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 as long as it is 5% acidity. Consider apple cider vinegar or even balsamic vinegar. Do not use homemade vinegar or low-acid varieties, as the exact acidity is what keeps the relish safe from spoilage.
• 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

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?

Storage Information

Pepper relish will last months in the refrigerator properly sealed because of the acidity from the vinegar. Hot pepper relish is great for water bath canning as well, if you'd like to store the hot pepper relish longer term in a pantry. I've included a pepper relish recipe for canning below the recipe card developed on the USDA tested ratio.

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!

Check Out These Other Popular Pepper Relish Recipes

• Sweet Pepper Relish
• Chile-Cucumber Chow Chow
• Green Tomato Relish
• Green Tomato Chutney
• Chow Chow Recipe (Classic Southern Relish)
• Sub Shop Style Cherry Pepper Relish

How to Can Hot Pepper Relish for the Pantry

The quick version above is a refrigerator relish. It keeps for weeks in the fridge thanks to the vinegar, no canning gear needed. But if your garden is producing peppers faster than you can eat them, water bath canning is ideal for longer term pantry storage.

NOTE: For shelf-stable jars, use the recipe below, not the quick refrigerator version above. That one was developed for flavor and for the fridge, where refrigeration keeps it safe. A jar sitting on a pantry shelf has no such backup, so the vinegar has to do the safety work, and that means the pepper-to-vinegar ratio matters as much as the taste.

The recipe below is developed on the USDA tested ratio, so it is safe for the pantry. Two important rules:

• Keep the total ground peppers at 10 cups. Use any peppers, from super mild to superhot and any mix in between.
• Do not change the vinegar, sugar, salt, or mustard amounts, and use vinegar that is 5% acidity.

Canned Hot Pepper Relish (Water Bath)

Ingredients:

• 5 cups ground sweet or mild peppers (bell, Anaheim, or a mix), with their juices, about 3 to 4 pounds before grinding
• 5 cups ground hot chilies (jalapeno, serrano, Fresno, with a habanero or two if you want real heat), with their juices, about 3 to 4 pounds before grinding
• 1 1/2 cups ground onion (about 3 medium yellow onions), with juices
• 2 1/2 cups distilled white or apple cider vinegar, 5% acidity
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 teaspoons pickling salt
• 4 teaspoons mustard seed

Instructions:

1. Prep your canner and jars. Fill a water bath canner, set the rack, and bring it up to a simmer. Wash 6 pint jars (or half pints) and keep them hot until you fill them. Prep new lids and bands per the manufacturer.
2. Glove up and grind. Wear gloves and keep your hands away from your face while you work with hot peppers. Wash and stem the peppers, seed the sweet peppers, and coarsely grind the peppers and peeled onion (a food processor on pulse or a grinder attachment both work).
3. Measure into the pot. Measure 5 cups ground sweet peppers, 5 cups ground hot peppers, and 1 1/2 cups ground onion, all with their juices, into a large stockpot. Add the vinegar, sugar, pickling salt, and mustard seed.
4. Boil, then simmer. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a low boil and cook 30 minutes, stirring often so it does not scorch.
5. Fill the jars. Ladle the hot relish into your hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Run a bubble tool around the inside, recheck the headspace, and wipe the rims with a clean damp paper towel. Set the lids and tighten the bands fingertip tight.
6. Process in the water bath canner for the time in the chart below for your altitude. Start timing once the water is at a full rolling boil.
7. Cool and check. Turn off the heat, wait 5 minutes, then lift the jars out and set them on a towel. Leave them undisturbed 12 to 24 hours, then check that every lid sealed. Sealed jars keep up to a year in a cool, dark pantry. Refrigerate any jar that did not seal and use it first.

Altitude chart (this recipe, boiling water canner, pints or half pints):

Makes 6 pint jars.

Canning safely: this recipe follows a USDA tested ratio. For full water bath canning guidance and safety background, see the National Center for Home Food Preservation.