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JalapeƱo Jelly is a delicious sweet and spicy spread for toast or crackers and can even be used as a glaze or sauce on meats.
This sweet and spicy jelly is great for so many reasons – especially a topping! We love to use it to serve with cream cheese and crackers. If you love jalapeƱos, you’ll love our Jalapeno Poppers and Dip.
Aka hot Pepper Jelly
If you love jams and jellies, you are sure to love this JalapeƱo Jelly aka Hot Pepper Jelly!
Yes, the flavor is a little different than your typicalĀ Strawberry JamĀ but it is so good! The sweet with the heat is addicting! It’s great for pouring over cream cheese and serving with crackers or for basting on your meats.
What is JalapeƱo Jelly?Ā This jelly is really more of a jam. It is made up of jalapeƱo peppers, bell peppers, lots of sugar, vinegar, and pectin. While you may be tempted to reduce the sugar, don’t. This is meant to have lots of sugar. It’s a jelly! It also helps to perfectly balance out the heat from the jalapeƱos.
How to Make JalapeƱo Jelly?
PREP THE JALAPEÅOS:Ā (I recommend using rubber gloves when handling) Cut off the top of the jalapenos and remove the veins and seeds from half of the jalapeƱos. The veins and seeds are where more of the heat comes from and I have found that the perfect balance of heat and sweet in the jam comes from leaving the seeds and veins in half of them.
PREP THE BELL PEPPERS:Ā You can really use whatever color of bell peppers you have on hand but I like the color and taste that one green and one red gives to the jam. Remove the stems and center. You can leave the veins but I like to cut mine out. Then roughly chop into large chunks since you’ll be pulsing them in the food processor.
FINELY CHOP PEPPERS:Ā You can do this by hand but it will take a while. I recommend pulsing the jalapeƱos and peppers together in a food processor or blender. Chop until fine.
DRAIN:Ā Pour the peppers into a mesh strainer to take off excess liquid so that your jam isn’t runny.
COOK:Ā Add the drained peppers to a large 4 quart pot along with the sugar, vinegar, and salt. Bring it to a boil and boil for 10 minutes over medium-high heat.
ADD PECTIN:Ā Stir in the liquid pectin and boil for 1 more minute. Remove pan from heat.
How to can Jelly:
Start out with sterile equipment. You’ll need to wash the jars and lids in hot soapy water (or run them through the dish washer).
The jars need to be warm when adding the hot jelly or they could crack. To keep the jars and lids hot and sterile, place them on a rack in a pot of boiling water. When the jam is done cooking, remove the jars, draining off water, and place on a towel.
Ladle jam into the jars using a wide mouth funnel. Be sure to leave 1/4 inch space from the top of the jar so there is room for expansion.
After filling the jars, wipe the rims with a paper towel and then top with the lids. Screw on the lids using just your thumb and index finger. This will ensure that they are on but not too tight.
Place the jars back into the pot of water on the rack and bring it to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes. (Add 1 more minute for each 1000 ft elevation above 1000 ft.) Remove and place on the towel about 1 inch apart. After a few minutes you should start to hear the cans seal with a pop. Leave the jars untouched on the counter for 12 hours.
Check the seal:
To see if your can is sealed, touch the middle of the lid. If the lid springs back up when you remove your finger you do not have a seal.
To check for a proper seal, remove the the ring of the lid and lift the can up off the counter 1-2 inches while holding the edges of the lid. If the lid stays attached then you have a good seal and it can be store for 12 months in the pantry.
pepper Jelly Uses:
There are a lot of surprising ways to use this sweet and spicy jelly, believe it or not!
- Glaze your steak, pork, or salmon with it. Pretty much any meat recipe that calls for a glaze will do really well with this hot pepper jelly.
- Put it on top of vanilla ice cream.
- Use it like regular jelly and make a spicy PB&J!
- Put it on top of cream cheese (or mix them together) to make a cracker spread (similar to our green chili cream cheese dip).
FOR MORE JALAPEƱO RECIPES, CHECK OUT:
Jalapeno Jelly Recipe
Ingredients
- 10 jalapeno peppers half seeded
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 1 green bell pepper chopped
- 5 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 3 ounce pouch liquid pectin
Instructions
- Place all peppers in a food processor and pulse until peppers are finely chopped. Empty into a mesh strainer and drain off excess liquid.
- Place the chopped vegetables in a large stock pot and add in the sugar, vinegar, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil for 10 minutes. Add the pectin and boil 1 more minute. Remove from heat
- Ladle jam into hot sterile jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Top the jars with the lids and then seal jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.
- Jelly that is sealed properly can be stored on the shelf. If a seal did not form or if you opened the lid and broke the seal, jelly can be stored in the fridge. Let jelly rest 1 day to fully set up.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I already have chopped peppers. Can you give me a measurement for all the peppers vs using just one of each
Thank you
It would be about 2 1/4 cups of the bell peppers and about 1 1/4 cup of the jalapeno peppers š
This is my 3rd time making this and the taste is amazing however Iām finding that I need to use 2 pectin pouches because 1 doesnāt set up well even though I follow the recipe exact and squeeze all the juice from the veggies. Still a delicious recipe and one Iāll use forever Thank you ā¤ļø
Can I use powder pectin instead?
can you use a low calorie sugar substitute?
I wouldn’t recommend. Typically jellies and jams need an exact amount of sugar to properly set up. I haven’t tried this recipe with a low sugar substitute, so I don’t know exactly how it would turn out, but I imagine it would not set properly.
My batch is sealed nicely but is still runny in the container. I followed the recipe exactly. I made this last year and didnāt have this problem.
I have the same problem. Did yours eventually set? I made a triple batch (because of the insane amount of jalapeƱo from my garden) Will bo such a huge waste if these don’t set.
Made another triple batch a week ago and they set beautifully. I don’t know what happened?? š
Turn it into a wing sauce, if it doesnāt set.
That’s a good idea!
How many jars will it make.
I usually end up with 5 pint jars.
It depends on what size of jar you are wanting to use.
I havenāt made this recipe yet, but was going to very soon. I was wondering how long it would stay for in the fridge if I didnāt do the canning process?
I donāt think you would have to do the water bath part. As long as when you ladle the jam into the jar’s, you make sure the rim of the jar is wiped clean with. A damp cloth and the lid is screwed on nice and tight. I donāt usually water bath any of my canning and it usually all seals.
thank you