Quick-Pickled Peppers (Hot or Sweet)

Pepper plants tend to ripen in bursts, especially once the weather turns warm and stays that way - a plant that gave two peppers a week in June can give a dozen by August. Quick-pickling handles the overflow regardless of which pepper variety is doing the overproducing, since the method barely changes between sweet and hot types.

What You'll Need

• 1 lb peppers (banana, jalapeño, bell, or a mix), sliced into rings or strips
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1/2 tsp black peppercorns

Method

Slice peppers into rings (for banana peppers or jalapeños) or thin strips (for bell peppers). If working with hot peppers and want a milder result, remove the seeds and white pith, where most of the heat concentrates; leave them in for a spicier pickle.

Pack peppers, garlic, and peppercorns into a jar. Heat the vinegar, water, salt, and sugar until dissolved, pour hot over the peppers, and let cool before sealing.

Thin rings are ready in 2-3 hours; thicker bell pepper strips take closer to 6 hours or overnight for full flavor. They keep for about 2-3 weeks refrigerated - see how long quick pickles last for how to tell when a jar is past its best.

Adjusting Heat Without Changing the Method

The brine itself doesn't change between sweet and hot peppers - what changes is what you do before the peppers go in the jar. For a milder jar of jalapeños, deseed most of them and leave a few whole for anyone who wants more heat. For a hotter jar of banana peppers, add a few slices of a hotter pepper variety alongside them rather than relying on the banana peppers alone, since they're mild even at full ripeness.

What to Do With Them

Pickled pepper rings are a natural topping for anything that could use acidity and a little heat - tacos, sandwiches, nachos, or scrambled eggs. They also work well stirred into a dish that's already built around peppers, like keto shrimp and peppers, where a spoonful of the pickled version adds a sharper contrast to the cooked peppers in the dish.

If bell peppers are the surplus rather than something spicier, pair fresh and pickled versions in the same meal - a grilled zucchini and pepper salad made with fresh peppers, finished with a scattering of the quick-pickled version for acidity, uses both at once.

For more ways to work through a pepper glut alongside the rest of the garden, see the full quick-pickle guide for garden surplus.