This easy hot pepper relish recipe is a wonder condiment, great for preserving your abundant pepper harvest. Use this recipe method with any type of chili pepper.
Hot Pepper Relish Recipe
This very simple pickled pepper relish recipe is great for any type of food you can prepare on the grill. We're talking steaks, chicken breasts, burgers, brats, even the good old hot dog.
It's one of those wonder condiments that goes with so many dishes. Extra bonus - it is also a GREAT way to preserve your abundant pepper harvest.
Loaded with wonderful chili peppers, a bit of onion and garlic, it packs in the flavor.
Make Relish to Preserve Your Peppers
Seriously, if your garden is practically exploding with chili peppers like mine does every year, consider the humble pepper relish. The vinegar not only makes the relish delicious and somewhat sweet, it acts as a preservative, letting you keep your peppers around longer so you can enjoy them.
You can realistically use this recipe on ANY type of chili pepper.
Just be sure to chop them up to consistent sizes and chunks. If you're working with bell peppers and ghost peppers, for example, those two peppers have very different thickness of their pepper walls.
Bells are meatier and thicker, where ghost peppers are thinner. Chop them up accordingly so the bites are fairly consistent throughout.
Let's talk about how to make hot pepper relish, shall we?
Hot Pepper Relish Ingredients
- Chili Peppers. You can use a mix of peppers if you’d like anywhere from mild red bell pepper to superhots like Morugas or Scorpions, though I like to keep the thickness of the peppers about the same so the overall consistency is even. Lean toward hotter peppers. For this, I used some sweet Italian peppers but included a couple ghost peppers for many batches. Today I've used serrano and jalapeno peppers, Fresno peppers and milder Anaheim peppers for body and flavor.
- Vinegar. I use white wine vinegar usually, though any good vinegar will do. Consider apple cider vinegar or even balsamic vinegar.
- Sugar. For sweetness. Honey is a nice substitute.
- Other Ingredients. Onion, garlic, mustard seeds and salt. These all add body and flavor.
How to Make Hot Pepper Relish - the Recipe Method
Boil the Ingredients. Add all ingredients to a large pan - vinegar and sugar, chili peppers and onion, garlic, mustard seed, salt - and heat to medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil.
Simmer the Relish. Reduce heat to low and simmer about 25 to 30 minutes, or until liquid is reduced and absorbed into the mixture. It make take only 15 minutes to 20 minutes, so just keep an eye on it as the pepper mixture simmers.
Cool the Pepper Relish. Add to a jar and allow to cool.
Boom! Done! Easy enough, isn't it? Your delicious pepper relish is ready to enjoy. How are you going to use yours?
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Adjusting the Heat Factor. If you're looking for a truly HOT pepper relish, absolutely consider some of the superhot chili peppers. You have your choice with Morugas, 7-Pots, trinidad scorpion peppers, bhut jolokias, though you really don't have to go THAT hot. You can always use some in the upper range of the heat scale, like the wonderful habanero pepper, maybe red savinas, even on down to cayenne peppers, red jalapenos, red serranos. Notice a RED theme here?
- Use Colorful Peppers for a Nice Looking Relish. I LOVE a colorful pepper relish recipe! Yellow and orange are always welcomed colors and red peppers are awesome, as is green, but green isn't quite as enticing as a brightly colored pepper relish. But the choice is yours! As mentioned, you can use this hot pepper relish recipe technique with ANY type of pepper, regardless of the color.
- Pepper Consistency. You can chop your peppers to make them chunkier if you prefer a chunkier relish, or use a food processor to process them finely. The choice is yours, but I find the best results when making all of the peppers a uniform consistency.
- Seeds or No Seeds? You can remove the seeds from your peppers if you wish, but it is not necessary. Contrary to some belief, chili pepper heat is not in the seeds, but in the whitish pithy interior of the peppers. So, if you prefer to reduce the heat, core out the pepper insides before using. The seeds are edible and fine to use, though some dislike their consistency.
Storage Information
Pepper relish will last months in the refrigerator properly sealed because of the acidity from the vinegar. This is a good recipe for water bath canning as well, if you'd like to store the hot pepper relish longer term in a pantry.
You can freeze pepper relish, though it can affect the consistency.
How Do You Use Pepper Relish?
Use a good hot pepper relish as you would any other condiment. Top your burgers and brats right off the grill for a tangy flavor addition. Spoon it over grilled chicken or pork for an extra tasty component.
Serve it at the table with brunch to scoop over toasts. People love it over cream cheese with crackers.
You can also swirl it into soups and stews to bring on the zest. I love sweet and spicy pepper relish anytime.
Enjoy! It's time to make the relish!
This Recipe Is In our Cookbook - FLAVOR MADNESS
Did you know that you can find this recipe in our new cookbook FLAVOR MADNESS? It's waiting for you on PAGE 71.
Check Out These Other Popular Pepper Relish Recipes
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #ChiliPepperMadness on Instagram so we can take a look. I always love to see all of your spicy inspirations. Thanks! -- Mike H.
Hot Pepper Relish Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups chopped hot chili peppers – You can use a mix of peppers if you’d like anywhere from mild bells to superhots like Morugas or Scorpions, though I like to keep the thickness of the peppers about the same so the overall consistency is even. Lean toward hotter peppers. For this, I used some sweet Italian peppers but included a couple ghost peppers.
- 3/4 cup white wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1/2 small onion chopped
- 2 teaspoons yellow mustard seed
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a large pan and heat to medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a light boil.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer about 25-30 minutes, or until liquid is reduced and absorbed into the mixture.
- Add to a jar and allow to cool.
- Serve!
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
NOTE: This recipe was updated on 5/21/21 to include new information, photos and video. It was originally published on 7/29/2015.
Sarah says
Just tasted some I made earlier so delicious I used a mixture of scotch bonnet. habanero ,and hot finger chillies . It was so easy to make .
Jow would you recommend storing .
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Sarah. Glad you enjoyed it. I usually just keep mine in a sealed container in the refrigerator. It should last a good few weeks that way because of the vinegar content.
Sue says
Do you leave the seeds in?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Sue, I usually do, but you can remove them if you'd like. Let me know how it turns out for you.
Ken says
Loved the recipe, very simple to follow. I used a mix of habanero and Thai hot chilli peppers which were a dark green, I also added some fresh lemon juice for more acid and a carrot for some more color, came out awesome.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Ken! Glad you enjoyed it!
Jim says
Great recipe we love it! The only thing I added was a quarter cup of lemon juice. FANTASTICO!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent, Jim! Nice touch with the lemon juice! Enjoy!!!
t says
Love this! My dad is a pepper guy, and I... am not. However, I made this (a milder version) for some cheesesteaks and it was so good! I decided my dad would love it so he gave me a gallon bag of jalapenos to use. He LOVED it. Now... I have been given 2-3 gallons of varying garden peppers to make. Thank you for the simple and delicious recipe.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent, T! Super happy your Dad loves it! Great news! I appreciate your letting me know about it.
Mary says
Is this a tested recipe for canning?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Mary, if you'd like to can this, check the pH first. It is best to be 3.5 or below for home canning. If it is not, add a bit of vinegar or lemon juice to lower the pH, then proceed with canning. Or use a pressure canner. Let me know how it goes.
marshall reagan says
I am looking for a recipe to can pimento peppers . the only one I could find was in litres & grams etc.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Marshall, I don't have an exact recipe for that. The closest I have is this one for banana peppers. Same process applies. I hope it helps or gives some direction: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/pickled-banana-peppers/.
All you need to do is google metric conversion rates,problem solved. says
All you need to do is google metric conversion rates,problem solved.
Emily says
Do you have a cherry pepper hoagie spread recipe ? I don’t want anything sweet. I just want the peppers and vinegar
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Emily, not exactly that, but you CAN use this exact recipe and omit the sugar. No sweet needed if you prefer. Let me know how it turns out for you.
Rob says
Any tips on the ratio's of peppers? ( Like 1 ghost, 2 habanero,...)
I want to make a super hot relish, and a milder version.
Thanks a lot in advance. This site is super!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Rob, it really would depend on your heat tolerance. You could use all ghost peppers, but that might be too hot for some. If you're not sure and don't want to make it TOO hot, go with a single ghost pepper (or hotter) and balance it out with milder peppers. If you eat superhots all the time, no worries. Go for it! I hope this helps. Let me know how the relish turns out. Enjoy!
Cindy says
Thank you for the recipe.
My family really enjoyed it.
I used a variety of peppers - some hot, some mild. It has a great taste and was easy to make.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Cindy. It's perfect with a good variety of peppers. I love it! Glad you enjoyed it.
Xander says
Thanks for the inspiration - I made some changes, and used "wildfire" chili which I had way too much of (just basic green/red chili):
-First, I caramelized the onion - the onion needs some time for the sweetness to come out. I used some red onion and white onion, and I cooked it with the yellow mustard seeds in a small amount of good olive oil.
-Then, I added the rough chopped chili to the caramelized onion, along with a touch of salt. Again, the chili needs some time for the sugars to really come out of it, and the flavour to develop. I added some Manuka honey (which I had lying around) and some brown sugar.
-Once the chili was soft, I added lemon zest, and a couple of low acid tomatoes - I let these cook down
-Once the whole mixture is looking nice and soft and caramelized, I added the vinegar, along with the juice of a lemon.
-I let all this slowly simmer and reduce, and then jarred it!
Cheers 🙂
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Sounds wonderful, Xander! Nice elaboration!
JAMES CARCH says
Can this relish be frozen?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
James, yes, you can freeze relish. Vacuum sealing is best, but any freezer container will do. Let me know how it turns out for you. Freezing may affect the texture a bit, but it will be still good.
Kathy says
Was wondering what shelf life is in fridge?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Kathy, relish is pretty acidic from the vinegar, so should easily last a few months.
Cleveland Baker says
Wickles Hot Pepper Relish is Right Good ... Ain't Got Nothing on This ... Used extra 1/4 cup of all Splenda for Sugar to make it Low Carb All Splenda, Extra 25 minutes of simmer
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Cleveland. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Tonia Yaegle says
I have a question. while this is hot in the pan... can I can it ? with a 10 or 15 minute hot bath ?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Tonia, yes, you can process this hot pepper relish. Check the acidity, however. It should be 4.0 or below for home jarring. Otherwise you should use a pressure canner.