Martin says
How much water and how much vinegar?
Katie Crenshaw says
The full recipe card is at the end of the post. It has the exact measurements.
Ann says
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.
ROBERT MILLING says
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 says
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.
m3r1 says
Truly delicious! Quick question, can you reuse the brine to make another batch, i.e., add more serranos, or start from scratch?
Katie Crenshaw says
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.
Marie says
Can I can these in a water bath? If so how long would it take?
Katie Crenshaw says
I have only made these for the refrigerator. I am not sure about actually canning them. I am sorry.
Katie says
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.
Jackie says
These are the best! Simple to make and delicious with everything!
Terry says
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!
Anna says
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.
Erin says
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.
Andrew Wilson says
Fab! The pickling process concentrates the heat. Absolutely delicious. Thank you!
Mary says
Do you keep them in the vinegar solution in the fridge the whole time or replace it/drain it? Thanks!
Katie Crenshaw says
You keep the peppers in the vinegar just like you would with a pickle. Enjoy!
Connie says
Can I water bath these so they don’t have to be refrigerated?
Katie says
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.
Christina says
pickled peppers are the absolute best! You've inspired me to whip some up! awesome recipe 😀
Dawn - Girl Heart Food says
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