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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
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.
Did you really mean 13 oz of pectin
No, it is one 3 ounce pack of liquid pectin… so just 3 oz total. š
This recipe is amazing! I do not like super spicy food but this jelly is awesome! The perfect balance of sweet and spicy! Put it in top of crackers and cream cheese and I could eat a whole jar! Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome! I’m so glad to hear you love the jelly!
Most online recipes disappoint. This one does NOT. Made exactly the amount it says it does. Sets up well. Canāt wait to give these as gifts for xmas this year. Thanks for posting. ( PS I used green and green just barely turning yellow and still pleased with how this turned out.)
Oh yay! I’m so glad to hear the jelly was a success!! Thanks for giving the recipe a try!
Can I use Serrano peppers as a substitute or a mixture? Thank you!!
You know, I haven’t ever tried swapping with Serrano peppers, but I imagine they would work too. If you do use them, you’ll have to let us know how the jelly turns out!
Holy cow I love this.Turned out perfectly.Thank you so much for the recipe.
Uou’re welcome! So glad you loved the jelly!
Made the jalapeƱo pepper jelly. It was easy and the taste is spectacular. Best I’ve ever had.
I made a batch of this last year. It was my first time canning and it came out perfect. I have a large crop of hot banana peppers this year and I was curious if anyone has tried making this with them and how it came out.
I haven’t ever tried it with banana peppers. I’d be curious to hear how it turns out if you use them!
I use hot banana peppers and it is awesome.
I haven’t made the recipe, yet because it doesn’t state the yield. ie: number of 8oz jars to fill. Also, either the calorie count is incorrect or it’s for the entire recipe. This is the only reason I gave it a low rating.
The Jalapeno Jelly fills 6 (8 ounce) jars. You’re correct -the calorie count is for the entire recipe. I hope you enjoyed the recipe!
why did all the peppers rise to the top of the jelly ?
I’m not exactly sure… I haven’t had that happen. Perhaps they needed to be chopped a bit finer?
Shoot, my batch had the peppers rise to the top as well. I’ve made this jelly many times and I don’t recall it ever happening. Either that or I didn’t notice. I came to the comment section to see if this has happened to anyone else. Other than it being slightly less attractive, it tastes GREAT!!
I haven’t made this recipe but I have bought jalapeno pepper jelly from lots of places. There have been many times the peppers in the commercially produced jelly has risen to the top. So, I wouldn’t think it was an issue of having done anything incorrectly. I have always given the jelly a good stir to redistribute the pepper pieces before using it.
Hi Mary! That happened to me the first time I made it. An experienced canner told me to flip the jars over 1/2 way through the cooling process. Let them sit for a couple hours, but not fully set and flip them right side up. Worked like a charm!
Good to know!! Thanks for sharing the tip!
Thank you. All the safety info is much appreciated. The recipe is so easy to follow. I’m 70 years old and I surprised all of my kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids,and some friends. I got to feel like quite a hotshot with ALL their compliments! Thank so very much for giving me a way to please people with something so simple. Peace to you. Stay safe