Easy Pickled banana peppers recipe

This simple and easy pickled banana peppers recipe adds a zesty crunch to sandwiches, salads, and all kinds of snacks.

I think the first time I encountered pickled banana peppers was on pizza. I was definitely skeptical as a kid who didn’t like vegetables on pizza, but they won me over with the first bite.

For some reason, my mom had suddenly decided that pickled peppers belonged on pizza, and they became a staple from there out. They’re tangy, crunchy, and if you like them spicy, they can be that too!

Ingredients for pickled banana peppers

• Banana peppers. These are big, yellow wax peppers with a mild flavor. I you like them spicy, add some caribe peppers, which are also yellow, but smaller, and have about the same spice level as a jalapeño.
• Vinegar. It wouldn’t be a pickle without vinegar! The acidity helps preserve as well as flavor the pickles.
• Salt. Similar to the vinegar, this helps flavor and preserve the pickles.
• Mustard seeds. These give a subtle, earthy flavor to your pickles, and are optional.
• Celery seed. These not only provide flavor, but believe it or not, also contain a preservative element. That said, while you shouldn’t change your vinegar or salt ratios for preservation reasons, the celery seed can be optional.

The last ingredient is water. While we need a certain amount of vinegar and salt to preserve the pickled peppers, too much can end up tasting too strong, so we want to water it down enough, but not too much.

Recipe changes and substitutions

When you make pickles, it’s important to get your acid levels correct, so you don’t really want to change the ratio of vinegar to water.

But there are changes you can make to this banana pepper recipe within that ratio, such as using apple cider vinegar instead of distilled, white vinegar.

As already mentioned, you can change the volume, or omit the mustard and celery seeds. You can also add other herbs or seeds to change the flavor.

Another thing already mentioned is that you can use caribe peppers, which are a spicy version of banana peppers.

You can add sugar. If you like sweet pickled banana peppers, add sugar to the brine. I haven’t tested the volume in this recipe, so you’ll have to go by taste.

Equipment needed for canning peppers

Pickles are a high acid food, so you will be using a water bath canner for this recipe. A water bath canner can be found on Amazon, or it can be a large stock pot, such as a tamale pot, or a pressure cooker, as long as it’s tall enough that the jars are covered by a an inch of water while standing on a rack. This rack in the bottom of you canner is necessary to keep the jars from contact with the directly heated metal, which can cause them to break.

• A jar lifter. This is really handy to removing jars from hot water.
• A canning funnel. Maybe not strictly necessary for this recipe, but in general, it makes canning a lot easier.
• Canning jars. I typically use pints or half pints for this recipe, and I’m not brand loyal.
• Canning lids. I am brand loyal with canning lids – or at least brand exclusive. Sometimes I buy Walmart’s brand of jars, but the lids that come with them are often bad. The last box I bought had two lids with dents in the seal. Typically, I skip using those lids altogether. Denali canning lids work every time, and Ball lids are also typically good.

How to make pickled banana peppers

1. Combine all brine ingredients, and heat in a saucepan to a simmer. Stir to make sure salt is dissolved, and let simmer for about 15 minutes. After brine has simmered, you can strain to remove seeds, or leave them in to let them continue to release their flavor as the pickles mature.
   
   
2. While the brine heats, cut the stem end off of your peppers, and deseed. I do this by sliding my knife inside the peppers, around the edge, and then pulling the core out of the pepper.
   
   
3. Slice the peppers into thin rings.
4. Pack sliced banana peppers into prepared canning jars leaving about a half inch of headspace. I usually use pints or half pints, since we don’t use a lot of pickled peppers at one time.
   
   
5. (note: to prepare jars, you can fill your water bath canning kettle with water, submerge the jars, and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes. Drain the jars, and fill them with peppers.)
6. Pour prepared pickling brine over packed peppers to completely submerge.
   
   
7. Wipe rims clean, and screw down lids and rings. At this point, you can let pickles cool, and store in the refrigerator for several weeks, or move on to canning.
8. Place in hot water bath canner. Make sure the water covers jars by a depth of at least an inch, and heat.
9. Bring canner to a rolling boil, and process pint jars for ten minutes.
10. Remove from heat and let cool 15-20 minutes before removing jars.
11. I recommend keeping hot jars covered after removing from the canner to guard against any cool drafts that could cause them to crack.
12. Let jars cool undisturbed for 24 hours. Then, check seals, wash jars if needed (mine always have hard water residue), and store in a cool place out of direct light.

More recipes for you

• Pickled jalapeño recipe
• Cowboy Candy Recipe
• Quick and easy pickled okra
• Dill pickle recipe
• Pickled green beans

We usually grow a small amount of banana peppers because they keep producing over the course of the summer into the fall, so this is a small batch recipe that I would make several times. Feel free to double, triple, or quadruple it to fit your needs.

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