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These quick-pickled jalapeños are crunchy, tasty, and with just enough kick that you’ll need to chase them with your favorite drink.

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If you love jalapeños, grow jalapeños, or want to wow your hot sauce and spicy loving guests, these will be just the ticket. Pickled jalapeños are crunchy and have plenty of kick!

Whether you or your neighbor have a surplus, you can pickle some so you can keep eating them for weeks ahead.

First of all, let’s talk about some basic brine information. The key to these pickled jalapenos is the brine.

Things To Remember When Pickling Vegetables And Fruits

Here are some general rules of thumb to remember when pickling.

• Use only non-reactive pans like stainless steel, enamelware or glass.
• Avoid aluminum, copper, brass, and cast iron.
• Use only fresh (not frozen), undamaged, and unspoiled fruits or vegetables.
• Always clean produce thoroughly.
• Cut uniform sizes, ideally small enough to both fit in a jar and keep bite sized for eating purposes.
• Prepare and measure out everything (from brine to veggie or fruit prep) before heating brine.
• Wash containers and jars well and let air dry. You can put quick pickles in any airtight container, but the jar is classic.

Brine for Quick Pickling

Quick pickling is much easier and less involved than traditional pickling and canning. It does require a few steps, but it’s something any budding Southern cook can conquer.

Here are some things to remember:

• When heating the brine, bring to a boil then immediately pour over the veggies or fruits to be pickled and the spices in the container you’ve chosen. Too much boiling will evaporate the vinegar and eliminate its ability to “pickle” anything.
• Let the veggie or fruit you’re pickling sit in the refrigerator overnight before sampling. While it’ll be hard to resist, the flavors will need some time to meld together.
• Fresh herbs will give less intense flavor than dried herbs.
• If garlic is used, it may turn a bright blue color and that’s okay. It’s the chemical reaction from mixing with the vinegar.
• Spices are stronger when fresh and stronger when ground. Ground spices will create a darker pickle, but whole spices will not. (Ex: whole clove vs. ground clove.)
• The shelflife of a quick pickle, shorter than a traditional one, is about 7-12 days because it does not employ the same process as traditional canning.

General Brine Ratio For Quick Pickling

We’ve done quite a bit of fiddling, and because it’s not a full-on canning process, but a Quick Pickle, many brine ratios will work. You can make as much brine as you need depending on your fresh jalapeno harvest. If you have 8 or 10 jalapenos, you can pickle just one jar.

Depending on your preference, you can modify these recipes once comfortable with the process. It will eventually all come down to taste. Do you like it sweet? Or, salty? Or perhaps you need to substitute apple cider vinegar because you’re out of the white vinegar.

If you have a whole garden full of jalapenos or just a handful from the market, you can scale these ratios to your create the right amount of brine for your harvest. Comment which recipe is your favorite.

Here is one general quick pickling brine ratio.

• 2 parts vinegar
• 6 parts water
• 1 part salt
• 1 part sugar

Here’s another that produces equally good quick pickles.

• 4 parts vinegar
• 2 parts water
• 1 part sugar

And, another.

• 6 parts vinegar
• 6 parts water
• 2 parts sugar
• 1 part salt

Why do you boil vinegar while pickling?

Boiling the vinegar makes it hot enough to penetrate the cuke (or whatever is being pickled). It’s the same principle seen in making tea; hot water steeps more intensely than cold.

Careful! Over-boiling causes vinegar’s flavoring and pickling abilities to evaporate.

(You can also pickle with lemon juice, but we’ll cover that another time!)

Why do you let the quick pickled jalapenos sit overnight in the fridge?

The pickles sit in the fridge overnight so the flavors (the vinegar, salt, sugar, veggie/fruit, and spices) can blend together. Remember–the pickles need to be chilled quickly to keep them crunchy.

Your cookware choice matters when pickling!

Do not use reactive cookware or storage containers such as aluminum or copper pots. These, when combined with vinegar, create toxic chemicals.

Instead, use stainless steel or ceramic cookware.

I also recommend these mason jars for your pickled goodies!

Pickled Jalapenos That’ll Tickle Your Taste Buds

These jalapenos can be used to eat straight out of the jar, if you’re hard core, and will go great in nachos, tacos, and as a salsa ingredient. They will be good on top of a grain bowl and even in beans and rice!

Other Amazing Quick Pickled Recipes:

• Pickled Jalapenos
• Pickled Cherry Tomatoes
• Pickled Cabbage
• Pickled Sweet Peppers
• Pickled Celery
• Pickled Beets
• Pickled Cucumbers (AKA Pickles)
• Pickled Sausage
• Pickled Chicken Feet