Pickled Shishito Peppers – Quick and Easy Recipe
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Shishitos! This Japanese capsicum annuum pepper variety is one of the most prolific plants in our garden every year. Shishito peppers are great grilled or pan fried, but you can also make pickled shishito peppers with ease.
With just a few household ingredients, you can preserve your shishito peppers super fast. We love to pickle all sorts of pepper varieties, and shishitos are a great size and shape for this preservation method.
Whether you’re growing your own, or you picked up a bulk pack from the grocery store, this pickled shishito pepper recipe will work great.
How To Pickle Shishito Peppers
The steps for pickling shishitos are simple and can be used to pickle a variety of foods. Use these steps to try pickling cucumbers, other peppers or any other crunchy veggies from the garden!
Ingredients:
- 20 Shishito Peppers
- 1 cup Water
- 1 cup Apple Cider Vinegar (or white vinegar)
- 2 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Black Peppercorns
- 1 tsp Mustard Seed
- 3 cloves Garlic, chopped
Steps For Pickling Shishitos
- Sterilize Jars
Even though we are using vinegar (a natural preservative), we always recommend sterilizing your jars. Boil them under water for 10 minutes and remove to allow to cool.
- Clean The Peppers
Always start by thoroughly cleaning your shishito peppers under cold water. Ensure any dirt is gone before slicing.
- Cut The Peppers Into Circular Slices
Cut off the stems and slice the peppers cross-wise into chips, approximately 1/4 inch thick.
- Fill Jar(s) With Peppers, Leaving 1/2 Inch Of Room
Always fill your jars before adding the brine. This will ensure that you fill as much room as possible with peppers, not liquid!
- Prepare The Brine
Add the vinegar, water, salt, sugar, black peppercorn, garlic and mustard seed in a small sauce pan.
For the brine, the goal is to create a simple vinegar and water based solution with some tasty flavors.
This is where you can feel free to experiment with other aromatic ingredients. We have pickled vegetables using cloves, coriander seed, fennel seed, star anise and many herbs! - Bring Brine To A Boil
Bring the brine ingredients to a boil, and remove from heat once boiling begins.
- Pour Hot Brine Over Peppers
Carefully ladle or pour the brine into the jar over the peppers. Make sure the brine covers the peppers completely. Also, be sure that the added ingredients are included with the peppers to allow further infusion!
- Seal Jar(s) & Store In Refrigerator
Seal the jar tightly and give it a good shake to distribute the ingredients evenly. Store in the refrigerator and enjoy within 3-4 weeks after opening.
How Long Do Pickled Shishitos Last?
While we recommends consuming your pickled shishito peppers within 3-4 weeks from opening, they can last longer when left sealed. If you don’t open your properly sealed ball jars, the pickled shishitos should last 3-4 months in the refrigerator.
If you do store your pickled shishitos for months, be sure to check for any signs of mold. It is unlikely that the peppers would grow mold due to the high vinegar content, but here are a few things to check for:
- Odd smell
- Bulging can top
- Irregular pepper color
- Fuzzy mold
Tip: Always label your cans with the date that you pickled the peppers. This will avoid any potential uncertainty later on.
Recipe
Pickled Shishito Peppers
Equipment
- Sealable glass jar(s)
- Small sauce pan
Ingredients
- 20 Shishito Peppers
- 1 cup Water
- 1 cup Apple Cider Vinegar or white vinegar
- 1 tbsp White Sugar
- 2 tsp Kosher Salt Iodized salt causes cloudy liquid
- 1 tbsp Black Peppercorns
- 1 tsp Mustard Seed
- 3 cloves Garlic chopped
Instructions
- Sterilize the jar by boiling for 10 minutes.
- Clean the peppers under cold water.
- Slice the shishito peppers into 1/4 inch thick rounds, discarding the stems.
- Fill the jar with sliced peppers, leaving 1/2 inch of room at the top.
- Combine the remaining ingredients (brine) in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil.
- Once a rolling boil is reached, remove brine from heat.
- Carefully pour the hot brine over the peppers into the glass jar. Use a ladle if your pan is not pour-friendly.
- Seal the jars and shake to combine all the ingredients.
- Store in the refrigerator and consume within 3-4 weeks once opened.
Notes
I hope this recipe for pickled shishito peppers is just what you were looking for! Let us know how they turned out in the comments below.
Calvin
One of the original Pepper Geeks! When Calvin isn’t gardening or learning more about peppers and botany, he might be traveling new places or playing some music.
Do you think I could pickle them whole?
Absolutely! They may float a bit in the brine since they are full of air, but you can just nick them with a knife if that becomes an issue.
@peppergeek, Awesome!
Question: After you’ve prepared your jars of shishito peppers can you do a water bath in a big canner pot? If so for how long do you boil the jars? Once sealed you should be able to store the jars on a shelf in your pantry for a year or more, No?
Can you water bath this recipe?
Do you put the pepper jars in the frig hot or bring to room temp first?
You should let them cool to near room temp before going in the fridge. Otherwise there is a risk of the jars breaking
How safe do you think the cold vinegar ONLY recipe is?? Supposed to last for years this way. Am using Shisisto peppers. Don’t think the lids seal!!!!
After you add the boiling brine mixture to peppers, next step is to seal them. Does that mean anything else other than placing the lid on? Or do I have to do a different step first?
Thanks.
Q: how long after pouring the pickling solution over the sliced peppers is the pickling complete and the peppers ready to eat?
We usually put them in the refrigerator and at least let them come to a cold temperature, but technically you could eat thing right away. This is quick-pickling as opposed to canning, so the shelf life isn’t as long and they must be stored in the fridge.
Is this a sweeter brine? First time trying it.
@Andrew, I didn’t think so… I ended up adding another 2 tablespoons of sugar to make it how I like it.
A question. Have you looked at putting the jars in a water bath to extend the life of the pepper chips. If so I was wondering if this typical sterilization method would over soften the peppers.
Yes, water bath canning is for long term storage at room temperature. Cooking the pepper chips will soften them, yes. You can buy ‘pickle crisp agent’ to help prevent this.
Grow and pickle my own and they are prolific. Have you tried crossing with anything with heat?
We haven’t experimented with crossing shishitos yet, that would be awesome! I would love habanero level heat in a shishito.
@peppergeek, mine was crossed with habanero and boy was it 🥵