Quick Pickled Sweet Peppers
These quick pickled sweet peppers are so easy to make. Add them to a burger or a relish tray or munch on them for a deliciously fresh, crunchy snack!
Why we love these quick pickled sweet peppers
I made these pickled sweet peppers for our burger night last week, and they turned out awesome. They were so easy to make, and so yummy on our burgers. I will save those details for when I actually post the recipe for them, but I will say that they were the perfect tangy zip to match the smoky chipotle in our burgers. Hmmm. Can you guess what kind of burgers they were?
These pickled peppers would be a really unique homemade gift for the holidays too. Of course, they will need to be eaten within a week or two, and kept in the fridge, since they’re not fully pickled. But, they are so pretty in their jars. How could anyone not be happy with pretty pickled peppers?
They would also be a really beautiful addition to a relish tray.
If you like this recipe, you have to try this roasted chili corn salsa, and this fried pickle dip and this beet tartare.
Searching for more dairy free appetizers? These roasted shisito peppers are a fun way to enjoy your love of peppers, or you could try these bacon wrapped water chestnuts. And one of my favorite, refrigerator pickle recipes is these quick pickled asparagus, they are delicious in a bloody mary!
Ingredients & substitutions
- Sweet peppers – These small, sweet peppers come in red, yellow, and orange and are perfect for pickling whole or sliced.
- Rice vinegar – This is the sweetest of the vinegars and pairs perfectly with the sweet peppers. Apple cider vinegar will work fine, but the peppers will be more acidic.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed below are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
The following is a detailed overview of the recipe steps with added tips and tricks for recipe success. For a simplified and printable version, including ingredient amounts and more formal instructions, see the recipe card below.
How to make pickled sweet peppers
Prep your jars of peppers. Clean your peppers and distribute them into your mason jars.
Make your pickling liquid. Add vinegar, water, sugar and salt to a saucepan and heat until sugar and salt are dissolved. Remove from heat and add garlic.
Pour liquid into jars over peppers. You may need to add a bit of water to make sure the peppers are fully submerged.
Cover and refrigerate.
FAQs and tips for making quick pickled sweet peppers
Ingredients
- 2 cups sliced sweet peppers
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 4 garlic cloves (minced)
Instructions
- Place peppers into a jar.
- In a small saucepan, heat vinegar, water, sugar and salt. Stir until sugar and salt are dissolved. Remove from heat and add garlic.
- Pour the liquid over the peppers in the jar. Top with additional water if necessary to cover the peppers.
- Cover jar and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
I haven’t commented to often on my wife’s amazing website because clearly people will think that I’m bias but I have to recommend these pickled peppers. We started out eating them with taco salad, then I had them in a regular salad then I put them on different kinds of sandwiches and I would definitely put a ton of them in an omelet. Now that I think of it, they would be great in stir fry as well. The possibilities are endless and I hope we always have a jar or two of them in our fridge from now on!
Hello, ,I use Italian dressing and add cucumber and tomatoes.
This recipe sounds delish!
How are these stored and how long will they keep?
You should be able to keep them up to a month, or freeze them!
Have you tried freezing them?
These pictures are so stunning! They are making me want to make the recipe even more than the fact that it looks so simple! Thank you so much for sharing, i’ll report back after I’ve made it with how it turned out!
Hi i tried this recipe and i couldnt use it on the peppers it was v v salty!! It needs a lot of less salt and sugar definitely.
Ill try it again starting with a teaspoon of each and maybe equal parts of vngr and water.
“Add 2 tablespoons sugar!” Ingredients “sugar 0”. ????
Hi Mort. I haven’t added nutritional information for this recipe, but when I converted it from my old recipe card, it automatically filled the info in as zero. I apologize for the discrepancy!
Per serving, if it’s less than one gram the food nutrition chart will automatically set it at zero.
Some folks shouldn’t be so picky.
You don’t drink it lol
just a note – the pickles peter piper made are piper peppers, the fresh green seeds that make your black and white pepper pot dust. Piperaceae, They grow here wher I currently live where they are used as the fresh green berry in Thai food – and I am about to try pickling them right now.
That’s so interesting! I would love to know how they turn out!
Love them. Nicely balanced flavour and super easy to make.
I don’t see the jar size indicated. Would it be a quart size Mason jar? And I’m using Swerve instead of sugar. Will Swerve work as a subsitute in a pickling recipe? I find the Swerve far less sweet than conventional sugar but love the authentic flavor. Will it pickle?
The recipe says it yields two cups. Hope that helps!❤️
Can I use another vinegar besides rice vinegar?
Yes you can! White vinegar would be my next suggestion.
Delicious! I made these for a recipe that called for pepperoncini liquid. Not being a fan of pepperoncini I subbed for this. The peppers are hot with a touch of sweet. I had no rice vinegar and used white.
On the Quick Pickled Sweet Peppers – have you tried canning them and if so, how? I have loads of peppers and would like to have some of these over the winter.
Hi,
Can I use regular white distilled vinegar instead of rice vinegar?
Thanks!
Yes!
I prefer tangy over sweet. Can I omit the sugar?
Yes. You can!
,Made chicken cheesesteaks for dinner tonight. I am from Philly and needed sweet peppers on them. I made your recipe, was wonderful but I did need to add a speck extra sugar and next time I will make it keto. Got rave reviews from my friend who came for lunch and we snuck some
I am sharing this recipe with everyone I know! I pile these peppers on my salads and enchiladas. Tonight they are going in my stir fry.
These are really yummy. I used Apple Cider Vinegar as I didn’t have rice vinegar – worked great. Anyone tried freezing them? I wouldn’t think they keep their crispiness once thawed?
I used your pickling liquid recipe to make some quick overnight pickled red peppers. I had a store-bought jar of roasted red peppers that were just packed in water. My son is coming over tomorrow for a fancy supper and he loves pickled red peppers. I poured off the juice, used it for the water portion, and then made up the pickling brine from your recipe. I then packed them in a Mason jar and poured the warm brine over them and popped them in the fridge. They are delicious! I am sure using fresh peppers produces a superior result, but I this is all I had to try to make a treat for our fancy meal. Thank you!
I made these yesterday, using apple cider vinegar and they were delicious. They are gone, already. I’ll make more as soon as I go to the store and get more peppers.
I made these yesterday, using apple cider vinegar and 1/2 tsp salt and they were delicious. They are gone already.
Absolutely amazing love it! So simple to make and brought a new layer of flavor to my salad. I can’t wait to try them in different meals. Thank you.
I tripled the brine for a quart-sized mason jar and two large bell peppers filled the jar. Just put them in the fridge to brine so I haven’t tried them yet but I was looking for something similar to Grotto pizzas sweet pickled peppers because I’m making pizza tonight.
Made these awhile back and loved them. Then I completely forgot about them. 🙂 My garden is overflowing with peppers right now and I thought of these delicious little morsels. Perfectly sweet and hot. Thanks for the recipe.
Fantastic! Great recipe. I put with chicken, bbq,sandwiches, etc. Friends comment on it being delicious.
I want to do jalapeños would this recipe work for sweet hot peppers.
Yes. You can definitely use this recipe for jalapeños!