Easy Jalapeño Pepper Jelly Recipe (Only 4 Ingredients)
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Jalapeño plants can be quite prolific. If you’ve already made enough pickles and hot sauce, try our sweet and spicy jelly during the harvest season. This easy recipe for jalapeño jelly uses just four simple ingredients.
Recipe Highlights
- This is a simple recipe with minimal ingredients. It’s suitable for beginners and very versatile as well.
- This jalapeño recipe uses a large quantity of fresh peppers, perfect for a big harvest from the garden.
- When properly preserved, jelly can last for many months. It’s a great gift around the holiday season.
- Jalapeño jelly pairs perfectly with cream cheese and crackers. You can also use it to glaze meats or add it to dessert recipes.
- You can use a mix of peppers in this recipe. Try adding in serrano peppers or habanero peppers for a different color, flavor, or heat level.
- This is a long lasting jelly you can keep in the fridge for many weeks, or can in a water bath for long-term storage.
- Want to grow your own peppers for this recipe? Learn all about jalapeño peppers and how to grow them from seed.
How To Make Jalapeño Jelly
Remove the stems and seeds from the jalapeños. For a spicier jelly, leave some of the white pith in the center.
Blend the jalapeños and 1 cup of the vinegar in a food processor or high power blender until smooth.
In a large pot, mix the blended jalapeño puree, the additional vinegar, and pectin. Bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down over high heat, stirring constantly, for at least 1 minute.
Add the sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil and cook for 1-3 minutes, stirring constantly. If you own a kitchen or candy thermometer, aim for a temperature of 220°F.
Turn off the heat. Carefully ladle the jelly mixture into the jars, leaving about 1/4″ of headspace.
Cover with lids and allow to set at room temperature undisturbed for 24 hours.
Note: For long term storage, you can also process the jars in a water bath to preserve the jelly. Follow the USDA guide to home canning for instructions based on your location.
Recipe Tips
- Pre-heat the jars before filling with the hot jelly – this helps prevent cracked glass.
- Use fresh peppers from the garden for the best heat and flavor.
- Always let the jelly sit undisturbed for 12-24 hours at room temperature. This helps the jelly set.
- You can scale this recipe up or down depending on the amount of peppers you would like to use.
- We always recommend using gloves when handling hot peppers.
- Experiment with other ingredients, like alternate peppers or citrus juice for a different flavor.
- You can add a few drops of green food coloring if you want this recipe to be really green like jalapeño peppers. This also makes it a more festive color if you’re planning on gifting the jelly.
- For ideas on how to use this jelly, check our post for ways to use hot pepper jelly.
FAQS
How do I know if the jelly is done cooking? The easiest way to test this is to place a small amount of the (hot) jelly on a cold plate that has been in the freezer. Allow it to sit for one minute. If it wrinkles when you touch it, the jelly is cooked and ready to set at room temperature.
How can I make this recipe spicier? For a spicier jelly, leave in the some of the seeds and pith. Or, you can add additional spicier peppers like serrano or habanero.
What if the jelly doesn’t set? You can fix an “unset” jelly by reheating it and adding more pectin per the instructions on the packet.
Can I add other ingredients? You can experiment with other ingredients like fruit, citrus juice (lemon or lime), or other peppers.
Other Pepper Jelly Recipes
If you try this jelly, be sure to leave a star rating and let us know any modifications you made. Also, let us know what appetizers or dishes you used it for. We love experimenting with sweet-and-spicy combinations, and pepper jelly is one of our favorites!
Jalapeño Jelly
Equipment
- Glass canning jars pre-boiled/heated
Ingredients
- 1 pound jalapeño peppers
- 2 cups white vinegar divided
- 6 cups sugar
- 1.75 oz dry pectin
Instructions
- Remove the stems and seeds from the jalapeños. For a spicier jelly, leave some of the white pith attached.
- Blend the jalapeños and 1 cup of the vinegar in a food processor until smooth.
- In a large pot, mix the jalapeño puree, the additional vinegar, and pectin. Over high heat, bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, stirring constantly for at least 1 minute.
- Add the sugar and stir until it is fully dissolved. Bring to a boil and cook for 1-3 minutes, stirring constantly. If you own a kitchen thermometer, cook until the mixture reaches a temperature of 220°F.
- Turn off the heat. Carefully ladle the jelly mixture into the hot jars, leaving enough room for the lid and jar rings.
- Cover with lids and allow to set at room temperature, undisturbed, for 24 hours.
Notes
- Boil the jars in advance to heat them up. This will help avoid cracked glass when pouring in the hot jelly.
- Once poured, leave the jelly undisturbed to allow the jelly to “set,” or thicken up. This takes 12-24 hours.
- Store jelly in the refrigerator.
This simple recipe is just what I was looking for. I’m wondering if 6 servings is pints or half pints. I’m trying to scale up for three pounds and of course my steam canner only holds 8 pints at a time.
The recipe as written makes around 6 cups, so 3 pints.
How many cups is a pound of jalapeño?
This recipe is delicious as is, and is acetic enough that you can safely water bath on STEAM mode in an Instant Pot. No pressurization needed. But do your homework (YouTube) on this part.
Do you water bath this jelly?
Yes, you can water bath can this recipe, just be sure to follow USDA guidelines to be safe!
Add some summer squash and sweet onion to the mix
It is delicious
I like this recipe for the easiness of it. And how I can make my own changes. I used a lot more peppers and am making just more an jalapeno relish I guess, with no pectin. So I guess I really didn’t use the recipe at all but it was my inspiration. Thank you!!!
I added two peaches to this recipe and it was just as amazing. Great basic recipe!
That sounds delicious. I love peaches, especially this time of year!