Pickled Habaneros
I ended up with a huge box of habaneros from my burrito shop that we didn’t need, so I decided to make pickled habaneros!! Well, first I took them home and made several recipes with them, like this habanero basil mac and cheese! But I still had so many left! We can pickle that!
These are “quick pickled” habaneros. I made the recipe for one 16oz jar, but tried to write it so it’s scalable and you can do as many jars as you need! It is very forgiving, so don’t worry about getting things exact, and feel free to add other herbs or spices if you want- I even added some suggestions later in this article. Just don’t skimp on the salt! If you are looking for true canned or fermented pickled habaneros, try this guide!
I was hoping that these would taste like banana peppers but just a little spicier, and they do! This was a great way for me to use up a bunch of the habaneros I got. I can’t wait to eat these on sandwiches and salads for the next month or so.
Slicing and seeding
They way you slice them is important to the final outcome. I like these little rings because they are perfect for sandwiches.
Make sure to take out all the seeds too! The seeds are where about 50% of the heat lives. I love heat -obviously otherwise I wouldnt be able to eat pickled habaneros- but I also love FLAVOR. The flavor of habaneros is SO GOOD! If you keep all the seed in, in my opinion, you wont be able to taste the fruity delicious habanero flavor.
I was only going to do one jar, but my roommate Fiona wanted more so I had her do the rest of the chopping.
Look how colorful!
Can you do this recipe with other peppers?
YES! I have done this with sweet peppers, jalapenos, thai chilis, and serrano peppers. This same ratio will work quick-pickling almost anything!
Adding other flavors to pickled habaneros
I like to keep these simple with a little garlic and mustard seed. If you want to add more flavor, there are lots of ways to do it!
Herbs
Dill is the most obvious, but basil, parsley, chives, or tarragon would be awesome too.
Spices
I just used some mustard seed but coriander is great, as well as allspice, cloves, juniper, and cumin. I suggest making one jar plain, and then adding your favorite spices to the other to see how you like it!
So tasty!
What can you make with pickled habaneros?
I love putting these on sandwiches! They would be great in these steak chopped subs, on an Italian Sub Burger, or in the slaw of this grilled “fried” chicken sandwich. They would also be great at white people taco night!
These are my favorite jars to use for this recipe.
Quick Pickled Habaneros
Ingredients
- 15 habaneros seeds removed, sliced thin
- 1.5 cups distilled vinegar
- 0.5 cups water
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon mustard seed
Instructions
- The ingredients above at approxamate and for a 16 oz jar. The more you make these, the more you will want to adjust it to your personal tastes.
- Find the jar (or jars) you will be using to hold the habaneros, and fill it with 3 parts vinegar and 1 part water. Pour the liquid from the jar into a pan and bring it to a simmer. Stir in about a tablespoon of sugar and 3/4 teaspoon of salt for every 16 oz jar
- Put the habaneros into the jar (or jars) and add in 2 cloves of garlic, sliced in half, and about a tablespoon of mustard seed to each jar. Pour the hot liquid over the peppers.
- Cover and allow to sit in the fridge for at least a few hours before serving. They are best on the 3rd day but will last for about a month. They probably would last longer but for me, I don't keep anything longer than a month if it isnt preserved the traditional way.
These look so good! I just made a batch of pickled mild peppers the other day, but I’ve never gone for the full-on HOT pickled pepper. Hmm…I think I may try with jalapenos or serranos before habaneros, and work my way up. 🙂
I also pickle other chillis, Thai hot and cayennes. However, I am currently growing habaneros and looking forward to pickling and eating them in a few weeks time. I would ask one question – why remove the seeds? I cook chilli-con-carne, many Indian and Thai curries and make salsa but I’ve never removed the seeds from chillis.
you take the seeds out if you want it more mild! For me, habaneros are just a little too hot so I take out most of the seeds so it can still be spicy but have lots of flavor
Sweet. Pardon the pun, but your blog has been on fire lately. So much I want to cook here.
How much salt and sugar do you use?
Really just a couple pinches of each per jar…
Sooo…. how do you recommend to eat them? Any particular dishes that go well with pickled habaneros? 🙂
How much sugar and salt and mustard per batch in each jar
How much sugar and mustard seed per jar
How much sugar, salt and mustard seeds? ASAP
Agreed. How much sugar, salt, and mustard seed?
Sincerely
I love the fruitiness of Halepeno, but they’re too hot for me to eat, even after seeding and de-veining them.
will Pickling them help to reduce some of that incredible heat?
Unfortunately not really! They are still super hot.
Sounds fantastic. I cant wait to try this. My friend gives me fresh habs from his garden by the daily dozen. Yay!
Can you can them.
I want to know too…l have a lot
I plan to can habernos and Carolina Reapers that my husband grew in buckets this summer. Sweet and spicy is the way to go.
Can this be canned…how to process this? I have about a half a bushel
How long do they last without boiling ..?
Where is the recipe? There are no measures for the ingredients.
Your name of “Food in My Beard”…IS GROTESQUE !!!
INSTANTLY REPLUSIVE!!!
I read not a SINGLE WORD of your recipe!!!
ONLY to leave my comment!!!…Mark J
This is hilarious
LOL,
Mark J comes on here 9 years later to show the world what a squeamish snowflake he is. Hahaha.
Seriously Mark J, you just wanted to complain to the name of his Web? Maybe you should not read any more cooking recipes. 😜