Homemade Jalapeño Jelly
Jalapeño jelly is a delicious sweet and spicy spread for toast or crackers and can even be used as a glaze or side sauce for meat dishes. This sweet and spicy jelly is great for so many reasons–especially as a topping. I like it as a brunch item with homemade bread and butter. If you love jalapeños, you’ll love this jelly.
And if you love jams and jellies, you are sure to love this jalapeño jelly. Sure, the flavor is different from your typical strawberry jam but you’d be surprised as to how good it really is. The sweet with the heat is addicting. It’s great for serving with toast or crackers, or for basting your meat dishes.
What is Jalapeño Jelly?
This jelly is really more of a jam. It is made up of jalapeño peppers, bell peppers, lots of sugar, vinegar, and pectin. While you may be tempted to reduce the sugar, don’t. This is meant to have lots of sugar. It’s a jelly after all. It also helps to perfectly balance out the heat from the jalapeños.
How to Make Jalapeño Jelly
Prep the Jalapeños: I recommend using rubber gloves when handling. Cut off the top of the jalapenos and remove the veins and seeds from half of the jalapeños. The veins and seeds are where most of the heat comes from and I have found that the perfect balance of heat and sweet in the jam comes from using the seeds from half of them.
Prep the Bell Peppers: You can really use whatever color of bell peppers you have on hand but I like the color that one yellow, one orange and one red together with the green from the jalapeños gives to the jam. Remove the stems and center. You can leave the veins but I like to cut mine out. Then roughly chop into large chunks since you’ll be pulsing them in the food processor.
Finely Chop Peppers: You can do this by hand but it will take a while. I recommend pulsing the jalapeños and peppers together in a food processor or blender. Chop until fine.
Drain: Pour the peppers into a mesh strainer to take off excess liquid so that your jam sets properly and isn’t runny.
Cook: Add the drained peppers to a large 4 quart pot along with the sugar, vinegar, and salt. Bring it to a boil and boil for 10 minutes over medium–high heat.
Add Pectin: Stir in the liquid pectin and boil for another minute. Remove pan from heat.
How to Can Jelly
- Start out with sterile equipment. You’ll need to wash the jars and lids in hot soapy water (or run them through the dish washer).
- The jars need to be warm when adding the hot jelly or they could crack. To keep the jars and lids hot and sterile, place them on a rack in a pot of boiling water. When the jam is done cooking, remove the jars, draining off water, and place on a towel.
- Ladle jam into the jars using a wide mouth funnel. Be sure to leave ¼ inch space from the top of the jar so there is room for expansion.
- After filling the jars, wipe the rims with a paper towel and then top with the lids. Screw on the lids using just your thumb and index finger. This will ensure that they are on but not too tight.
- Place the jars back into the pot of water on the rack and bring it to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes. (Add 1 more minute for each 1000 ft. elevation above 1000 ft.) Remove and place on the towel about 1 inch apart. After a few minutes you should start to hear the cans seal with a pop. Leave the jars untouched on the counter for 12 hours.
Check the Seal
- To see if your can is sealed, touch the middle of the lid. If the lid springs back up when you remove your finger you do not have a seal.
- To check for a proper seal, remove the ring of the lid and lift the can up off the counter 1–2 inches while holding the edges of the lid. If the lid stays attached then you have a good seal and it can be store for 12 months in the pantry.
Pepper Jelly Uses
There are a lot of surprising ways to use this sweet and spicy jelly, believe it or not.
- Glaze your steak, pork, or salmon with it. Pretty much any meat recipe that calls for a glaze will do really well with this hot pepper jelly.
- Top your vanilla ice cream. Yes, seriously.
- Use it like regular jelly for a spicy PB&J sandwich
- Use it as a dip for crackers, blends well with cream cheese.
How to Make Jalapeno Pepper Jelly
Yields: 6 half pints
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
- 10 jalapeño peppers half seeded
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 1 orange bell pepper chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper chopped
- 5½ cups granulated sugar
- 1½ cup white vinegar
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 3–ounce pouch liquid pectin
Instructions
- Place all peppers in a food processor and pulse until peppers are finely chopped. Empty into a mesh strainer and drain off excess liquid.
- Place the chopped vegetables in a large stock pot and add in the sugar, vinegar, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium–high heat and boil for 10 minutes. Add the pectin and boil 1 more minute. Remove from heat
- Ladle jam into hot sterile jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace. Top the jars with the lids and then seal jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.
- Jelly that is sealed properly can be stored on the shelf. If a seal did not form or if you opened the lid and broke the seal, jelly can be stored in the fridge. Let jelly rest 1 day to fully set up.
Nutrition Information
| Nutrition Information | Amount Per Serving | % Daily Value* |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 739 kcal | |
| Sodium | 198mg | 9% |
| Potassium | 134mg | 4% |
| Carbohydrates | 187g | 62% |
| Fiber | 1g | 4% |
| Sugar | 185g | 206% |
| Vitamin A | 945IU | 19% |
| Vitamin C | 69mg | 84% |
| Calcium | 10mg | 1% |
| Iron | 0.3mg | 2% |
We’d love to hear from you and what you thought of this post. Did you make any changes to the recipe? Let us know in the comments below.
Source:
JALAPEÑO JELLY
https://lilluna.com/jalapeno-jelly/#wprm-recipe-container-125876
by Melanie Dueck, June 19, 2019